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[kevandali]

Hi All, Not even sure if you whiley (is that spelt right?) lot will be arsed to get involved in this post but I fancy the Dordogne and the other half is learning towards Brittany. Your views would be much appreciated and if the weather doesn't change I don't think it matters where we go as we will be wrapped up walking the pooch :-)

[malc d]

You're more likely to get good weather in the Dordogne.

 

I've just had about a week down there and weather was pretty good.

 

 

 

[Guest JudgeMental]

Spain for reliable weather..when in Benidorm for 6 weeks recently (wall to wall sunshine in april) a neighbour had a sister in the Dordogne with a caravan 1 metre under water....

 

Have been to Dordogne maybe 4-5 times during high summer and only once been properly rained out

[Derek Uzzell]

This website has information on the weather patterns of France

 

http://www.france-property-and-information.com/France-weather.htm

 

It also carries maps showing average temperature, sunshine and rainfall statistics, including rainfall for June 2012. These indicate that Brittany and central France had much the same amount of rainfall. Finistere (unsurprisingly) was wetter than the rest of Brittany, but (except for Finistere) Brittany had a similar average rainfall in June to the Dordogne.

[Brian Kirby]

What is often forgotten is that much of the Dordogne (as defined in UK) is relatively high land, and when the weather is generally bad, high land tends to be worse. Brittany, on the other hand, is coastal and faces a generally cold ocean, across which its prevailing winds arrive. Brittany is not so high, but it is the highest land those warmish, moisture-laden, winds will have met in several thousand miles. QED?

 

The present track of the jet-stream seems to have slipped as far south as the Loire, and that is allowing north Atlantic depressions to track farther south than usual. So, well south of the jet-stream, and away from the higher land, would be wise.

 

The Mediterranean climate in France is, in reality, quite a small band extending from the Pyrenees in the west to the Maritime Alps in the east, generally extending only a few miles inland from the coast, but extending up the Rhone valley to about Montelimar. If you want the greatest possibility of whatever good weather 2012 has to offer, that is the area to head for.

 

Otherwise, be flexible, keep a close eye on the weather forecasts, and be prepared to move to the better areas. You could get wall to wall sunshine almost anywhere, but equally it could go the other way. "Unsettled" is the weather bye-word this year!