Europe, from one extreme to the other! by Jo Farrow
While much of Western Europe basks in warm sunshine the east shivers in a cold blast from the north. High pressure centred over the UK has meant that low pressure systems are running down the east of this stubborn feature, across eastern Europe and dragging colder, wetter conditions south with it.
Fresh snow fell yesterday in parts of Austria - so much so, that in some places that the local authorities had to close some roads. Gritters and snowploughs were sent into action as an astonishing 16 inches of fresh snow fell on some parts of the Austrian Alps. Although most of the snow was limited to the higher altitudes, the temperatures still plummeted in the valleys, with Vienna only just reaching 7C (44F) yesterday. Late cold spells in Austria are affectionately know as ‘Schafskaelte’, which translates to ‘Sheep’s cold’- giving the image that the sheep are shivering on the hill-sides after being sheered in preparation for the hot summer weather.
This comes as temperatures fell below freezing in parts of Croatia and other eastern Balkan areas. In Belgrade 12C was recorded as the maximum temperature, compared to their usual maximum of 26C, a considerable 14C down on average. Most of the Balkans have also seen heavy rain, and snow at higher elevations. Strong winds have battered the area and cancelled popular holiday period ferry crossings. Surfers in Croatia have also gone missing in the heavy seas.
Italy, which is usually very warm by this time of year, has also suffered from very different weather. They have suffered from much cooler temperatures and hailstorms, which have inflicted millions of Euros in damage. A heavy hailstorm damaged 30-40% of peaches and apples in an area near Verona, in the northeast of Italy. Rome was hit by heavy rain, forcing authorities to close some city roads, giving rise to travel chaos.
In stark contrast though, Western Europe has had a different kind of suffering, in the form of heat waves and baking sunshine. As we reported in our weather news article on the 7th of June temperatures in Spain and Portugal are hovering around a sizzling 40C (104F). Some parts of Portugal have even seen temperatures exceeding 40C. This has brought major problems to the drought-stricken country of Portugal, where wildfires are raging across the country.
Last night over 500 fire-fighters and soldiers were tackling 5 separate forest fires across the country. A high alert is on for 14 out of the 18 mainland regions for very high or extreme risk of wildfires, as temperatures continue to soar.
The contrasts across Europe should become less extreme during the next week as weather patterns begin to shift once again, into a more average seasonal pattern, with the high pressure slipping to the south later in the week.
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