France has the benefit of a temperate, rather agreeable climate.

Continental France is divided into four climatic zones:

• Oceanic and humid climate with cool summers to the west of a line from Bayonne to Lille;

• Semi-continental climate with harsh winters and hot summers in Alsace, Lorraine, along the Rhône corridor and in the mountainous massifs (Alps, Pyrenees and Massif Central);

• Intermediate climate with cold winters and hot summers in the north, and in the Paris and central regions;

• Mediterranean climate with mild winters and very hot summers in the south of France.