Coolness has returned to a large part of France, mainly due to a descent of polar air.
This cold current will cause temperatures to drop below seasonal norms until the end of the week.
How can we explain this phenomenon, which is rather unusual for the month of June?
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The 8 p.m.
We had already gotten used to the sun at the beginning of June. However, you have to take the sweaters and jackets out of the closet. After a drop in temperatures linked to thunderstorms in the south-west of France during the night of Saturday June 8 to Sunday June 9, coolness has returned to a large part of France since Monday. In weather jargon, this is called a “polar air descent”, sometimes incorrectly referred to in the media as a “polar stall”. But don’t be afraid “something extreme, remarkable”while this week’s drop in temperatures and disrupted weather are “moderate”, tempers Météo-France. We explain to you what this current of fresh air consists of.
Temperatures in France are defined by a “jet stream”, a current present at high altitude, and determining in the configuration of the weather. Often delimited by a straight line passing from the United States to Northern Europe, it is “linked to a strong contrast in temperatures at mid-latitudes between the warm air of tropical latitudes on one side and the cold air of polar zones on the other”, defines Météo-France. However, it may happen that “this altitude circulation is disrupted with the intrusion at fairly low latitudes – ours – of cold air and a wind regime established in the dominant north, draining an air mass of polar origins, certainly, but temperate by its maritime journey”explains the meteorological institute in its bulletin.
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“All this is not exceptional at all. We have air coming from the polar latitudes and this explains a renewed freshness, after a week with temperatures already a little low, especially in the north. This is not an invasion of polar air, a term which is rather used for certain winter situations. We are just a few degrees below average., specifies to TF1info François Jobard, forecaster at Météo-France. So, “the next night (between Monday and Tuesday, editor’s note), we have a very cool air mass with temperatures which will sometimes drop below 5°C locally, particularly towards the Center region, the Paris basin, Champagne, Picardy or the interior of Normandy. However, there will be no frost and we will not be at record levels.” continues the meteorologist.
This week, average temperatures will therefore be around 15°C, or -2°C to -6°C below seasonal norms, depending on the region. “This level has not been reached at this time of year since 2019 and before that, we had to go back to 2013. On the other hand, in the 70s and 80s, it was reached almost every year and several times a year in month of June, with global warming, what was common before, is becoming rarer. concludes François Jobard.
