VISITING
THE SOMME VISITING
THE SOMME
- WEATHER
It might sound like a strange subject to cover on a Great War web site, but I do receive numerous enquiries each year about weather conditions here on the Somme. One of the most commonly held beliefs is that the weather in Northern France is virtually the same as in Southern England. This is often far from the case. Here in France we get a lot of weather systems that come down from the Scandinavian countries which never reach the UK, because of the English Channel. In the Summer this can mean long spells of hot weather, and in the Winter even longer spells of freezing temperatures and snow!
Generally speaking the worst weather conditions are from November to March - this is a time when you see few visitors to the battlefields! Snow is not unknown in November and December, which usually means that all but the main roads are impassable. The worst weather is often in February, when temperatures have dropped to -22° C and snow is commonplace about this time. We have good weather in April and May - obviously with periods of rain - but this a period favoured by the 'die-hard' battlefield visitors as the days are that bit longer and more importantly the crops are still down, which means you can tramp the ground more easily. The Summer months can be mixed, and the weather begins to turn for the worst with rain and cold from late September /early October - although we have had the odd 'Indian Summer'.
If you are worried about the weather conditions, you can check them on the following French web sites prior to your departure. These are ones I use myself, and are fairly accurate - at least, no worse than the weather men in the UK!
METEO FRANCE
This is a national weather site giving a general picture across France over a period of several days.
CLUB INTERNET - METEO
Club Internet are one of the main French ISPs and this is their weather site. It gives a general picture of the weather nationally, and then you can select regions by main towns:
http://www.club-internet.fr/Meteo/index.phtml
ŠPaul Reed 2001/5
