Is it true that is is damp and always rains in the Limousin?

[Derkins]

Please let me know your comments... how does it compare to England?

[Rob Roy]

It depends what part of the Limousin you are in, and what time of the year it is - just as it does in the UK![:)]. But in all seriousness, the Limousin is a big area so it is difficult to generalise.

For instance we are in the west of the Correze, getting towards the southern most part of the Limousin and it is not usually as damp or wet in the autumn as in the Cruese or northern Haute Vienne. It certainly doesn't always rain in any part of the Limousin - here we usually have hot summers (up to 38-40 C for weeks, but more usually 30+ C), warm, sunny autumns, cold winters (it can go as low as -15 C for several weeks) and mild springs, although they can be wet - but you can't have all this lush grass and green trees without any rain!

The summers are hotter than where we lived in England (Norfolk), there is a more definate spring and autumn and the winters are colder and crisper, but without the damp that seeps into your bones in the UK - and no East winds straight from Russia to cut you in half!(Called a lazy wind in Norfolk because it goes through you instead of round you[:)])

 

[Anton Redman]

To echo the thoughts above. We used to have a maison secondaire just outside Vayres. A slow 20 minute drive home from friends further west could see temperatures drop by 6 degrees C before climbing 8 degrees. The climb up to the 4 winds Centre Commercial South of Limouge could loose 8 degrees in winter. Carry on a bit further East to the Lac de V and their was still deep ice and snow two weeks after it had cleared at Vayres.

We moved from London which has its own micro/mega climate and was on average 4 degress warmer than Sitingbourne in Kent which has Naf All except the North Sea between it and the North Pole. We thought winters we short - say mid December to Mid February  and not too cold BUT we moved further south because of what the damp was doing to Isabel's arthritis.

We now live in the Gironde and must have had 6 hours hard rain in Thursday night but it is warmer and dryer despite being in Acquitane

[hoverfrog]

we find that we get the same sort of weather as we had in Wiltshire, but more of it!

When it's hot it's very hot. When it's cold it's very cold (-20 in feb 2005).

When it rains it's stair-rods.

When it hails the hail-stones are golf-ball size.

Very seldom grey and non-descript though :)

[adrianpmills]

Grey and non-descript here (Eastern Haute Vienne) today, like many days recently.  But the weather all over much of France has been pretty poor.  Take a look at www.meteo.fr for detailed monthly climate information by department - minimum, average, max temps; number of sunny, rainy days, etc.

[westland]

Here in southern creuse, weather much as Rob Roy has said.  Wasn't prepared for the very cold winters though, was into minus double figures for quite a number of weeks and I'm still trying to get my chill blains to heal before this winter is on us!  We do get storms and downpours but I don't really think of it as being a wet climate and there are lots of lovely crisp cold mornings followed by sunny warm afternoons in the autumn.  Makes the scenery that much more interesting.

[Alcazar]

Our property is JUST inside the border of the Limousin, being around 4 km from the Dordogne, and 16km from the Charente.

We have had some nice dry weather, and the neighbouring farmer often complains of insufficient rain before we arrive, (but NEVER after we've gone home!).

We've also seen it start to rain and seem unable to stop, in months as far apart as August and February. It often has a Limousine "bruine", like a heavy sea fret, that just soaks everything the minute you step out into it, so yes, it's damp, and as mentioned elsewhere, you can't have greenery, trees etc, without damp. Just look at Cornwall.

I once found a site on Meteo France that showed about EIGHT micro climates just in the Haute Vienne, let alone the Limousin! Take into account that damp weather will come from the SW, and the Haute Vienne is the first bit of "high" ground it will encounter, (our house is at 470m, almost the same as the pass over the Pennines on the M62, and anyone who knows THAT area will know what rain is.........), so the rain tends to fall a bit frequently.

As I said.......I've seen 6 day rainfall, without any let-up, but I've also seen a week of 30 degrees at the end of October/beginning of November, so it's not all bad.......

Alcazar