In March, France experienced a rainfall surplus of nearly 85%

Europe 1 with AFP 12:03 p.m., April 3, 2024

France was affected by very heavy rainfall last month, with a rainfall surplus of almost 85% in the country, while Aude and the Pyrénées-Orientales however experienced a clear deficit, Météo-France said on Wednesday. “In March 2024, precipitation was abundant across the entire territory, more particularly from the Cévennes to the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region where numerous rainfall records were recorded,” notes the public body in its review of the past month.

“At the national level, the rainfall surplus reaches around 85%”, compared to the reference period 1991-2020, “i.e. the 5th wettest month of March since the beginning of measurements in 1958 (behind 2001, 1979 , 1978 and 2006)", specifies Météo-France. Bad weather and floods have marked several French regions over the past month, first in Gard and Hérault then more recently with floods in Indre-et-Loire or Burgundy.

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Great mildness in the middle of March

The territory was, however, affected unevenly by this precipitation: "Aude and the Pyrénées-Orientales have a rainfall deficit reaching 50% in places", underlines Météo-France. We thus recorded only 31 mm of rain in Perpignan, 40 mm in Carcassonne, or "barely half of the normal for the month of March". In terms of temperatures, Météo-France notes an episode of great mildness in the middle of March.

"At the scale of France and the month, the temperature reached 10.6°C, an anomaly of +1.6°C compared to the 1991-2020 normal. March 2024 thus ranks 4th among hottest months of March, tied with 2001 and 1981", details the results.