French Weather Service Suspects Tampering with Paris Temperature Sensors for Online Betting

Paris. Meteo-France, a French weather forecasting service provider, suspects that the sensors at a weather station may have been tampered with to win online bets related to Paris's temperature.

This incident is linked to a weather station at Charles de Gaulle Airport, where temperature data has been used for betting on Polymarket.

According to reports, bets exceeding half a million dollars were placed on Paris's temperature on some days in March and April. Specifically, on April 15, some accounts that bet on the temperature reaching 19 degrees Celsius won approximately $280,000.

However, surprisingly, around 9:30 PM on that day, the temperature suddenly rose to 22 degrees Celsius. Earlier that day, it was only 18 degrees Celsius. A similar abnormal increase was also observed on April 6.

Sebastien Brana, vice-president of the climate observation group Infoclimat, initially attributed this to sensor error or maintenance issues. However, an investigation was launched after the repeated incidents. The investigation revealed these abnormal temperature changes occurred at the same time large sums of money were won on Polymarket.

A user named "xX25Xx" won $21,398 by betting just $119. Following this, Meteo-France filed a complaint with the airport police regarding potential tampering. Some have speculated that the sensors may have been artificially heated using devices like lighters or hair dryers.