The average temperature in mainland France reached a new early heat record on Saturday, beating the previous one which only dated from April 6. Several heat records for the month of April were recorded across the country, with maximum temperatures of 28°C to almost 32°C in the southern half of the country on Friday and Saturday.
For more than two years, monthly temperatures in France have no longer fallen below seasonal norms, a reference calculated on the average of the last three decades, yet already warmer than the pre-industrial climate, before the effect of emissions of greenhouse gases. Heat peaks in April have already been noted in the 20th century, without however being repeated at short intervals: 30°C was reached or approached in March 1990 in the South-West and near the Mediterranean and 69 years ago already, in 1955, 25°c was exceeded on March 25 in Paris and in Indre (28°c in Châteauroux).“It had never been so hot at night in April in Chastreix (Puy-de-Dôme, 1385 m, Sancy massif) with a minimum measured at 12.4°C,” says Météo-France.