Did we really need the insight of Météo-France to realize how rotten the spring that is coming to an end is? Yes, because with numbers it is even more striking. According to the institute, France is therefore experiencing its 4th rainiest spring, with a 20% sunshine deficit and higher than normal temperatures for the third year in a row.
The meteorological spring, which runs from March to May, was “the rainiest since 2008”, “with an anomaly of +45%” of precipitation, according to the Météo-France bulletin. “Spring 2024 ranks 4th among the rainiest springs”, behind springs 2001 (+57%), 1983 and 2008, according to the official observatory, whose first complete precipitation data dates back to 1959.
“Everywhere, it rained a lot and often”
“Everywhere, it rained a lot and often, causing floods and mudslides in places” which caused significant damage, underlines Météo-France. We can cite, without being exhaustive, Burgundy, the Center-West, Lorraine, Alsace and Aisne, etc.
“In Poitou, Charentes, northern Alsace and Lorraine as well as in the Ardèche Cévennes and the Côte d’Azur, twice as much rain fell as normal,” the bulletin continues. The observation is particularly marked for the month of May “which thus becomes the rainiest month of May since 2013”.
Between 20 and 30% sunshine deficit
“At the scale of the season and the country, we record a sunshine deficit close to 20%, which reaches 30% locally in the north-east of France”, according to Météo-France, making spring 2024 the one of the darkest, “comparable to the spring of 2013 and 1983”.
“Despite a gloomy feeling due to heavy rains and lack of sunshine, temperatures remained above normal on average over the season, with an anomaly of +0.8°C compared to 1991-2020 normals,” underlines however the public establishment.
We have to go back to spring 2021 (-1.0 °C) to find a season colder than the normals of the period 1991-2020, yet already significantly warmer than at the end of the 19th century, before the effect of emissions of greenhouse gases linked to human activity.
The month of May, despite several periods of coolness, is almost consistent (+0.1°C) with seasonal norms, always established over the previous three decades in meteorology.
“January 2022 is the last month below normal,” Météo-France told AFP, which makes May 2024 the 28th month equal to or above normal, which illustrates the effect of global warming in mainland France. .