Thunderstorms and Heavy Showers for this Ascension Thursday: Météo France places 74 Departments on Alert

This Ascension Thursday 14th May 2026, promises to be unusually cold for the season. On the menu: snow from 1200 meters, showers, and thunderstorms! The forecasts.

The Ascension with a brand, in France! This Thursday 14th May 2026 will see the return of the snow in the mountains, at medium altitude, and the multiplication of showers, sometimes thunderstorms, in the plains, in many regions.

Showers in the form of sleet or showers. All this, under a sensitive (and very, very cool) northwest wind. In its 6 a.m. bulletin, this Thursday 14th May 2026, Météo France places 74 departments on alert, mainly for these risks of storms.

The departments placed on alert this Thursday, May 14, 2026:

Ain thunderstorms
Aisne thunderstorms
Allier thunderstorms
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence : thunderstorms, snow-ice
Hautes-alpes : thunderstorms, snow-ice, avalanches
Ardèche thunderstorms
Ardennes thunderstorms
Dawn thunderstorms
Calvados thunderstorms
Cantal thunderstorms
Cher thunderstorms
Corrèze thunderstorms
South Corsica wind
Upper Corsica wind
Côte d’Or thunderstorms
Côtes d’Armor thunderstorms
Creuse thunderstorms
Doubs thunderstorms
Drôme thunderstorms
Eure thunderstorms
Eure-et-loir thunderstorms
Ille-et-Vilaine thunderstorms
Indre thunderstorms
Indre-et-loire thunderstorms
Isère : thunderstorms, snow-ice, avalanches
Jura thunderstorms
Loir-et-Cher thunderstorms
Loire thunderstorms
Haute-loire thunderstorms
Loire-atlantique thunderstorms
Loiret thunderstorms
Lozère thunderstorms
Maine-et-Loire thunderstorms
Manche thunderstorms
Marne thunderstorms
Haute-marne thunderstorms
Mayenne thunderstorms
Meurthe-et-Moselle thunderstorms
Meuse thunderstorms
Morbihan thunderstorms
Moselle thunderstorms
Nièvre thunderstorms
Nord thunderstorms
Oise thunderstorms
Orne thunderstorms
Pas-de-calais thunderstorms
Puy-de-dôme thunderstorms
Pyrénées-atlantiques : rain-flood
Pyrénées-orientales : rain-flood
Bas-rhin thunderstorms
Haut-rhin thunderstorms
Rhône thunderstorms
Haute-saône thunderstorms
Saône-et-loire thunderstorms
Sarthe thunderstorms
Savoy : thunderstorms, snow-ice, avalanches
Haute-savoie : thunderstorms, snow-ice, avalanches
Paris thunderstorms
Seine-maritime thunderstorms
Seine-et-marne thunderstorms
Yvelines thunderstorms
Deux-sèvres thunderstorms
Sum thunderstorms
Vaucluse thunderstorms
Vienna thunderstorms
Haute-vienne thunderstorms
Vosges thunderstorms
Yonne thunderstorms
Terr. of Belfort thunderstorms
Essonne thunderstorms
Hauts-de-Seine thunderstorms
Seine-st-denis thunderstorms
Val-de-marne thunderstorms
Val-d’oise thunderstorms

This Thursday, holiday, showers will thus be almost widespread in France, in a (very) cool atmosphere for this time of year.

In the afternoon of this Ascension Thursday, “except around the Gulf of Lion where the weather will remain dry, but windy”, details the organization weather everywhere else, showers will multiply and intensify, particularly in a northeastern quarter where they will take on a stormy character and will be accompanied by sleet.

And in the mountains, snow will sometimes fall from an altitude of 1,200 meters.

Cumulative precipitation in France by this Friday 15th May at midday, according to the Arome weather model.

Temperatures between five and eight degrees below average!

In this influx of polar air, the northwest wind will remain noticeable in the north of the country with gusts reaching 70 km/h by the sea, and 50 km/h inland.

To the south, the tramontane will blow in gusts, between 60 and 80 km/h. And in Corsica, the west wind will be even stronger with gusts exceeding 100 km/h on the ends of the island, or even closer to exposed capes.

The arrival of air at -28°C or -29°C over France around 5,500 meters above sea level will constitute a powerful engine of instability. This air will generate frequent showers, locally stormy, with hail or sleet for this Ascension Bridge.
Yann Amice – Meteorologist

Minimum temperatures this Thursday will be between 4 and 5°C from the northeast to 9 to 10°C in the southwest, and up to 10 to 14°C near the Mediterranean. The maximums will cap between 11 and 16°C from north to south. They will flirt with the 20°C on the Mediterranean coast, reaching 22 to 23°C near the Côte d’Azur and in Corsica. Temperatures are often between five and eight degrees below seasonal averages.

READ ALSO: The thermometer will soar: radical change in weather next week in France, which awaits us

A slow improvement over the weekend…

It is this Friday 15th May which promises to be the coolest day of this autumn-like sequence. The improvement in the weather is expected (timidly) from this Saturday 16th May, even if the showers will still remain numerous.

Temperatures, still low this Saturday, should only begin to rise from Sunday 17th May. And the clear sun will return little by little over the next week, with summer air looming and temperatures soaring as we explain here. Patience!