France experiences the hottest year of the century

The French meterological office has reported that 2018 was the hottest year on record since modern estimations in 1900.

"2018 was the hottest year France has known since modern meteorological measures came into use in 1900," Meteo-France said.

The 2018 average temperature was 14 degrees centigrade, 1.4 degrees above the average recorded between 1981 and 2010.

2014 and 2011 were also significantly hotter than average in recent years, which were 1.2 and 1.1 degrees above the average respectively.

The first month of the year was unseasonably warm, and the temperature then soared in April, leading to the hottest summer since 2003 when back then 15,000 people lost their lives during a prolonged heatwave which featured prominently across media outlets.

"France had nine consecutive warm months, between April and December this year," Meteo-France said.

Parts of the north and east of the country have been hit by drought while 14 people died in flash floods in the southwest.

Parts of the Alsace and Lorraine regions close to the German border had nearly a third less rain than normal during a prolonged dry spell that lasted long into the autumn.

The recent violent demonstrations in Paris came after French President Emmanuel Macron announced a plan to raise already steep taxes on fuel by 24 cents a gallon and gasoline by about 12 cents a gallon in an effort to curb climate change by weaning motorists off petroleum products.

This was met by fierce backlash in, reportedly, the hottest French year in a century.