weather on the continent

[gwyn]

We will be going away with our campervan for 3 weeks from the beginning of June next year. I like it to be warm and not raining much, apart from Spain and Portugal which we visited last year, has anybody got any suggestions as to the best places to go, we rather fancied either around Avignon or that area or going through the Black forest and possibly down to Venice but not sure of the weather.

[Brian Kirby]

Gwyn

A the risk of stating the obvious, you do seem to live in the wrong place for your climatic preferences!

Weather, is of course, weather.  That is to say it is just what we call the variations within a recognised climatic pattern.

What you want will generally be provided by what, at least in Europe, is generally called a Mediterranean climate (characterised as "hot dry summers and warm wet winters", if I remember my schoolboy geography correctly!).  That is to say it tends to exist in a band around the Med.  For France it tends to kick in South of the Massif Central, at the Eastern end of the Pyrenees, and South of the Southern Alps.  The exception is the Rhone valley, where it reputedly extends as far North as Valence.  Most of Mediterranean Spain, south of the various sierras, is similar.  The North and West are generally moister in summer, and the centre, together I guess, with Andalucia, bakes hot and dry in summer but is much colder in winter.  Italy south of the Alps is fine, with the exception that the Po valley gets rather uncomfortably humid in summer, and the Apennines, due to being serious mountains, have a less hot and less settled pattern generally.  The Adriatic (North East) coast doesn't run quite so hot, or so early, as the South West coast.  It gets cooled by winds from the mountains on all sides.  The Metiterranean climate really runs in a relatively narrow coastal strip from Genova to (roughly) Bari.  The Greek mainland is also within this broad Mediterranean climatic band.  The islands have their own variant, charactersied by more wind which keeps them feeling a bit cooler.

The main thing to be aware of is the presence of mountains.  These radically upset local climate and, if you go up them you are, in effect, travelling Northwards.  Mountain weather is less predictable and invariably cooler than at lower levels.  For example, although the Black Forest in summer can be hot and sunny, it can just as easily change to cloudy and damp.

If you relally want to pick the better spots, hunt down a copy of "The Hutchinson World Weather Guide" published by Helicon Publishing Ltd; authors E A Pearce and C G Smith: ISBN 1-85986-233-0.  Was £16.99, and covers the world with quite detailed data on European countries, broken down by regions.  Most of the info is in the form of tables listing average monthly temperatures, rainfall, and rain days with highest/lowest recorded values to indicate variance.

However, wherever you go, you'll still get weather!

[Keith T]

'...like it to be warm and raining not much....' ---- don't we all! France can be excellent, or it can be dismal. Go one year and it's OK, go the next to the same place at the same time, and it's totally different. Bit like the UK really!! I'm just stating the obvious, and of course there are some places more likely to be better than others. We love Avignon, and Aix- en-Provence, and there are excellent campsites within walking (or bus) distances of either. We've been for the last couple of years., with excellent weather in May/ early June. Go down to the med, and it can be very pleasant also, but we find the 2nd week of June generally is when it begins to warm up more. Provence, too, is lovely at that time of year. So much choice, and we never book in advance, very often 'following' the sun.......

[gwyn]

Thanks for the advice, yes i was definitely born in the wrong continent!! Will look out that book it sounds like the ideal tool for us. We will probably head for avignon and no we never book anywhere. I have now invested in a phone which gives me good internet access so we can check where the best weather is and move accordingly.

[Keith T]

Hi Gwyn - if you head for Avignon and wish to stay within easy access, try the site known as 'Camping le Pont d'Avignon' (sorry I know it's a corny name!). It's listed in the CC Guide, although we found the direction in the guide not particularly good, although it may have been updated since. Its an excellent location, and if you are lucky enough to get teh 'front' row, you'll get a river view, plus spectacular views of the old city especially when illuminated after dark. You can either walk back over the road bridge (not the well known 'Pont' as it stops in the middle!), or catch the electric ferry which is (was) free and was running last year but it does stop for luinch for a couple of hours. Enjoy a superb little city.

[RonB]

Gwyn Take look at www.weatherbase.com - all you could want. Ron.