Last month, there was 20% more rain than the 1991-2020 average, causing storms, floods and mudslides in some places, according to Météo-France. In detail, the rain “sometimes exceeded double the normal from Pays de la Loire and Poitou to Burgundy, as well as in the central Alps and Haute-Corse”. On the other hand, other departments were much less rained: in the Manche, Languedoc, Roussillon and the Côte d’Azur, the level of precipitation reached “barely half the normal” and was “slightly deficient north of the Seine”.
Numerous violent storms
Numerous storms hit the country, particularly during the second half of the month, with sometimes several months’ worth of rain falling in just a few hours.
Thus, on June 18, in Cossé-le-Vivien (Mayenne), cumulative rainfall reached 133 mm, including more than 100 mm in less than an hour. Three days later, Isère saw 120 mm of rain fall in 48 hours, which, coupled with an accelerated melting of the snowpack at 3,000 meters caused by rising temperatures, caused torrential floods devastating the hamlet of La Bérarde. The Vésubie valley, devastated by storm Alex in October 2020, also suffered a new flood on June 24.
Seasonal temperatures
In terms of mercury, despite a gloomy impression linked to the rain, the lack of sunshine (-15% on average nationally) and the frosts and particularly cool temperatures recorded on June 12, last month was on average in line with seasonal values, just as May had been.
Only the last week of June was summery, with, for the first time this year, the 30°C mark being crossed in Paris and Bordeaux on June 25.
