Temperatures were remarkable in France on Sunday, following a week when the thermometer was well above normal.
December 25, 2022 is the second sweetest Christmas on record in the country.
It averaged 11.3°C, according to Météo France, or 5.4°C above average.
This temperature is that of the national thermal indicator.
This is an average of the readings of thirty meteorological stations distributed throughout the territory.
According to data from Infoclimat, a recognized association of general interest and which relays the raw data provided by Météo France, it is the second mildest Christmas since 1997. That year, the thermal indicator national had risen to 11.7°C.
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In the 20th century, only one other Christmas had recorded an indicator above 10°C, in 1983 with 10.34°C.
In the 21st century, this is already the third time that this situation has occurred: in addition to Sunday, 2012 with 10.82°C and 2015 with 10.95°C had an average above 10°C.
A frequency that accelerates in the 21st century
Temperature records were thus broken on Sunday, especially in the Southwest.
In Dax, in the Landes, it was 21.3°C.
In Ariège, the so-called heat threshold, set at 25°C, was even crossed in Verdun with a reading of 26.3°C.
These are levels corresponding more to the end of spring.
🏆🌡️ With 21.3°C, a #RECORD_DE_SOUCEUR has just been beaten in #Dax (40): it's the sweetest #Christmas day ever observed.
— The Weather Channel (@lachainemeteo) December 25, 2022
Such unusual temperatures will also mark the current week.
After a slight drop in the first few days, they are starting to rise again.
Gaétan Heymes, forecaster for Météo France, is thus counting on a New Year's Eve which would be historically hot.
The average temperature record could be beaten by 2°C!
For the symbol.
The year 2022, the hottest ever observed in France, should end with the mildest New Year's Eve ever observed.
And by far.
Previous thermal indicator record: 11°C on December 31, 2017.
Forecast December 31, 2022: 13°C.
pic.twitter.com/o5M0ObR0yg
— Gaétan Heymes (@GaetanHeymes) December 26, 2022
Forecasts show values of between 15°C and 20°C over a large part of the territory.
It is in the Southwest that it would be the mildest.
/Meteo France
The Météo-villes site explains that these temperatures should mean that December will finally be a month in which the average temperature will be higher than the norm.
Despite a very wintry first fortnight, with temperatures below average, the current gap is much more pronounced.
This should reverse the result for the entire month.
“The current mildness is much more remarkable than the cold observed in the first fortnight.
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