Towards a Heat Wave in France: Spectacular Rise in Temperatures Next Week

Temperatures will jump in France, with summer air at the end of May 2026, according to weather models. Radical change in weather.

“We will gain around 15°C in places by Sunday 24th May 2026! “, anticipates the meteorologist Yann Amice. After the unusual coolness of this Ascension weekend, temperatures will skyrocket next week in France.

Weather models now seem unanimous. Meteorologists speak of a situation of anticyclonic blockage. A powerful area of high pressure which will bring back the sun, and bring heat. A summer air!

But we will have to wait a few more days. The return of temperatures within seasonal norms on a national scale is expected early next week, then, from Wednesday 20th May, they will go above seasonal norms. And certainly even well above!

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In the meantime, after the wind, there snow in the mountains from 1,000 meters above sea level sometimes and showers in the plains, the trend will improve this Saturday 16th May, with an air mass which will gradually dry up. In the south, mistral and tramontane will still blow at 60-70 km/h and up to 80/90 km/h towards Cap Corse. But, late in the afternoon of this Saturday, a new light rain disturbance will approach the tip of Brittany. The maximums will always remain cool for the season and will only exceed 20°C on the shores of the Mediterranean this Saturday.

🌡️La fraîcheur hors saison touche bientôt à sa fin sur la #France. Le flux va en effet basculer au sud-ouest en altitude la semaine prochaine, apportant une nette hausse des températures et même le retour de la #chaleur sur notre pays.
Animation : TropicalTidBits pic.twitter.com/JkZUyuw2AH
— Guillaume Séchet (@Meteovilles) May 15, 2026

Freshness will dominate again this weekend

Sunday 17th May, while this new disturbance will affect the northwest regions, dry and milder weather will return elsewhere and temperatures will then begin to rise. Which will continue.

Bouffée de #chaleur aux allures d’été sur les radars..
Bel accord des modèles sur une langue d’air subtropical s’étendant sur le pays ≈milieu de semaine pro, poussée par une dépression atlantique. Masse d’air pot. intense selon certains scénarios. À surveiller vu l’échéance. pic.twitter.com/xTsiXDJWTl
— Guillaume Jauseau (@GJauseau) May 14, 2026

The Azores anticyclone, absent since the end of April, will gradually extend its influence towards France between now and the Pentecost weekend.
Yann Amice – Meteorologist

And, as the days go by, next week, the flow will move to the southeast, synonymous with heatstroke. The sun will dominate in an atmosphere becoming very spring-like, even summery, with the 30°C mark which could well be approached in the southwest. And the heat threshold (25°C) will be approached or slightly exceeded in many regions.

The contrast next week promises to be striking. If the temperatures are worthy of mid-March on this Ascension Bridge, they will be at a high summer level for the pentecost weekend !