The year 2023 is still on its way to temperature records. The month of June which is ending was the second hottest over the period 1900-2023 behind June 2003, Météo-France announced on Friday. The heat was marked in particular over a large northern half, while stormy episodes followed one another in the south. “The temperatures, both minimum and maximum, remained very mild over the month throughout France without, however, the country experiencing a real heat wave”, underlines Météo-France.
The past month was also remarkable for its thunderstorm activity, measured in lightning strikes: “June 2023 is already the second month of June with the most lightning strikes over the period 1997-2023 behind June 2022”, “with twice more lightning strikes than the average on June 28”, according to the provisional report.
Uneven rainfall across the territory
On the rainfall side, the average “should be close to normal” over the month, but “this hides a very contrasting situation depending on the territory”, notes Météo-France. Cumulative precipitation was thus clearly lacking in regions such as Hauts-de-France, Brittany and Alsace.
At the global level, the average global temperatures recorded in early June were the hottest ever recorded for this period by the European service Copernicus, the latter announced in mid-June. However, we will still have to wait to find out if the whole of June broke a record for this period.