France experienced its second-hottest year in 2023

France experienced its second-hottest year in 2023 with the average temperature only just below record heat the previous year, the national weather office Meteo France said on Friday.

Illustration photo Damien MEYER / AFP

"Following on from 2022, the hottest year in France since the start of the the 20th century, the year 2023 comes second," said Meteo France, which has been gathering average annual temperatures since 1900.

Temperatures last year stood at 14.4 degrees Celsius on average, compared to 14.5C in 2022, it added.

📊🌡️ #Année2023 (définitivement) au 2ème rang des années les plus chaudes à l'échelle de la France, depuis 1900.
▶️ Anomalie thermique : +1.4°C (par rapport aux normales 1991-2020).

➕infos : https://t.co/x3LCrKXIHi https://t.co/wJsujiLnom pic.twitter.com/X77Ows2P6M

— Météo-France (@meteofrance) January 5, 2024

Europe's climate monitor said last month that 2023 would be the hottest globally in recorded history after November became the sixth record-breaking month in a row.

The 2015 Paris climate accords aimed to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels - and 1.5C if possible.

• Global warming likely to breach 1.5C for first time 'within next five years'

But the UN's World Meteorological Organization  (WMO) said in November that 2023 data to the end of October showed that last year was already around 1.4C above the pre-industrial baseline.

Last year was also set to be the United Kingdom's second warmest on record after 2022, the country's meteorological service said.

• UN records hottest week on record, warns of impacts on ecosystems, health

(with AFP)