2014 warmest on record - but wet

2014 will make weather history as the warmest year in France since accurate nationwide records began in 1900.

With 10 days until the end of the year, and barring a sudden cold snap that has not been forecast, temperatures are 1.2°C higher than average.

It has been warmer than usual in every month this year - except July and August. The Toussaint holidays were particularly warm - even reaching 30°C at Arcachon seaside resort on the Atlantic coast.

Another topsy-turvy feature of this year's weather can be found in the sunlight stats: 20 per cent higher than usual in Brittany, but 20 per cent lower than the norm in the south.

2014 has also been a wet one: with rainfall in the Pays-de-la-Loire, Centre, Ile-de-France, Normandy and Picardy about 50 per cent higher than the annual average.

Previous temperature records were in 2011 (1.1°C above average) and 2003 - the year of the summer heatwave - which was 1°C above the norm.