France experienced its hottest spring “since records began in 1900”, marked by a scorching early heatwave at the end of May, the country’s weather service said Tuesday.
“With an average temperature of 13.8C, this spring of 2026 is the warmest ever recorded,” Météo France said in a briefing note covering the months of March through May.
The season broke previous spring records set in 2011 and 2020, the weather service added.
The end of the spring saw an “unprecedented heatwave” that particularly affected a large section of the country’s northwest, Météo France said.
France, Britain and Portugal reported their hottest-ever May days as a “heat dome” of warm air from northern Africa pushed temperatures well above normal levels across western Europe.
Météo France also said the country’s soils, which were very wet at the beginning of spring, had become “very dry” by the end of the season.
“The heatwave, combined with the lack of rainfall, caused a very rapid and widespread drying of the soils across the entire country,” the weather agency said.
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