page_title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine
section_title: Climate
hierarchical_section_title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine / Climate
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: https://www.facebook.com/LumiereDuTemps Une vague sur les rochers de St Cléments Des Baleines, Ile De Ré
context_page_description: Nouvelle-Aquitaine is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by the territorial reform of French Regions in 2014 through the merger of three regions: Aquitaine, Limousin and Poitou-Charentes. It covers 84,061 km² – or ​¹⁄₈ of the country – and has approximately 5,879,144 inhabitants. The new region was established on 1 January 2016, following the regional elections in December 2015.
  It is the largest region in France by area, with a territory slightly larger than that of Austria; even French Guiana is smaller. Its largest city, Bordeaux, together with its suburbs and satellite cities, forms the 7th-largest metropolitan area of France, with 850,000 inhabitants. The region has 25 major urban areas, among which the most important after Bordeaux are Bayonne, Limoges, Poitiers, Pau, and La Rochelle, as well as 11 major clusters. The growth of its population, particularly marked on the coast, makes this one of the most attractive areas economically in France; the new region outperforms the Île-de-France and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in demographic dynamism.
context_section_description: The region Nouvelle-Aquitaine essentially has a more or less altered oceanic climate. We distinguish the Aquitaine oceanic climate, which concerns most of the territory (Charentes to Landes), the Paris oceanic climate (Poitou), Limousin oceanic climate, tinged with semi-continental influences (Limousin) and basque microclimate, wetter (western half of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques and southern Landes). The Pyrenees has a specific climate that varies with altitude: the Pyrenean climate, which is a variation of mountain climate.
  In the north of the region, the Paris oceanic climate is marked by moderate rainfall, warm summers and cool winters, but moderately so. The Seuil du Poitou acts as a relative climatic barrier and regions further south belong to the Aquitaine oceanic climate area. Coastal areas are wetter overall, with moderate rainfall spread throughout the year, except for the summer months, where droughts are not uncommon. Summer, which is relatively warm, is tempered by sea breezes, and winters are cool-mild. Frosts and snow are unusual. Sunshine is quite high, with around 2,000 to 2,200 hours per year, which is comparable to some Mediterranean regions (Perpignan). Summer precipitation often take the form of thunderstorms, possibly violent, while winter is sometimes marked by storms, some of which have marked the area with their exceptional: Martin in 1999 (record of 198 km / h in Saint-Denis-d'Oléron), Klaus in 2009 (172 km / h to Biscarrosse) and Xynthia in 2010 (160 km / h on the Île de Ré).
  The climate in Angoumois and Limousin is wetter and cooler, remains temperate with warm spring and has relatively warm summers, with variations due to altitude. The annual sunshine averages at 1850 hours. The climate of the Basque country and southern Landes is marked by its warm summers, mild winters but especially by its high rainfall, with Atlantic depressions that hit the Pyrenean foothills. This Microclimate explains the presence of lush vegetation and the green aspect of the region. Fogs are not rare, but usually dissipate very quickly.
  As for the Pyrenean climate, suboceanic trend Béarn, it is subject to frequent "cap effect" when the north-west of disturbances abut against the Pyrenean mountains. Valley bottoms, true "funnels clouds" are particularly watered. The winter snow is important above 1200 meters. Pau valley has a microclimate, however, marked by strong sunlight (about 1900 hours a year) but high rainfall (1100 mm per year) and a near absence of frost in winter. Rainfall is usually brief there, but regular, and spread throughout the year.
caption: Wave at Saint-Clément-des-Baleines, on the Île de Ré (Charente-Maritime).
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