Sunny weekend across France
The outlook is bright for the whole country for the coming days, with a cloudless weekend in store after months of gloom
AFTER months of cold and rain, today’s outlook is sunny over most of France – and the weekend is set to be even better.
Météo-France’s maps for Saturday afternoon shows the rare sight – especially at this time of year – of blazing sun across the whole of France.
Temperatures are predicted to reach as high as 20C in the south of Aquitaine on Saturday and even 18C in Brittany.
They are expected to start hotting up from today, reaching 16C in Paca and Languedoc-Roussillon. However, the weekend will be hotter, with those areas being among those predicted to hit 18C, along with Pays de la Loire, Limousin, Auvergne and Midi-Pyrénées.
Regions predicted to reach 17C on Saturday are also numerous, including Ile-de-France, Poitou-Charentes and Basse-Normandie.
Next week is looking good too, the forecasters say, with the worst expected being a little cloud, but with sunny spells, in parts of northern France on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, brightening up again for Wednesday.
While it’s generally good news for sun lovers, then, there are nonetheless a couple of downsides – increased air pollution in Ile-de-France, and, if you suffer allergies, a rising pollen count.
Pollution monitors Airparif say Paris has been hit by fine-particle pollution and increased nitrogen dioxide due to a combination of cold ground at night and warmer day temperatures, which causes the warmed air to be trapped near the ground.
The Paris mairie is taking measures including banning municipal staff from using cars and motorbikes except in emergencies.
Meanwhile pollen monitors at RNSA are warning of high levels of certain pollens, especially on the Riviera, Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées where cypress pollen is causing the most concern.
However levels are minimal in much of France, especially the north, north-west and north-east where many departments are on the lowest “green” level. See www.pollens.fr and click the carte de vigilance for more details of your area (place the cursor over the department for a breakdown of the pollens there).
