France experienced its hottest spring "since records began in 1900" marked by a scorching early season heatwave at the end of May, the country's weather service said on 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.
Heatwave warnings were issued in May for the first time since the alert system was created in 2004 after temperatures soared in western France in the second half of the month.
Temperatures reached 37C in the south west and 33C in Paris, while a total of 406 towns and villages recorded their hottest ever May temperatures.
Météo France has been warning for some years that the effects of man-made climate change are creating heatwaves that are more frequent, more intense and starting earlier in the year.
