New map shows hours of sunshine in France for 2019

The map, which was compiled by French news network FranceInfo using data from forecaster Météo France, compares hours of sunlight seen compared to the average for each region.

The north of the country has seen significantly less sunlight than the average so far this year, in contrast to the south, which has had more.

The map, which is interactive on the FranceInfo website, features data points across the country, with the size of the circles corresponding to hours of sunlight compared to the average.

The smaller the circle or dot, the least amount of sunshine compared to the the average. The larger the circle or dot, the higher than average.

The sunniest regions were Corsica, Montpellier, and surrounding areas; while the least sunny were Rouen, Beauvais, Paris, and Chartres.

Inhabitants of Rouen have seen the sun for just two hours so far, a full 28 hours and 20 minutes’ fewer than average for the area. Paris was not much better; just eight hours 37 minutes of sunshine has been recorded in the capital since January 1; 23 hours’ fewer than the average.

In contrast, sunshine hours in Occitanie, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and in Corsica have been well above average for this time of the year.

Solenzara in Corsica saw an incredible 119 hours 32 minutes of sunshine between January 1 and 16, a full 55 hours and 18 minutes more than the average (64 hours 45 minutes) for this time of year.