The tables below give March averages for the number of sunny days and hours of sunshine at dozens of cities throughout France. The month's totals are averages of weather data collected during 1971 to 2000.
You can jump to a separate table for each corner of the country: Southeast, Southwest, Northeast and Northwest, plus Central France.
Southeastern France
This section of southern France extends from the Mediterranean beaches on the island of Corsica and the French Riviera, or Côte d'Azur, to the peaks of the French Alps. Cities listed here belong to the regions of Corsica, Languedoc - Roussillon, Provence - Alpes - Cote - D'Azur and Rhône - Alpes.
| Hours | Place | Days of Strong Sun |
Days of Weak Sun |
|---|---|---|---|
| 218 | Ajaccio, Corsica | 13 | 6 |
| 198 | Bastia, Corsica | 9 | 6 |
| 172 | Bourg-Saint-Maurice | 1 | 8 |
| 181 | Carcassonne | 10 | 10 |
| 175 | Grenoble | 8 | 9 |
| 172 | Lyon | 8 | 10 |
| 243 | Marseille | 16 | 4 |
| 226 | Montpellier | 14 | 6 |
| 217 | Nice | 13 | 6 |
| 225 | Nîmes | 13 | 6 |
| 212 | Perpignan | 13 | 7 |
| 168 | Saint-Étienne | 9 | 10 |
| 236 | Toulon | 14 | 4 |
Southwestern France
The monthly sunshine totals below are for cities in the regions of Aquitaine and Midi - Pyrénées. This portion of France ranges from the Atlantic coast to the Pyrenees mountains along France's southern border.
| Hours | Place | Days of Strong Sun |
Days of Weak Sun |
|---|---|---|---|
| 171 | Biarritz | 8 | 9 |
| 180 | Bordeaux | 8 | 8 |
| 169 | Pau | 8 | 10 |
| 182 | Toulouse | 10 | 10 |
Central France
This section stretches from Poitou - Charentes bordering the Atlantic Ocean to Paris in the north. It also takes in the regions of Auvergne, Burgundy (Bourgogne), Centre and Limousin.
| Hours | Place | Days of Strong Sun |
Days of Weak Sun |
|---|---|---|---|
| 163 | Clermont-Ferrand | 7 | 11 |
| 148 | Dijon | 7 | 13 |
| 172 | La Rochelle | 7 | 9 |
| 166 | Limoges | 9 | 12 |
| 136 | Orléans | 5 | 13 |
| 122 | Paris | 4 | 15 |
| 160 | Poitiers | 7 | 11 |
| 143 | Tours | 5 | 12 |
Northeastern France
Weather information in this table is for cities in Alsatian (Alsace), Champagne - Ardenne, Franche-Comté, Lorraine and Nord - Pas-de-Calais, the regions located north and east of Paris.
| Hours | Place | Days of Strong Sun |
Days of Weak Sun |
|---|---|---|---|
| 139 | Besançon | 8 | 14 |
| 143 | Colmar | 6 | 13 |
| 119 | Lille | 4 | 15 |
| 124 | Metz | 5 | 15 |
| 127 | Nancy | 5 | 15 |
| 128 | Reims | 4 | 14 |
| 132 | Strasbourg | 6 | 14 |
| 139 | Troyes | 6 | 13 |
Northwestern France
Cities on the list here are scattered throughout the French regions that border the English Channel and lie northwest of Paris: Brittany (Bretagne), High Normandy (Haute-Normandie) and Low Normandy (Basse-Normandie). Also covered is the Pays de la Loire region, located farther south along the Atlantic Ocean.
| Hours | Place | Days of Strong Sun |
Days of Weak Sun |
|---|---|---|---|
| 129 | Angers | 4 | 13 |
| 116 | Brest | 4 | 15 |
| 116 | Caen | 3 | 14 |
| 133 | Le Mans | 5 | 14 |
| 133 | Lorient | 4 | 13 |
| 139 | Nantes | 5 | 12 |
| 121 | Rennes | 4 | 14 |
| 112 | Rouen | 3 | 16 |
| 115 | Saint-Brieuc | 3 | 15 |