Погода: Экс-ан-Прованс, март

Aix-en-Provence-forum threads on March weather are consistent that it's genuinely unpredictable early in the month but improves fast as spring takes hold - by mid-March, temperatures often settle into a comfortable range with little rain and plenty of cloudless, sunny days on offer. The one wildcard regulars flag regardless of temperature is the Mistral, the strong, cold wind funneling down from the Alps that can make an otherwise sunny day feel genuinely bracing outdoors. The standing advice is pack serious layers rather than a single spring jacket, since a warm, still afternoon can turn sharply colder the moment that wind picks up. Regulars call late March a strong window, warm enough for the outdoor cafes along the Cours Mirabeau without summer's crowds. The record: 15.8C days feeling like 13C, 5.4C nights, 58mm across 6.6 days, 0.5cm of late-season snowfall, a 13.5C sea, 71 percent humidity and 9.7 hours of sun.

Regulars are specific this technically counts as the rainiest month of the year here, though the overall experience still gets described as pleasant and warm, still comfortable enough to eat outside while cool enough for exploring the town on foot. Our row backs that mild, genuinely wet read, 21.3C over 11.6C nights, with a substantial 82.8mm of rain across 6.7 days and humidity at 76 percent. Regulars are consistent the mistral wind can blow through for two to three days at a stretch, evenings turning cold enough for a real layer even on a warm-feeling day. This remains a genuinely crowd-free month for a walkable town full of restaurants and bars. The sea sits at a warm 20.8C for anyone pairing a visit with the nearby coast. The record: 8.7 hours of sun, a 17.7 kph wind and AQI 36.

Regulars call this a genuinely pleasant month that can still deliver any kind of weather, and are specific about the one wind everyone asks about: the mistral is unpleasant when it blows, strongest along the Rhone, rare enough that most people never plan around it, and rarely lasts more than about three days when it does arrive. Our row backs the changeable read, 18.8C reading as 16C over 8.1C nights, with 46.1mm of rain across 6.9 days and a real 19.7 kph average wind. Spring markets are already worth the trip - early wildflowers, the first asparagus and strawberries appearing - though regulars note the smaller village markets and some restaurant hours have not settled into the main season's rhythm yet. The record: humidity 66 percent, 11 hours of sun and AQI 42.

June in Aix is warm, sunny and dry - our row gives 28.3C at 61 percent humidity with 3.8 precipitation days - and the local variable is the mistral, which regulars describe as mostly a winter and early-spring wind that nonetheless shows up in June forecasts as un petit mistral. When it comes it is dry and fierce, capable of 100 kph, drops the temperature about ten degrees for the two or three days it lasts, and arrives under a brilliant blue sky. Nobody can predict it for a given week. That is why the standing June advice for Provence is a sweater or a layer for the shoulders even in a heatwave month. The record: 17.3C nights, 26.9mm of rain, 13.4 hours of sun and a 15.4-hour day.

September is the month Provence regulars recommend over any summer one: the late-July and August crowds have gone, everything is still open, the roads are clear and it is still warm - very warm sunny days without midsummer's humidity, and nights that cool off. The first fortnight is the part they single out; heavy rain, when it comes, tends to be the last part of the month and rarely lasts beyond a day. Two good reasons beyond weather: the summer produce is still coming in at full rate, and the fetes des vendanges - wine-harvest festivals with tasting, music, food and barrel-rolling - turn up in villages through the month. The record: 25.6C days, 15.3C nights, 5.1 precipitation days, 10.6 hours of sun.