2024 climate report in France: precipitation, sunshine, temperatures… the weather year in figures

The year 2024 was marked by numerous bad weather and episodes of intense precipitation. 2024 is one of the 10 rainiest years and one of the 5 hottest years in France. The direct consequence of these rains is that the soils remained wetter than normal for 8 months. Unheard of in over 30 years.

Precipitation

With more than 1000 mm on average over the country, the year 2024 was an excess of around 15%, and ranks among the 10 rainiest years since 1959. 2024 sees excess rainfall over almost the entire country, with the exception of Pyrénées-Orientales with a deficit of -10% and Aude with a deficit of -20%.

Temperatures

With a provisional average temperature of around 14°C and an anomaly of +1°C compared to the 1991-2020 normal, the year 2024 is among the 5 hottest years since measurements began in 1900. Sign of climate change, 9 of the 10 hottest years in France are beyond 2010. In 2024, the days warmer than normal were two times more numerous than colder days.

Sunshine

Sunshine was most often in deficit during 2024, with the exception of January and August. 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.

Snow

In a dynamic of decreasing snow cover, 2024 is marked by a strong contrast in snow cover depending on altitude and massifs, characteristic of current and future climate change. At high altitude, the winter of 2023-2024 shows that heavy snowfall remains occasionally possible even in a warming climate. According to TRACC projections, the Pyrenean massifs would see a scarcity of snow at low altitude (1500 meters) by 2050.

The year 2024 in the regions

Regarding temperatures, over a large eastern half of the country, temperatures on average over the year are +1 to +1.3°C above the 1991-2020 reference averages. On the other hand, in Pays de la Loire and Brittany, the number of hot days (with a maximum temperature above 25°C) was very low, often between 15 and 30, i.e. 10 to 15 days less than the average. normal.