Loire Valley - Geography and Climate

Geography and Climate

The valley includes historic towns such as Amboise, Angers, Blois, Chinon, Nantes, Orléans, Saumur, and Tours.

The climate is favorable most of the year, the river often acting as a line of demarcation in France's weather between the northern climate and the southern. The river has a significant effect on the mesoclimate of the region, adding a few degrees of temperature. The climate can be cool with springtime frost while wine harvest months may have rain. Summers are hot; however influences from the Atlantic moderate the temperature with breezes.

Temperature, rainfall and average sunshine time in Angers (Anjou):

Month Jan Feb March Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Year
Average minimum temperature (°C) 2.1 2.2 3.9 5.6 8.9 11.8 13.6 13.4 11.3 8.4 4.6 2.8 7.4
Average temperature (°C) 5 5.7 8.2 10.4 13.9 16.2 19.2 19.1 16.5 12.7 8 5.6 11.8
Average maximum temperature (°C) 7.9 9.2 12.6 15.3 19 22.6 24.9 24.7 21.8 17 11.4 8.4 16.2
Average monthly rainfall (mm) 62.1 50.8 51.7 44.6 54.4 41.2 43.8 44.9 52.2 59.6 64.5 63.4 633.4
Monthly hours of sunshine (hour/month) 70 92 141 179 201 234 248 237 191 129 89 65 1877
Source : Climatology from 1947 to 2008 - Angers, France

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