Several heat records were broken this Wednesday in the south-west of France, with temperatures around 20°C in the morning, announced La Chaîne Météo*.
This summer mildness at the very beginning of spring, which also affected a large part of the territory to lesser degrees, should however only be fleeting, a colder front being expected from the weekend on France.
Very rare record
On Wednesday afternoon, the 30 degree mark was crossed in Dax (Landes) and Orthez (Pyrénées-Atlantique), with 30.1 degrees.
This threshold of 30 degrees is very rare in metropolitan France in March.
It has so far only been exceeded twice: in Pau on March 25, 1955 (record 31°C) and in Figari on March 24, 2001 (record 30.3°C).
Values above 25°C (heat threshold) were also recorded in a large number of stations in the south-west and center of the country.
This was the case in Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) with 25.3°C, Vichy (Allier) with 25.1°C, Bordeaux (Gironde) with 27.5°C or even Pau (Pyrénées- Atlantic) with 28.6°C.
Read alsoWhy will it be so hot this Wednesday, March 29 in France?
The phenomenon began in the early hours of the day with a minimum temperature of 18.9°C in Biarritz, which recorded its mildest night, beating its monthly record set on March 4, 1998, when the thermometer had reached 18, 2°C.
This mildness is due to an Atlantic depression which, slowed down by an anticyclone in place over France, brought up a mass of very mild air over the country, in southerly currents.
It is also fed by a foehn effect - sudden heating of an air mass after crossing a mountain range - at the foot of the western Pyrenees.
However, it will not last, warns La Chaîne Météo.
This Thursday, the feeling will still be very spring-like, with a level of May in the South, and April in the North.
Temperatures will return to seasonal levels on Friday with the shift to westerly flow which will bring showers in particular.
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