Valserhône

Valserhône (Vâlcerôno) is a commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. It is the result of the merger, on 1 January 2019, of the communes of Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, Châtillon-en-Michaille and Lancrans. In 2018, the three communes had a combined population of 16,431, with Bellegarde-sur-Valserine as the major population centre. This makes Valserhône the third-most populated commune of Ain, after Bourg-en-Bresse and Oyonnax.

Geography
Valserhône is located at the confluence of the Valserine and the Rhône. It was named after the two rivers. The commune is part of Haut-Jura Regional Natural Park.

The commune has a station, Bellegarde, which is located at the junction of three railway lines and has regular service to various destinations in France and Switzerland.

Climate
Valserhône has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb). The average annual temperature in Valserhône is 11.1 C. The average annual rainfall is 1184.6 mm with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around 20.4 C, and lowest in January, at around 2.1 C. The highest temperature ever recorded in Valserhône was 39.5 C on 13 August 2003; the coldest temperature ever recorded was -17.0 C on 5 February 2012.