Weather in France September 30 - October 4: Autumnal weather and gales
Overcast and mild with showers in some areas before the return of clear skies and northerly winds
Mild temperatures will return this week
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Overcast skies and mild temperatures will return this week along with showers in many areas, with clear skies and northerly gales forecast on Thursday and Friday.
Temperatures reached record lows for September on Saturday (September 28), falling as low as 1C in Amiens (Somme), 2.5C in Carcassonne (Aude) and 5.9C in Béziers (Hérault), according to La Chaine Météo, owned by newspaper Le Figaro.
Milder temperatures will return this week, along with a mixed bag of autumnal weather and gales.
Monday, September 30
Overcast skies are forecast for all areas with the exceptions of Corsica and the Mediterranean coast.
Westerly gales will also buffet the northern half of the country, particularly the Channel coast.
A (yellow) weather alert has been raised due to the risk of high winds in Manche, Pas-de-Calais and Somme by French state weather service Météo France.
Light showers are forecast in some areas.
Maximum temperatures of 25C in Ajaccio (Corsica) and 23C in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône).
Tuesday, October 1
The general situation will remain stable, with overcast skies for much of the country, however the gales should subside.
Spates of showers may break out over a stretch spanning the middle of France from the west coast to the Jura as the band of cloud moves south.
The overcast weather should reach the Mediterranean coast by evening.
Maximum temperatures of 25C in Ajaccio (Corsica) and 23C in Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales).
Wednesday, October 2
The cloud cover should begin to thin, with mild temperatures, sunshine and showers forecast in many areas.
A northerly mistral wind is forecast to blow down through the Rhône valley from Montélimar (Drôme) to Marseille.
Maximum temperatures of 22C in Montpellier (Hérault) and Perpignan.
Thursday, October 3
Clear skies will return for much of the north and south of the country, with cloud dissipating in most places over the course of the day.
However, northerly gales are also forecast, with a strong mistral wind in the Rhône valley, potentially reaching 70km/h in Montélimar and Marseille.
Maximum temperatures of 22C in Montpellier and 20C in Nice (Alpes-Maritimes).
Friday, October 4
The clear skies should remain in most areas, however rain is forecast to return to the east of the country from Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) to Nice and as far west as Vichy (Allier).
Maximum temperatures of 22C in Ajaccio and 21C in Montpellier.