A rocky start to the year in terms of weather. These first days of 2025 will be marked by intermittent disturbances in several regions, as well as a strong variation in temperatures, from a mild spell on New Year's Day to a drop in the mercury the following days.
The northern half of the country wakes up on January 1 under a very cloudy veil this Wednesday morning, from Brittany to Loire" rel="tag">Pays de la Loire to the Benelux, including Île-de-France, notes Météo France in its latest bulletin.
Wednesday: gusts in the North-West, rains progress
In these same areas, the wind will gradually pick up over the hours, until it blows particularly strongly in the North: “southwest gusts reach 50 to 70 km/h inland in the afternoon, 70 at 90 in the coastal departments, locally 100 on the shores of the Channel, or even 100/110 km/h towards Boulonnais,” details the forecast agency.
The Weather Channel notes possible “100 km/h on the hills of Artois”, in Pas-de-Calais. And more broadly clouds “abundant over a large northwest quarter”, but without rain this morning, as well as frost and sometimes freezing fog over the Northeast. The situation will deteriorate this afternoon: “the cold front is asserting itself in the North-West with active rains and a very gloomy atmosphere”, she notes.
We should therefore expect precipitation from the end of the afternoon on the coast of the Channel and the North Sea, specifies Météo France on its website. They will be weak at first and then will strengthen “significantly” in the evening and during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, extending from the Channel coast to Paris and the Ardennes.
The rest of the country, however, will be spared from these disruptions, with Météo France predicting a “calmer New Year’s Day”. “Morning frosts are still frequent and grays coupled with sometimes freezing fog cover the plains of the South-West, the Val de Saône up to the Rhône corridor”, but elsewhere, the sun shines from the early hours of the day.
Note, however, a “very cloudy afternoon from the plains of Roussillon to the lower Rhône valley, and more locally along the Garonne valley”. In the rest of the south-eastern half, the weather is very sunny, with the exception of “a few maritime inlets around the Gulf of Lion”.
In terms of temperatures, the mercury rises significantly: 5 to 8°C from Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine to Lyonnais, as well as 8 to 12 in general in the rest of the country. The thermometer locally displays 13 to 16°C “near the ocean, on the Pyrenean foothills and the Côte d'Azur”. “Temperatures 3 to 5°C above seasonal norms,” notes La Chaîne Météo.
Thursday: mercury falling, snow expected in the North-East
The next day, the disturbance from the day before will gradually reach the central regions, “from Pays de la Loire and Poitou-Charentes to the northeast quarter” in the first part of the day, with marked rain, says Météo France. It is accompanied by a “descent of colder air at the rear”, reports the forecaster, who therefore foresees a risk of snow at low altitude in the North-East. The snowflakes will thus fall sustainably “from the Ardennes to Lorraine, forming a layer of up to a few centimeters from 300/400 m and more than 10 to 20 cm on the Vosges relief”.
In the afternoon and evening, the bad weather will progress from the north of New Aquitaine to Burgundy-Franche-Comté and Auvergne Rhône-Alpes. North of the Loire up to the Belgian border, however, clearing periods are expected, with a few rare showers.
Precipitation will remain sustained “from the north of New Aquitaine to the Grand-Est”, before the disturbance penetrates from the South-West to the North-West, underlines La Chaîne Météo. In the evening, the sky will be clear over “a large northwest quarter”, before freezing fogs which will settle in during the night.
On the mercury side, mild temperatures will continue in the southern regions, but will drop again north of the Loire, according to Météo France. “In the afternoon in the northern third, it will be between 4 and 7 degrees. Elsewhere, plan for maximums of 7 to 15 degrees,” indicates its latest bulletin.
Friday: morning frosts and new disturbance
From Friday, we will approach the end of the week with a day marked by a fairly low mercury, accompanied by numerous morning frosts still north of the Loire, reports Météo France. But for the Ile-de-France residents, the inhabitants of the Channel and those on the borders of the Benelux, the sun will finally return.
However, a new rainy disturbance will appear during the afternoon from Vendée to the South-West. “A few light showers may still occur from the southwest to the Alps with snow from 500-600 meters,” La Chaîne Météo also reports.
It will be followed by yet another disturbance, rainy and windy, for the weekend. Snowy precipitation could occur because of the cold air which should persist on Saturday north of the Loire, according to Météo France. The Weather Channel predicts “gray and humid weather in the south, with scattered rain”, and a “risk of snow in central regions”.
But these low temperatures could be limited to the far north of the country on Sunday, while the rest of the territory should experience “much milder” weather, forecasters from Météo France report.
