The south of France has suffered exceptionally chilly temperatures this winter, with reports calling it "a winter like no other".
Woolly hats, coats, scarves and gloves are a strange sight along the Côte d'Azur (aka the French Riviera), reports
monaco-tribune.com, even at this time of year. Normally, a light jacket is all that is needed to keep warm under the winter sun, but temperatures at the close of 2020 and the during the first third of January 2021 have held a baguette-clasping 6 to 7 degrees Celsius below average.
The French Riviera is susceptible to two different types of cold, explains weather expert Paul Marquis in an article on
francetvinfo.fr: "Arctic maritime air comes from the North Pole, from the north-west — it's a moist air, it's humid. Continental air comes from Russia — it's much drier, and that is what we are experiencing along the coastline at the moment," says Marquis.
As recently as November, 2020 we were warned by François Guerquin, Director of Plan Bleu, the Mediterranean arm of the UN's Environment Programme, that "the future of the Mediterranean is at a tipping point."
Guerquin had a hand in the influential
The State of Environment and Development in the Mediterranean Report (RED 2020) which evaluates the impact of climate change on the Mediterranean basin.
Comment: Meanwhile last week in neighbouring Espagne: Spain breaks coldest temperature record AGAIN at -35.8C, just a day after new one set