Watch out for the cold snap, the mercury is falling and negative temperatures will set in across the whole of France in a few days.
Temperatures are expected to be cold for mid-January 2024. While several departments in the north of France are on orange or red alert for the risk of flooding and the rain continues to fall in the northern part of the country, the cold makes also its entry into France.
From this weekend of January 6 and 7, 2024, temperatures are likely to drop drastically. A trend which can be explained by a reversal of flows with low pressures heading towards southern Europe and the Balkans, in parallel with a rise in high pressures towards the United Kingdom and the North Sea. France will therefore receive a continental flow carrying air from Scandinavia. A strongly marked contrast after the gentleness brought by the ocean flow which has reigned for several weeks.
The drop in temperatures expected from this weekend should accelerate at the start of next week with negative temperatures from Monday January 8 almost everywhere. In the northern half of France, maximum temperatures will drop by 5°C and 7°C in the southern part. In total, temperatures are expected to drop by 7°C to 8°C compared to the previous week.
Météo France is forecasting -4°C in Limoges, Auxerre and Belfort and -5°C in Chaumont on Monday January 8. More generally, eastern France will be particularly affected by the cold at the start of next week with temperatures between -2°C and -5°C from Monday January 8 to Friday January 12. In the mountain ranges and particularly in the Alps and the Jura, the lowest temperatures could reach -10°C according to Wxcharts data relayed by Météo Paris. Still according to Wxcharts figures, temperatures could decrease between -10°C and -15°C on Tuesday January 9 in the central east of the country, as noted in this infographic produced by MétéoCilles using Wxcharts data.
The minimum could reach -15°C in the area around Gap, near the Italian border. The south of France will also experience negative temperatures which will oscillate between -2°C and -12°C in the southwest and particularly in the Pyrenees.
These temperatures below seasonal norms should also be accompanied by frost, initially in the north of the country. If these should take place mainly at night, the thaw during the day is likely to be quite weak. The cold could extend until mid-January with the lasting installation of an anticyclone in Iceland and the United Kingdom which should guarantee the maintenance of the continental flow in a large part of Europe. Although the cold is expected to continue in January, it is still too early to determine the temperature level at the end of January.
