Weather: Mixed weather in July, heat expected in August

A scorching start to the month, followed by some cooler spells: July 2025 will have seen very mixed weather, but will still remain nearly 1 degree warmer than normal due to global warming, Météo-France announced on Friday.

"On a monthly and national scale, the average temperature of 22.0°C was +0.9°C higher" compared to the period 1991-2020, itself already warmed by greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, indicates the national forecaster in its monthly report.

Last month began in the midst of a heatwave—the 50th since 1947 and the 33rd of the 21st century—that began on June 19 and ended on July 4. On July 1 and 2, warm anomalies of up to +8°C above normal were recorded nationwide.

Locally, the thermometer exceeded 40 degrees several times, with tropical nights putting the body to the test during this particularly early, long and intense heatwave.

July was then marked by two periods slightly cooler than normal (anomaly of -2°C) due to the effect of depressions: one between July 6 and 9, with temperatures below 10°C in the morning in certain regions, the other from July 21.

In terms of precipitation, July was within the national norms but was also characterized by strong regional contrasts. Rainfall, particularly in the form of thunderstorms, was abundant in Languedoc and Roussillon and in the Northwest, and very light in the Southwest, in the Massif Central, and on the coast of the Alpes-Maritimes and Southern Corsica.

This rainfall provides some relief from dry soil conditions in some regions at the end of the month. But this is not the case everywhere. After a drought that began early due to a lack of rain in spring, a large part of the south and west-central part of the country, around Aquitaine, as well as Nord-Pas-de-Calais, are still experiencing very dry soils, hampering agricultural activities.