The period from January 1 to April 9, 2024, which marks the first 100 days of the year, was the hottest temperature ever recorded in France. And the difference with the 2nd hottest value ever recorded for the same period is relatively marked.
France has never recorded a start to the year as hot as that of 2024. With a national thermal indicator of 9.2°C, the first 100 days of the current year are those which experienced the temperature highest average since measurements began, note on the social network X François Jobard, forecaster at Météo France.
Seven of the 10 warmest starts to the year date after 2000
As shown in François Jobard’s post, the difference between the average temperature measured in France during the first 100 days of 2024 and the second hottest value over this period is relatively significant, of the order of 0.2°C.
The graph below shows that the average temperature at the start of 2024 is also significantly higher than those in the rest of the top 10 over this period.
It should also be noted that 7 of the 10 hottest starts to the year were recorded after 2000, a sign that global warming is indeed at work.
A record that is not a surprise
The fact that the first 100 days of 2024 were the hottest on record in France is not really a surprise. Even if France experienced a cold episode at the beginning of January, the last few weeks have mainly been marked by very significant temperature anomalies (difference from normal).
For example, on January 24, an average of 12.3°C was noted in France, while the climatic normal, based on the period 1991-2020, was located at only 5.2°C. Very marked temperature anomalies continued to be recorded until the end of February. Other heat episodes were recorded in mid-March (14.2°C on March 18, compared to a normal of 9.9°C) or early April (17.6°C on April 6, compared to a normal of 10 .7°C). A series of warm anomalies which should lengthen a little further, since the weekend of April 13 and 14 should be marked by a new heat peak.
