The city is in the rain shadow of the
Chaîne des Puys, giving it one of the driest climates in metropolitan France,
except for a few places around the Mediterranean Sea. The mountains also block
most of the oceanic influence of the Atlantic, which creates a climate much
more continental than nearby cities west or north of the mountains, like
Limoges and Montluçon. Thus the city has comparatively cold winters and hot
summers. From November to March, frost is very frequent, and the city, being at
the bottom of a valley, is frequently subject to temperature inversion, in
which the mountains are
