Christophe Lehenaff / Getty Images
The first weekend of October will experience temperatures worthy of summer.
WEATHER – Sun and heat. This weekend of October 7 and 8 promises to be abnormally mild, even worthy of summer days: temperatures will be particularly high for the season and no drop of rain is expected in France, indicates Météo-France.
Temperatures began to rise this Friday, October 6, reaching maximums around 20°C to 24°C in the center and northern half of the country (notably 21°C in Brest, Paris or Strasbourg this Friday at 4 p.m., 22°C C in Nancy, 23°C in Lyon and Dijon, 24°C in Rennes, Limoges and Nantes, etc.) and exceeding 25°C in a large South-West quarter and on the Mediterranean rim (25°C in Marseille and Perpignan, 26°C in Ajaccio, 27°C in Bordeaux and 28°C in Toulouse).
And this is just the beginning because this weekend, highs could reach up to 32 degrees in the south of the country. The highest values are expected in the Pyrenees and on the Mediterranean coast.
“Very unusual levels”
This Saturday, “the mercury will reach very unusual levels in the afternoon for the month of October, and sometimes unprecedented this late in the season”explains Météo France. “The threshold of 30°C will be reached quite often in Occitanie and southern Aquitaine, and locally in the interior of Provence. » The mercury should particularly rise in Pau, Mont-de-Marsan, Toulouse, Foix, Albi, Draguignan or even in the Camargue (30°C expected in these towns), but also in Mimizan, on the Landes coast, Tarbes, Castres, Cahors, Nîmes or Carcassonne, with 31°C forecast.
It will also be hot in the northern half, where “the threshold of 25°C will often be crossed” with 24°C expected in Brest, 25°C in Strasbourg, Belfort and Amiens, 26°C for Paris and Auxerre, 27°C for Rennes, Nantes and La Rochelle.
Sunday, a new surge in mercury in France, with temperatures rising a few tenths more in Toulouse, Auch, Foix, Alès, Avignon, Agen, Pau, Poitiers, Niort, Angoulême and Mont-de-Marsan (31°C) and in Nîmes, Draguignan, Cahors, Tulle, Limoges or Albi (32°C). Many cities will also reach 30°C, around the Mediterranean but also from Lozère to Aveyron, from Gironde to Dordogne via the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Allier and even Vendée.
“On Monday, most regions will see temperatures exceed 25°C, while values between 30 and 32°C will be quite common in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie, PACA, Berry and as far as the Loire”underlines Météo-France. “This new heat peak will bring us maximum temperatures usually observed in October much further south of Europe, or in the Maghreb”observe thus The Weather Channel.
Over the next few days, “certain stations in a large southwest quarter should experience their latest 30°C, anticipates Météo-France. This is probable in Toulouse (30°C reached so far by October 6, 2009 at the latest), possible for example in Poitiers (October 2, 2011 and 2023) and Châteauroux (October 7, 2009). The national thermal indicator of maximum temperature could exceed 27°C for a few days from Sunday. To date, this indicator has never reached 26 degrees after October 7 (26.0 °C on October 7, 2009). »
Heat records for October already broken
While the month of September 2023 was the hottest ever recorded in France and worldwide, October is therefore in line with it. During the day of October 2, “one of the hottest observed in October in France”, no less than 400 heat records were broken in the space of 24 hours, underlined French agrometeorologist Serge Zaka. The first decade of October could thus become the hottest ever recorded since weather records began in 1900.
The good weather should continue at the start of next week, under the effect of an anticyclone which protects France from disturbances. “The weather should become slightly unsettled again in the northern half of the country in the middle of next week, but temperatures will probably remain quite well above seasonal norms in the country until the end of the week”warns Météo France.
According to the European Copernicus Observatory, the year 2023 is on track to become the hottest on record globally, approaching an anomaly of +1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial era. These records can be explained by climate change caused by man, to which is added this year the El Niño phenomenon.
Also see on The HuffPost: