In its 2024 climate report, Météo-France reports that the year 2024 most often presented a deficit of sunshine.
This is even the worst year, on average, in almost thirty years.
This year is also among the ten rainiest years and among the five hottest years in France.
Follow the full coverage
The 8 p.m.
In 2024, a blanket of grayness covered France, and particularly the North. This fall, the opportunities to see the blue sky have been rare, which is weighing on the morale of the department’s residents. “We’ve had low, gray skies for weeks and weeks… Not like morale, but almost”underlines a passerby. “We no longer see the day”regrets another in the TF1 8 p.m. report visible at the top of this article.
An impact on morale
This observation is confirmed by the 2024 climate report drawn up by Météo-France. According to this document, sunshine was most often in deficit during the year, with the exception of January and August. 2024 is even the least sunny year, on average, in almost 30 years. “On average over the year, the sunshine, with a significant deficit of around 10%, is close to the historically low sunshine of the years 1987 or 1992, 1993, 1994”notes the French weather agency.
This is particularly the case in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. At Le Touquet-Paris-Plage for example, 1520 hours of sunshine were recorded. This is 190 hours less than in 2023. Likewise, in Valenciennes, 195 fewer hours of sunshine were noted compared to the previous year. In question: the persistent presence of an anticyclone.
“Everything that is below cannot evaporate, cannot leave in the atmosphere, remains in the lower layers of the atmosphere and it is this grayness which has been disturbing us for several weeks now. The lengths of the days are already shorter, and when there is no sun, that’s what makes us a little gloomy”explains Patrick Marlière, director of Medias Weather, in Raimbeaucourt, in the North.
-
Read also
2030, 2050, 2100: what will the climate be like in your region in the years to come?
The absence of sunlight is not without consequences for health. The majority of French people are deficient in vitamin D, which is essential for bones and immune defenses. In a pharmacy in Douai, prescriptions for ampoules jumped by 20% this year, due to lack of sunshine. “The only way to naturally synthesize vitamin D is contact with the sun’s rays with the skin and that’s what sets the vitamin D synthesis mechanism in motion. The problem is that it requires a certain amount of sunshine and a certain exposure, at least 15 minutes and over large areas. This is completely improbable in the middle of winter, especially in the North.underlines pharmacist Marion Bonafos.
Despite the lack of sunshine, 2024 is among the five hottest years in France. The year is also among the ten rainiest. “As a direct result of the rains, the soils remained wetter than normal for eight months, something unheard of in more than thirty years. 2024 was marked by numerous bad weather and episodes of intense precipitation,” Météo-France alert.
