I’m doing a climate project and I have chosen it to be on France and I have a couple of questions.
How does the climate affect the people who live in France? What kind of crops do they grow and eat? Do many people have heaters or air conditioners in their homes?
Related posts:
- How does climate affect your decision before finding a place to live?
- How does our climate affect the culture of Northern California?
- What is the climate for lima? can u you give a general descripition? What landforms affect the climate of lima?
- How would the regional climate changes affect the growth of trees?
- What kind of climate do the parasites that cause malaria live in?
France has quite a varied climate. People in the north like to take holidays in the south because the weather is so much better. People from the whole of France take winter sports holidays in the mountains.
People in the South spend much more time outdoors and are seen as being slow and relaxed !
France occupies a large and diverse land mass that produces varied weather patterns.
West & North West
The Atlantic coast enjoys a temperate maritime climate with mild wet winters and cool summers. The prevailing wind from the west is humid : rain and mist is frequent. Northern France is flat allowing this weather pattern to move further inland.
East
The landlocked east of France has a continental climate producing hot summers with cold winters. The mountainous parts have mountain weather, with rain (snow) increasing with altitude.
Central
The centre of France has a continental climate modified by the maritime effect increasing towards the coast.
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean coast enjoys hot dry summers and mild winters. Rainfall is at the same level as much of central France but tends to fall as torrential rain in relatively few days over the winter.
Winds
The west coastal area weather is influenced by the prevailing winds from the Atlantic. The Rhone valley has occasional cold Mistral winds blowing from the north. The west Languedoc area has a similar wind : the Tramontaine that blows from the NW.
Crops vary between sugar beet and apples in the colder parts to figs, olives, apricots and wine in the South.
Most people have heaters, but AC is quite rare.
Hours of sunshine is influenced by distance from the equator, and incidence of clouds caused by prevailing winds, sea and mountains.
By sunshine hours :
Toulon 3082
Marseille 3035
Nice 2826
Montpellier 2788
Bastia 2786
Orange 2730
Perpignan 2586
Embrun 2563
La Rochelle 2269
Millau 2205
Toulouse 2034
Bourg St-Maurice1982
Grenoble 1971
Bordeaux 1961
Poitiers 1925
Nantes 1896
Biarritz 1845
Clermont-Ferrand1830
Pau 1827
Rennes 1810
Lyon 1809
Dinard 1778
Tours 1749
Le Mans 1746
Chartres 1695
Brest 1674
Le Bourget 1673
Evreu 1658
Abbeville 1655
Trappes 1648
Reims 1644
Besançon 1626
Auxerre 1594
Saint-Quentin1577
Rouen 1572
Lille 1560
Limoges 1560
Cherbourg 1556
Strasbourg 1517
Nancy 1437