December can still change the situation, but according to the results revealed this Thursday by Météo-France, the year 2023 should be the second hottest ever recorded in France, since the beginning of the 20th century. Just behind the scorching year 2022. The average temperature reached 14.2°C, leading to a “thermal anomaly” which should be around +1.3°C compared to 1991-2020 normals. This did not prevent the past year from setting records. Here are a few.
27.4°C at the “coolest” of the night in Toulouse
Disgruntled vacationers do not fail to remember, strangely, autumn invited itself into summer with this famous rather chilly break, especially in the north, from July 20 to August 8. It prevents the summer of 2023 from getting on the podium since it ranks fourth hottest. But this is passing too quickly through periods of exceptional heat, with several absolute records, all months combined, in July: 40.4°C for example on the 18th in Serralongue in the Pyrénées-Orientales and 39.2°C on the 19th. in Cannes (Alpes-Maritimes).
As for the heat wave which raged from August 17 to 24, it is quite simply “the most intense [enregistrée] after August 15″, reaching “unprecedented levels in the South-West or Center-East, and on the Mediterranean arc. “. At the “coolest” night of August 24, it was 27.4°C in Toulouse, compared to 24.6° for the previous record. The day before, the mercury rose to 42.4°C in the Pink City, although it had never exceeded 40.7°C. Lyon experienced a peak of 41.4°C on the 24th.
The warmest autumn since 1900, ahead of 2006 and 2022
“Hot extremes increasingly later in the year.” According to Météo-France specialists, this is “what global warming should lead us to more and more frequently”. Autumn 2023, “the hottest ever recorded since 1900”, with temperatures above 30°C recorded in October, is the perfect illustration of this: the month of September is the hottest we have ever experienced, the month October ranked second and November remained “mild”.
32 days of continuous rain
The “rail of disturbances”, which only spared the Mediterranean rim between mid-October and mid-November, “will remain in the annals for several reasons”. “This is only the second time it has rained continuously for thirty-two days. We have to go back to 1988 to observe such a series (32 days from January 12 to February 12) but with less significant accumulations,” explains Météo-France. Locally, the “unprecedented” accumulations approached 900 mm in the Massif Central, 800 mm in the Vosges, 500 mm in Pas-de-Calais, 400 mm in Poitou-Charentes while they did not exceed 25 mm in Perpignan.
And, the good news, despite everything, is that this curtain of rain “suggests an end to soil drought” in the northern half and on the western side of the country.
Gusts of 170 km/h from Ciaràn
With gusts of 150 km/h inland and, sometimes, 170 km/h near the coast, Ciaràn, on November 1, was “the most severe storm in Brittany since the ‘hurricane’ of 1987”, forecasters note. In northern Finistère and the Côtes-d’Armor coast, wind speeds were even higher than 36 years ago.
His “little brother” Domingos also hit very hard in New Aquitaine: 151 km/h in Cap Ferret, 144 in Cognac and even 136 in Niort.
Mayotte dry
The rainy season in Mayotte (from November 2022 to April 2023). bears its name very badly. It was the most deficit since 1998 and the second driest in 61 measurements. As for the dry season (May to October), it was the hottest in the island’s history, leading to a major water resources crisis.