Hot tropical climate. Temperatures are cooler in the hills, occasionally dropping to freezing point in the mountains at night. The cyclone season (January to March) is hot and wet.

Lightweights, with warmer clothes for the evenings.

Réunion lies 760km (407 miles) east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Running diagonally across the island is a chain of volcanic peaks, separating a green humid eastern zone (Le Vent) from a dry, sheltered south and west (Sous le Vent). The majority of the population lives along the coast. Sugar cane production accounts for over half the arable land in a country where many basic foodstuffs are imported.