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Sunniest Departments in France 2011

Thursday 02 May 2013

Where are the sunniest departments in mainland France?

The table below shows the number of sunshine hours in the top twenty sunniest departments of France. The figures are for 2011, the latest period for which comprehensive information is available.

Not surprisingly the departments on the Cote d'Azur dominate at the top of the list, but the regions of Languedoc-Roussillon, Midi-Pyrénées and the Rhône-Alpes also figure prominently.

Sunniest department is the Bouches-du-Rhône, which is a consistent performer at the top of the table over many years.

Many French departments are large, with different climate zones within them, so the table should be used only as a general guide.

Similarly, were the comparison to have been carried out in different years, there would have been some changes in the ranking, and some of the departments listed would not have appeared in the table.


Sunshine Hours By Department 2011
NoDepartmentHours
1
Bouches-du-Rhône (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur)3.018
2Alpes-Maritimes (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur)2,948
3
Vaucluse (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur)2,941
4
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur)2,936
5
Var (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur)2,898
6Hautes-Alpes (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur)

2,815
7Gard (Languedoc-Roussillon)
2,774
8Hérault (Languedoc-Roussillon)2,673
9Pyrénées-Orientales (Languedoc-Roussillon)2,549
10
Ardèche (Rhône-Alpes)
2,448
11
Lozère (Languedoc-Roussillon)
2,409
12Aveyron (Midi-Pyrénées)
2,354
13
Cantal (Auvergne)
2,340
14
Aude (Languedoc-Roussillon)
2,329
15
Drôme (Rhône-Alpes)2,296
16Tarn (Midi-Pyrénées)
2,293
17Tarn-et-Garonne (Midi-Pyrénées)
2,264
18Lot (Midi-Pyrénées)
2,255
19Corrèze (Limousin)2,239
20
Haute-Loire (Auvergne)2,236

Source : Météo France

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