anuary

Sunny cold and crisp, possible snow falls at altitude, the shaded roads could be icy. The cols that are connected with cross-country ski resorts are often turned into pistes. The others are open because of the need for the passage of traffic to get to the ski resorts.

Excellent for skiing and horse riding don't pick this month if you want to train. But for some leisure riding and mountain biking it is beautiful.

eb

The first training begins, just the serious riders come this month, the temperatures are warmer and there is little risk of rain or snow ,a very stable month. Need to cover well on the descents. A good time to come to train if you want to bring the family for a sample of skiing as the resorts are kept open with night time snow cannons.

They save their snow for the French schools vacances de neige (snow holidays). This is the month Nick likes to cycle up to Guzet Neige (Robert Millars stage win in the 1984 Tour de France )

arch

Our favourite month warm sunny, stable, not too hot. Some snow may remain on the mountain tops but the passes will be clear. This does not apply to other area's (such as closer to Tourmalet ). Which is why we situated ourselves here.

pril

Warm and sunny. The highest mountain peaks are loosing their snow which makes for fast flowing rivers, so do not anticipate swimming in our river. Cycling is obviously good.

ay

Weather warm 25°C average. Sometimes in the first two weeks of May we have known a last days throw back to winter usually when everyone has planted their lettuce. It is called the Cuckoo snow. In nine year we have experienced this only once but it is quite a surprise to go to bed on a hot summer's day and wake up to snow on the ground, folklore or not, do bring some warm gear with you.

une

Has been our hottest month, stable and great cycling the roads are still quiet, the volume of cyclists increases due to the training for the Ariegeoise.

uly

With the Tour de France on Eurosport most of the month you can imagine the atmosphere in the bars. Ours is the only one that is guaranteed smoke free however. Most regularly successful month for a visit to the Tourmalet. We eat outside on the courtyard.

August

This part of France is still undiscovered so the roads do not get too busy. There are several festivals to see in the region.

Possibility of evening storms every three or four days for the middle part of the month. Be careful on high mountains during storms.

A month to enjoy the cool of the river.

eptember

A very popular month for our visitors. Warm stable weather getting cooler at night as the days get shorter. River swimming usually possible.

ctober

For the locals this is the favourite month the colours of the forests and the sunsets on the high mountains make the views almost unbelievable. The day time temperature is normally high but shorter days. Very stable weather

ovember

Day time temperatures can still be very warm but has been known to suddenly get cold . Ground frost is a problem. Better for walkers than cyclists.

Waiting for the snow. Probably the least interesting month for cycling. The ski resorts open between the 12th and 18th Dec.

Current weather reports

Meteo France at Foix, NOAA (US)

Page reproduced with the kind permission of Jan Flannagan.