Hot summer for all - except Brittany

THIS summer was one of the sunniest and driest in the past 60 years, according to new data from Météo France.

The weather forecast agency said 2009 was the fifth hottest summer on record since 1950.

Daytime temperatures in June and July were on average 1.3°C higher than the seasonal norm.

This increased to 1.7°C in August, especially in the second half of the month when large parts of the country were placed on heatwave alert.

According to Météo France, almost every region in France recorded between 10% and 20% more sunshine than the summer average.

The exception was Brittany, which had almost 20% fewer hours of sunshine than usual.