France records hottest ever September

By Mounir Bennour

PARIS (AA) - France's meteorological institute announced Friday that this month is the hottest September ever recorded in France, with an average temperature well above normal.

It came after an exceptionally hot summer that was ranked as the fourth warmest since the start of climate measurements in 1900.

The average temperature in September 2023 was 21.5 C (70.7 F), marking an average increase of 3.6 C (38.4 F) above seasonal norms recorded between 1991 and 2020, according to Meteo France.

"Only 2 months have ended with such a warm temperature anomaly: February 1990 (+4.0C) and August 2003 (+3.7C). September 1949 concluded with a +2.7C (36.86F) deviation from the norms, and September 1961 with +2.4C (36.32F)," it said.

This "late heat wave episode," which occurred from Sept. 3 - 11, as reported by Meteo France, is unprecedented, with temperatures exceeding seasonal norms by 4 C (39.2 F) to 6 C (42.8 F) across almost all French regions.

The agency placed 14 departments under an orange heat wave alert on Sept. 7, marking the first time that occurred after the summer season since the implementation of the heat wave alert plan in 2004.

*Writing by Necva Tastan in Istanbul