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 | ||||
| No | Department | Hours | ||
| 1 | Bouches-du-Rhône (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) | 3.018 | ||
| 2 | Alpes-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 | ||
| 6 | Hautes-Alpes (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) | 2,815 | ||
| 7 | Gard (Languedoc-Roussillon) | 2,774 | ||
| 8 | Hérault (Languedoc-Roussillon) | 2,673 | ||
| 9 | Pyrénées-Orientales (Languedoc-Roussillon) | 2,549 | ||
| 10 | Ardèche (Rhône-Alpes) | 2,448 | ||
| 11 | Lozère (Languedoc-Roussillon) | 2,409 | ||
| 12 | Aveyron (Midi-Pyrénées) | 2,354 | ||
| 13 | Cantal (Auvergne) | 2,340 | ||
| 14 | Aude (Languedoc-Roussillon) | 2,329 | ||
| 15 | Drôme (Rhône-Alpes) | 2,296 | ||
| 16 | Tarn (Midi-Pyrénées) | 2,293 | ||
| 17 | Tarn-et-Garonne (Midi-Pyrénées) | 2,264 | ||
| 18 | Lot (Midi-Pyrénées) | 2,255 | ||
| 19 | Corrèze (Limousin) | 2,239 | ||
| 20 | Haute-Loire (Auvergne) | 2,236 | ||
Source : Météo France
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