What are the main negative temperature records in ?

You didn't escape it this morning, it's freezing outside, really cold. With negative temperatures reaching -8°C in places. This is below seasonal norms, but there is nothing abnormal in mid-January. This is also a far cry from the historic negative temperature records that the country has experienced in the past.

Whether you are a fan of polar temperatures or a defender of thick socks by the fire, certain cold records are enough to make your blood run cold…

Direction the Jura, at La Mouthe, with its cold record measured by its Météo- station located at an altitude of 930 meters. This village, which is said to be the coldest in France in winter, established the official record of -36.7°C on January 13, 1968. For information, Météo-France said in the afternoon, the temperature had risen to +1.1°C, or nearly 38°C of thermal amplitude over one day…

Cold waves just as difficult to live with

Weather specialists agree that there are probably other records in certain corners of France, but which have remained unknown due to the lack of ability to install temperature measuring instruments. A local weather station recorded another cold record in Mouthe in 1985, at -41°C.

Even more difficult to live with than local peaks are cold waves. The hardest France has ever known since records began in 1900? That of February 1956, reports Météo-France. For three weeks, freezing air remained blocked over the country, particularly in the north-eastern quarter, which saw the mercury drop to between -18 and -20°C. The cold reached extreme values, with -28°C measured on February 10 at Mont Aigoual (, Lozère) at an altitude of 1,567 m, and -32.9°C the same day at Pic du Midi (Hautes-Pyrénées). ). This cold snap was even the cause of numerous and significant snowfalls, with nearly 70 cm falling in Saint-Tropez. Further west, on February 21, a snowstorm isolated Aquitaine, with snow reaching 80 cm in the streets of .

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Since then, other historic cold waves have affected France. In 1963 then in 1968, particularly in the plains and the northern and eastern regions: – 35°C in , – 34.5°C in . This cold episode was one of the most extreme in the north-east of France, and several towns in the region had the thermometer plunge well below -30°C. In January 1985, the country also experienced a severe cold spell. The weather station recorded -36.5°C on January 5 in Puy-en-Velay, Haute-.

In recent decades, episodes of extreme cold have become rarer and the last cold spell dates back thirteen years, in February 2012, with a temperature of -32.5°C recorded in Clermont-Ferrand. While scientists predict that climate change could affect these cold records, paradoxically, this does not necessarily mean their disappearance.

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