Climate in French Riviera (France)

Index

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• Introduction
• West - Marseille
• East - Cannes
• Sea temperature
• Best Time

Introduction

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The climate of the French Riviera (Côte d'Azur), the French coastline that goes from Marseille to Menton (near the border with Italy), is Mediterranean, with mild, relatively rainy winters and warm, sunny summers.
We are in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region.
The western part, more or less until Toulon and Hyères, is windier but drier, while the eastern part, towards the border with Italy, is milder but rainier.
Atlantic frontal systems pass quite often throughout the year, but especially from late September to April, although the weather generally improves rapidly, and in fact, the number of rainy days during the year is low. In summer, especially in July and August, good weather prevails and therefore the rains are even more rare.
In winter, there may be cold waves, though rarely and with less evident effects than in the rest of France, with snow on the coasts and frosts in inland areas.
Typically, the summer temperatures are acceptable, although there can sometimes be hot periods, with highs about 35 °C (95 °F), but fortunately, sea breezes blow along the coast.
From time to time, there can be very rainy periods, in which a large amount of rain pours in a short time, causing the flooding of the rivers that flow down from the Maritime Alps (the Argens in Fréjus and Saint-Raphaël, the Var near Nice etc.). Generally, these phenomena occur in autumn, but sometimes they occurred in other periods (such as June 2010 and January 2014).

West

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The western part, from Marseilles to Toulon, is colder in winter because it is subject to a cold and violent wind, the Mistral, which blows for a hundred days per year and is channeled through the Rhone Valley. On the other hand, in summer, in this area of the lower Rhone river (see Marseille, but also the plain behind the coast where Avignon is located) it can get very hot, and sometimes, the temperature can approach 40 °C (104 °F).

Marseille

Therefore, winter in Marseille is not so mild: the average temperature in January is 7.7 °C (45.9 °F), and from November to March, cold and windy days can occur, followed by night frosts.
Here are the average temperatures.

Precipitation in this westernmost part of the French Riviera is not abundant: in Marseille, it amounts to 550 millimeters (22 inches) per year, with a maximum in autumn and a minimum in summer.

In the cities located at a certain distance from the coast, the climate is slightly continental, as you can see from the temperature of Aix-en Provence, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north-east of Marseilles, where the average in January drops to 6 °C (43 °F).

Proceeding eastwards from Marseille, and away from the mouth of the Rhone River, the climate becomes milder, while rainfall is more abundant in autumn and winter. However, the summer is quite dry here as well.
In Toulon, in the part where the coast reaches the southernmost latitude, nearly 700 mm (27.5 in) of rain fall per year, with a peak in October and November of 90 mm (3.5 in) per month and a minimum in July of just 10 mm (0.4 in). Here are the average temperatures.

East

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The eastern part of the French Riviera, the one oriented to the south-east and bordering the Ligurian Riviera in Italy, which according to some is the real Côte d'Azur (in cities like Saint-Tropez, Cannes, Nice), is the mildest one. Here, snowfalls and frosts are very rare. The summer heat is less intense than in Marseille as well.
This part of the coast is not directly affected by the Mistral, although in the stretch of coast between Sainte-Maxime and Antibes, the Mistral can turn and present itself as a west wind. The most protected part is therefore the easternmost one, from Nice to the border with Italy. It is also true that a cold wind from the north-east, the Gregale, can blow in this area, although rarely.

Cannes

Here are the average temperatures in Cannes.

In the eastern part of the coast, the rains increase a bit, exceeding 700 mm (27.5 in) per year, and reaching 800 mm (31.5 in) in Monte Carlo (in the Principality of Monaco). From late September to December, during some years, the rains are plentiful.
Here are the average precipitation in Cannes.

The sunshine duration on the French Riviera is very good in summer, when the weather is usually fine, and decent in spring, especially in April and May, and again in September. In the rest of the year, ie in autumn and winter, there is a moderate amount of sunny days, but they alternate with cloudy and rainy days. On average, the sun shines for more than 2,700 hours a year. Here is the average of the sunshine hours in Cannes.

Sea temperature

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On the French Riviera, the sea is never very warm because it is cooled for several months per year by the Mistral (which, as we mentioned, blows in the western part, but owing to sea currents, cold waters reach a larger area). So, the sea temperature in Marseille reaches a maximum of only 22 °C (72 °F) in August. Here are the average sea temperatures in Marseille.

In the eastern part of the coast, the sea is a bit warmer in the summer months, as you can see from the temperature of the sea near Cannes.

Best Time

The best time for swimming and sun bathing on the French Riviera is the summer, from mid-June to August.

If you plan to visit cities, you may want to avoid the hottest months, so you can choose the months of May, June and the first half of September, bearing in mind that sometimes it can rain, when depressions affect the area, or in the form of afternoon thunderstorm.

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