For the first weekend of the Christmas holidays, the weather looks set to be quite unsettled in France, despite a lull this Friday, December 20. Temperatures are falling.
For this weekend of road trips and the start of the Christmas holidays, the forecast is for scattered rain, wind and even snowfall in the mountains this Sunday, December 22, down to low altitude.
After the passage of an already disturbed front this Thursday, December 19, a brief calm is expected this Friday. The sky will be clear over the entire territory in the morning before gray weather returns via the Channel coast and settles in over the entire north-eastern quarter.
If the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Côte d’Azur will remain under the sun, France will be cut in two at the end of the day with showers expected from Vendée to the Belgian border.
The situation should not particularly improve this Saturday and Sunday, where only the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region should pass through the raindrops. Consequence of a strong windy episode with the “Dionisio” depression.
Strong gusts of wind in the Mediterranean
Since 2 a.m. this Friday, Corsica has entered orange alert for violent winds. The strongest gusts expected are revised upwards since Météo-France mentions values of between 120 and 140 km/h and up to 180 km/h on Cap Corse. Which still remains ordinary for the area.
However, the wind will then shift to the northwest with gusts of up to 120 km/h, which is less usual. The squalls will affect the entire coastline, but especially the western part of the island. “The wind will gradually ease on Friday afternoon and disappear in the evening,” specifies the meteorological agency.
“Mistral and Tramontane will blow again in strong gusts on Sunday,” warns the Weather Channel.
Drop in temperatures and snow at low altitudes
The conjunction of these factors will lead to a clear cooling of the mercury level in France, as we enter winter this Saturday on the occasion of the solstice, the date from which the days will lengthen gradually.
Météo-France forecasts temperatures between 3°C in Belfort and 15°C near Nice this Friday. It will be up to 8°C in Lille, 9°C in Paris and 12°C in Brest. A similar trend should be confirmed for the start of the weekend.
The arrival of a cooler air mass over the hours of Sunday will even cause snowfall. It is in the Northern Alps that the quantities of snow will be the greatest with 30-50 cm around 1500 m and up to 80 cm at 2000 m.
“The other mountain ranges will also be affected,” indicates La Chaîne Météo, mentioning 20 to 40 cm in the Jura and the Pyrenees depending on the altitude.
“These snowfalls will continue on Monday to fairly low altitudes and across the entire terrain,” concludes Météo-France. Enough to whiten the slopes at the perfect time as Christmas vacationers prepare to flock to the ski resorts.
