France is the third largest country in the whole of Europe (only Ukraine and European Russia are larger), so it’s hardly surprising it has a fairly varied climate.
The weather changes dramatically from north to south, as you would expect for a country that stretches all the way from the North Sea to the Mediterranean. But it also varies considerably from west to east, thanks to the contrast between the maritime influence of the Atlantic Ocean and the high altitude of the Alps.
Paris, in the north of the country, is typical of much of temperate north-west Europe, with fairly unspectacular weather. It has warm or hot (occasionally very hot) summers and cool or cold (occasionally very cold) winters, and moderate rainfall spread more or less throughout the year, though with a small peak in summer. Marseilles, situated on the French Rivera 660km (410 miles) to the south of Paris, is much warmer all year round, with marginally less rainfall than the capital.
Being well inland and far higher above sea level, the Alps have a more typically continental climate, with very warm summers and cold winters. On top of Mont Blanc – Europe’s highest mountain west of the Caucasus, at over 4,800 metres (15,600ft) above sea level – temperatures hardly ever rise above freezing.
