Of course, the weather is not the climate and, in France, snow at Christmas is not really a tradition. But from year to year, the temperatures are more and more lenient on December 25th. So much so that each year several municipalities beat their record for heat in such a period. This year, you had to go to Belcaire (Aude, 21.3°C), Brive-la-Gaillarde (Corrèze, 20°C), Charmes (Allier, 17.9°C) or Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie , 12.2°C) to qualify, according to The Weather Channel.
Overall, temperatures were spring-like in the southern half of the country. In addition to Brive, the 20°C mark was exceeded in seven other weather stations on the main network, according to Météo Ciel. This was the case at the tip of Socoa, Dax, Mont-de-Marsan, Biarritz, Pau and Clermont-Ferrand. The mercury was up to 22.4 ° C in Bagnères-de-Luchon, in Haute-Garonne, in the Pyrenees. Not records for December, but very mild temperatures for the period.
Result, on average throughout France it was 11.3 ° C degrees, or 5 degrees more than normal. According to the journalist of Parisian, Nicolas Berrod, it is therefore the second hottest December 25 since the weather records exist, after Christmas Day in 1997. It was just under 12°C that day. This is, once again, an extreme event, compared to normal, according to RTL. The radio interviewed the agroclimatologist Serge Zaka, who notes that “the number of mornings when the mildness is important has multiplied by five since 1945”, while “the number of afternoons when the cold is important has been divided by 6 since 1945”.