June is second hottest since 1900

As flaming June sees temperatures cooling down after the storms – and rain today across much of the country – Météo France has revealed that it has been the second hottest June since 1900 – coming only behind 2003.

Forecasters also warned that the next three months look set to be “hotter and drier than normal” especially in western Europe.

The average temperature this month was 2.5C above normal, but this still pales beside June 2003, where temperatures were 4.1C higher than usual and sparked the killer heatwave that claimed 70,000 lives across Europe, with 20,000 in France.

That year also saw temperatures above 35C in two-thirds of reporting stations, above 40C in 15% of them and a new record temperature, of 44.1C, at St Christol-les-Alès and Conqueyrac in Gard.

Wednesday, June 21, was the hottest day this month with temperatures averaging 26.4C across the country, the hottest since the end of the war, and temperatures remained above 30C in Ile-de-France through the night into the Thursday.

Météo France say the hottest place this month was Montclus in Gard on June 23 - which hit 40C. For the major towns and cities, Toulouse reached 38.5C on June 22 and Avignon the same temperature on June 23.