[DG57]

A temperature of 20°C is expected in the extreme South-West of France (Basque Country & Basque Coast) tomorrow. Unfortunately, I won't be over there... :(

[DG57]

Historic floods on Sunday 5th December 2010 in Cherbourg (North-West) due to melting snow and heavy rain. (link)

Natural Disaster State has been decreed for the city, by the Prime Minister, François Fillon.

[DG57]

Extreme "amplitude thermique" (temperature difference) between northern France and southern France from today to Wednesday.

Wednesday 8th December 2010, average temperatures :

northern half : MIN = 0°C, MAX = 3°C
southern half : MIN = 9°C, MAX = 17°C

Believe me, it is quite rare to have such a disparity between North and South ; a difference of 2 to 4 degrees (in terms of averages) is more usual whereas we'll have 9 degrees of difference in the morning and 14 degrees (!!!) in the afternoon.

TEMPERATURE FORECAST for tomorrow :

[DG57]

Quote

Veraz - 6/12/2010 21:24

Thank you for posting your reports from France Morgane - those floods in France look quite bad.

By the way, I note you mentioned the temp in SW France at 20 degrees. Pais Basco is in Spain is it not? Not France.

Basque Country is divided between France and Spain. Biarritz, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Espelette are French Basque cities. ;)

WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE IN ENGLISH

Espelette is reknown for its red peppers which can be grown due to the good climate.

Espelette (Wikipedia article in English)

[Dave K]

Quote

MorganeLanesle - 6/12/2010 20:35

Quote

Veraz - 6/12/2010 21:24 Thank you for posting your reports from France Morgane - those floods in France look quite bad. By the way, I note you mentioned the temp in SW France at 20 degrees. Pais Basco is in Spain is it not? Not France.

Basque Country is divided between France and Spain. Biarritz, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Espelette are French Basque cities. ;)

And home of some great French rugby talent such as Imanol Harinordoquy ;)

I went to a Basque restaurant once, in Besançon of all places - great cuisine :)

[DG57]

Today's temperatures, the ten warmest stations :

[DG57]

Quote

Big Dave's Gusset - 6/12/2010 21:44

Quote

MorganeLanesle - 6/12/2010 20:35

Quote

Veraz - 6/12/2010 21:24 Thank you for posting your reports from France Morgane - those floods in France look quite bad. By the way, I note you mentioned the temp in SW France at 20 degrees. Pais Basco is in Spain is it not? Not France.

Basque Country is divided between France and Spain. Biarritz, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Espelette are French Basque cities. ;)

And home of some great French rugby talent such as Imanol Harinordoquy ;)

I went to a Basque restaurant once, in Besançon of all places - great cuisine :)

Yes, indeed. I forgot to mention that... But as a woman, I love rugbymen's body (hehe).

[DG57]

23.5°C in Calvi yesterday, more than 24.0°C in the Balagne region (Corsica)...

Heavy snowfalls in the Greater Paris region have caused strong traffic jam today...

[Dave K]

Heavy snowfall ( 8 December )

Heavy snowfall put the French capital Paris into disarray. The Eiffel Tower was closed, and Charles de Gaulle airport had to remain closed for parts of the day. A weather station in Paris have measured 11 millimeters of rain, that is 11 centimeters of snow, during the day, it  was stated as the most snowfall in metropolitan area  since 1987.

The national traffic information center in France used only one word to characterize the situation: "Disaster."

At midday today, all bus routes at a standstill  in Paris. On the motor roads in and around the city, it was sometimes impossible to travel.

[DG57]

Thank you Dave. :)

[DG57]

Nice may experience its second day of frost this year, on Thursday 16th December, first occurring in mid-February with -0.9°C. Note : Nice have an average of frosty days of 1 per year.

[DG57]

Since today, there is a cold wave in the South, with morning frosts, almost all along the Mediterranean coast. Only the French Costa Brava (named Côte Vermeille) and the French Riviera (Côte d'Azur) will escape the frosts with +2°C in Collioure (Pyrénées-Orientales) and +2°C in Menton (Alpes-Maritimes). Ajaccio (Corsica) will see -1°C and Bastia (Corsica) will see -2°C.

Heavy amounts of snow will occur in the North-East (Orange Alert has been decreed for some departments in Lorraine and in Champagne-Ardenne). link
French Authorities are on the alert for this happening since the Parisian chaos, which made the population very angry (in particular against the Minister of the Interior, Brice Hortefeux 666 ).

[DG57]

I will post a link to TF1's evening tv-news as soon as it is available on the net. The journalist talked about the very heavy amounts of snow all over the territory (from Lorraine to the region of Lille, from Brittany and Normandy to Corsican mountains). Images speak of themselves.

In this evening tv-news, they also showed snow in other European countries : traffic jams in Germany and in Belgium, closed Airports, snow in Italy, low temperatures in Spain and... they also said that this December 2010 is probably the coldest ever since 1910 in the UK, despite being surrounded by relatively warm waters (that's how it was said).

[DG57]

Here are the evening tv-news from TF1 Channel (17 December 2010) :

Go to chapters 2 to 4 to hear "France under a new snowy offensive" ;
...chapter 5 to hear "Island of Beauty (Corsica) under the snow" ;
...chapter 8 to hear "coldness & snow hit also all Western Europe" : Switzerland, Germany, Spain, and even South Italy !

LINK

[Redskye]

Heavy looking skies rolling in over SE Brittany at moment although nothing falling yet. Don't think we'll be hit as bad as the other week - looks like Normandy will get the bulk of it this time. [sn]

[DG57]

I have never Never NEveR seen such an amount of snow in all my life ! I'm currently in the Moselle department to visit my cousins, and for them, too, the quantity of snow is exceptional since 1990 ! 50 to 55 cm ! I'll probably post photos that my cousin has taken tonight with his iPhone 4... Though I don't know if you'll realize the phenomenon, which is, I'm repeating myself, exceptional, even for the region.

We all had problem to climb the hills with our cars, etc., etc. What an evening ! :O

I want my French Riviera summer sun ! I miss warmth ! :(

I also wonder why the Moselle department has not been decreed to Red Alert...

[Redskye]

Have family visiting for the Christmas break travelling both down from CAEN and also via Eurotunnel. The drive down from the tunnel is absolutely horrendous judging by the texts i'm getting. Still on red alert over there ! Don't know when they will arrive. I travelled the same route the other week in the snow - journey took 21hours :( Last Jan was very bad in Bretagne, but this year is really going out with a bang as well. The forecast for Morhiban is up to double figures by the weekend - can't wait for it though.

[DG57]

These are not the photos I wanted to post firstly, but hey, at least, they were taken by day ! ;)

Sorry for posting so late.

[Coachbuster]

I have been noting the bizarre temperatures across France north/south in the last few days , i noted a 17c in the SW while -6 in the North East . Most weird ,never seen anything like it .

Great updates.