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Fréjus Tunnel that connects France and Italy to close this weekend
The tunnel will close for 12 hours and not the 56 hours originally announced
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TotalEnergies opens service station for electric vehicles in Paris
It is the first of its kind in the capital and has ultra-fast charging
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Conductors on French public transport will soon be able to check your address
Move is part of anti-fraud plans to prevent people from giving false information during fines including on SNCF trains
March hits temperature record
Thermometer was registering May temperatures most of the month - with the last day like June or July
Last month was the warmest March since 1900, hitting an average of 11C or 2.3C above the normal.
It equalled the temperature reached in March 1957 and Météo France said that even the coldest days were warmer than the average and the last 10 days had temperatures normally seen in May.
However, warm does not mean dry and Météo France said that it was a ‘well watered’ month although the normal rainy areas of Brittany, Ardennes and Nord were spared.
The previous temperature record of 10.7C was reached in 1948, 1994 and 1997 and March followed a mild February that was 2.5C above normal – although January was a chilly 2C below average temperatures.
The northern part of France reaped especial benefit from the warm month, with record temperatures set at Le Bourget and Villacoublay in Ile-de-France. Le Bourget notched 10.7C – the warmest March since 1920 – while Villacoublay was 10.4C against the old record from 1946.
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Dunkirk on the Channel coast reached 10.1C – the warmest since 1917 – and Le Mans at 10.9C was the warmest since 1944.
But the last day of March broke records across the north, with temperatures 7-11C above normal and June or July temperatures last Friday of 23.7C in Paris, 24.4C in Bourg-Saint-Maurice (73), 23.9C in Chartres (28), 23.4C in Rennes (35), 23.1C in Deauville (14) and 22.4C in Cherbourg (50).
Today will see clouds building to rain in the west and spreading to the northern centre of the country by late afternoon and largely sunny across southern parts.
Le mois de mars a été le plus chaud en France depuis 1900, ex aequo avec 1957 https://t.co/wyrfmOE7TL pic.twitter.com/OvfZ6IvQz5
— 20 Minutes (@20Minutes) April 4, 2017
#MeteoDeDemain Un peu plus plus frais, temps gris et humide sur l'Ouest. ▶https://t.co/Z34IMbj7oV pic.twitter.com/3BFtux8LTj
— Météo-France (@meteofrance) April 3, 2017