The Weather in Brittany, France

We are often asked about the weather in Brittany, so we have been doing some research with the UK Met Office and Meteo France. At the same time we thought it would be a good idea to compare the weather with the English West Country as the weather there is often thought to be similar.

Sunshine hours

Coastal areas in the West Country have average annual sunshine totals above 1600 hours, with the south coast being more favoured that the north. As you can see from the map (right), Brittany exceeds this and is particularly sunny on the south coast between Lorient and La Baule.

Average maximum daily temperature

July and August in the West Country have a mean daily maximum ranging from around 19 degrees centigrade in coastal Cornwall to 21 degrees in inland areas of Somerset.

By comparison, the map (left) shows Brittany some 2 degrees warmer on average at around 21 degrees and getting warmer still around Vannes. Our experience is that on the coast the temperature is again slightly higher, due to local micro climates that give longer daily sunshine hours.

Rainfall

Most of the rain usually falls in winter!! In the summer the average number of days per month with rain is around 7-9, which is similar for both the West Country and Brittany.

Most coastal areas of Cornwall and Devon have 900-1000mm of rainfall but up to double this amount falls on uplands.

Brittany has a similar pattern, with more rainfall on the upland 'Black Mountains' area, in Finistere but along the coast it is generally around 700mm per year which is quite a bit dryer than in the West Country.