France is roughly 1100 km from north to south and about the same distance from its most westerly point to its eastern extremity of Alsace. That makes it the largest country in Europe and twice the size of the UK.
So you don’t have to be a professional climatologist to conclude that there must be quite a temperature variation from the country’s top to its bottom! And, of course, between the high mountains of the Alps, Pyrenees, Central Massif and the Atlantic and the Mediterranean lowlands.
Understandably, climate and temperature are significant influencers in where people choose to buy a property in France. If you are keen on winter sports then you will expect to live with lower temperatures than if your priority is to barbecue and enjoy sultry evenings for eleven months of the year.
Some say that France has three climates but when you weigh up the country’s various geographical transitions throughout its length and breadth, a distinct four-weather pattern tends to emerge.
Starting in the northern coastal regions of Nord Pas-de-Calais, Picardie, Haute and Basse Normandie and, to a slightly lesser degree, Bretagne, the climate is temperate, not dissimilar to that of the UK. Winters are “mild” and summers not particularly warm, although global warming seems to be influencing this, plus it’s spiced with a year-round unpredictability of more or less rain!
Pays de la Loire, Poitou-Charentes and Aquitaine in the south west reap the benefits of the Atlantic coast and the Gulf Stream. Winters are generally warmer and summers can be hot with substantially less rainfall than the north. Although quite spectacular thunderstorms are a common summertime feature.
The Vendee is a particular feature of this area where many Brits choose to put down their roots possibly because it boasts a microclimate meaning it enjoys over 2,500 sunshine hours a year – that’s virtually equal to the South of France.
The Dordogne, Lot, Tarn-et-Garonne, Gers and so on too, have warm, hot reputations with plenty of sunshine, but that doesn’t mean that it never rains across these regions. The summers are considerably hotter than England, which is a big attraction for people seeking to buy a second home and make a reliable income from the French indomitable leaseback arrangement.
Provence, Languedoc Roussillion and, of course, Corsica bathe in a typical Mediterranean climate where there are hot summer days and short, mild winters providing an ideal environment for people to retreat from a tiresome UK winter to their sun-kissed South of France home. But it’s not without its surprises because the strong northerly Mistral wind blows across this area in late spring causing periods of cold windy weather that are known to tip the emotions of many a French man and woman.
Eastern France and the mountain areas of the Central Massif, the Rhône-Alpes, the Jura mountains and on up to Alsace can experience quite severe winters and stormy summers as you would expect from these relatively elevated regions. But then the people who orientate towards these areas to purchase second homes are, probably, most interested in this vast winter sports arena which stretches along hundreds of kilometres of France’s extraordinarily beautiful eastern border.
There can be little doubt that France has an exceptional, unique climate embracing so many variations that there is something to suit literally everyone from the excitement of a crisp, snow-covered black run to year-round swimming in your Mediterranean home’s outdoor pool.
