SEA temperatures have hit record highs this summer, and may stay that way throughout the month.
The Mediterranean is above the average for the season, beating a previous record set in 2003. In Corsica, temperatures of 27°C have been recorded.
A combination of a very sunny July and weak winds are behind the phenomenon.
Fabrice Lecornu of the research body Ifremer told France Info that the warm temperature would last throughout August: “If air temperatures continue to rise without any wind
Along the Mediterranean coast average temperatures are 24-25°C, while the Atlantic coast runs from 18°C in Brittany to 24°C along Aquitaine. The English Channel is between 15°C and 18°C.
The Atlantic Ocean is also warmer than usual for the season.
“This summer, as we had very hot masses of air, we also had a rise, more relative, in the temperatures of the English Channel and the Atlantic,” added Mr Lecornu.