Saturday was the hottest day ever observed in France before April 15, with temperatures exceeding 31°C.

The national thermal indicator, which averages the daily temperature in France, reached 17.9°C on Saturday.

The day of Saturday April 13 was the hottest day ever observed in mainland France before mid-April, according to Météo-France data published Monday April 15. The national thermal indicator – the average daily temperature in the territory – reached 17.9°C, more than the previous record which dated from the previous weekend (Saturday April 6, 17.6°C). This early and exceptional heat peak is the consequence of“a mass of very soft air” coming from Western Sahara, explains Météo-France.

While the consequences of global warming are increasingly visible in France and around the world, temperatures exceeded 30°C this weekend, and particularly on Saturday. That day, several records were broken for the period, notably in Grospierres, in Ardèche (31.4°C), in Carcassonne, in Aude (31.3°C), and in Aix-en-Provence, in the Bouches-du-Rhône (28.9°C). It was also very hot in the mountains, where 19.6°C was measured at L’Alpe d’Huez (Isère), at 1,860 meters above sea level.

The weekend was also marked by extreme heat on Sunday, where the national thermal indicator reached 17°C. He thus it was 31°C in Issoire (Puy-de-Dôme), “i.e. a temperature higher than seasonal norms of 14°C”, according to Météo-France. In Grenoble (Isère), the mercury exceeded 30°C, or 11°C above seasonal norms.

Since the 19th century, the Earth’s average temperature has warmed by 1.1°C. Scientists have established with certainty that this increase is due to human activities, which consume fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas). This warming, unprecedented in its speed, threatens the future of our societies and biodiversity. But solutions – renewable energies, sobriety, reduced meat consumption – exist. Discover our answers to your questions about the climate crisis.