The Drome - climate

Have you ever been to France in winter? It can come as a surprise, but the seasons in most of France are extreme. Winter in the Drome is shockingly cold, although the last two or three years have been relatively mild with -6 celsius being the coldest night. But over the last 15 years we have seen temperatures as low as -10 to -12 celsius, and one week with lows of -15C at night and -5C during the day - the Drome river started to freeze over. These temperatures are too extreme for commercial olive growers, you need to head an hour south, but for lavender and grapes it’s fine.

Spring arrives suddenly; the last frost is usually in mid April, the locals plant their tomatoes out in early May, and temperatures start to rise. Which brings us to summer, very hot and dry, nudging 40 degrees from time to time, and rarely below 28C during the day, whereas nights are usually cool enough, staying below the 20 degree mark.

Precipitation in the Drome is in line with the average for France (and the UK) at about 900mm, only the Paris area is lower at about 600mm. While 900mm may sound a lot (3 feet), almost all of it falls between November and April. It snows from time to time throughout the region, but in recent years the Drome ski stations up in the mountains have barely opened. The Drome river flow rate reflects the drastic variation in precipitation, which is often as low as one cubic metre per second in summer, and up to 300 cubic metres per second after heavy rain in winter. Autumn can remain bone-dry until late October, the colours are stunning, and temperatures very pleasant.

We don’t offer holidays when it’s cold and wet, there’s no point. But if you’re interested in booking between April and October, please do contact us.