Climate - La Rochelle (France)

The climate of La Rochelle is oceanic, with mild winters and warm summers.
The city is located in western France, on the Atlantic coast, and is the capital of the Charente Maritime department.
In front of the city, and reachable via a bridge, is the island of Ré. Further south we find the island of Oléron.
La Rochelle can be affected by Atlantic depressions all year round, but because of its southern location, it is also reached by the Azores anticyclone, which brings sunny periods, especially in summer.
The average temperature of the coldest month (January) is of 6.6 °C (44 °F), that of the warmest month (July) is of 20.6 °C (69 °F). Here are the average temperatures.

Precipitation amounts to 765 millimeters (30.1 inches) per year: so, it is at an intermediate level. It ranges from 40 mm (1.6 in) in the driest month (June) to 95 mm (3.7 in) in the wettest (November). Here is the average precipitation.

Winter, from December to February, is quite mild. When the westerlies prevail, Atlantic disturbances bring mild and rainy weather, sometimes windy: in these cases, the temperature can reach and even exceed, 15 °C (59 °F).
The most intense Atlantic depressions can bring very strong winds. In particular, La Rochelle was hit hard by storm Martin in late December 1999, when gusts of wind reached 150 km/h (93 mph), and 200 km/h (125 mph) on the islands of Ré and Oléron before the wind carried away the anemometers.
On the other hand, when a high pressure area dominates, fog can form at night, and there may be slight frosts in the countryside east of the city, while the temperature becomes quite mild during the day, and the sun can come out.
On the contrary, when the wind blows from Russia, there can be cold waves, with snowfalls, usually not abundant. Given the location on the coast, temperatures rarely drop below -6/-7 °C (19/21 °F). However, the temperature dropped to -11.5 °C (11.5 °F) in January 1985, to -8 °C (17.5 °F) in February 1986, to -10.5 °C (13 °F) in January 1987, to -9 °C (16 °F) in December 1996, to -7 °C (19.5 °F) in January 2009, and to -7.5 °C (18.5 °F) in February 2012.

Spring, from March to May, is mild, with frequent rainfall, and a bit of cold at night. In March, there may still be wintry days. The Azores anticyclone can bring periods of good weather, with pleasantly warm days, usually from the second half of April, and more often in May.

Summer, from June to August, is mild or pleasantly warm. Cool and rainy periods, when Atlantic currents dominate, alternate with periods of good weather, when it can get warm. For the location on the coast, daytime temperatures are a bit lower than in Bordeaux, and a fresh breeze blows from the ocean in the afternoon.
At times, hot periods can occur, generally of short duration, which in recent years are becoming more frequent due to global warming, during which the temperature may reach or exceed 34/35 °C (93/95 °F). The temperature reached 38 °C (100.5 °F) in July 1990 and in August 2003, 37.5 °C (99.5 °F) in late June 2015, 37 °C (98.5 °F) in July 2016 and in August 2020, while in late June 2019, the absolute record was broken with 40.5 °C (105 °F).

Autumn, from September to November, is very pleasant at the beginning, that is, in the first half of September, and then it gradually becomes more cool, humid and rainy.



On average, there are around 2,110 sunshine hours per year. We are in a relatively sunny area of France, surpassed only by the Mediterranean south. The total number of hours of sunshine per year slightly exceeds even that of the cities on the Atlantic coast further south, such as Bordeaux (2,000 hours) and Biarritz (1,920 hours). Here are the average sunshine hours per day.

The sea temperature ranges between 11 °C (52 °F) and 21 °C (70 °F): therefore it remains cool even in summer. Here are the average sea temperatures.

Best Time

The best time to visit La Rochelle runs from mid-May to September, since it is the warmest and sunniest time of the year. We can not exclude that some nights may be a bit cold, especially in May, June and September, but even in midsummer it's better to bring a sweatshirt for the evening, and maybe an umbrella. Those who want to avoid the albeit rare heat waves, can avoid the period from mid-June to late August.