Winter finally arrives in southern Europe

Temperatures across eastern Europe have already plummetted and the cold blast is spreading east [REUTERS]

The snowstorm that hit the southeast corner of Europe has gone, leaving Romania and Bulgaria under a thick blanket of snow. Now the weather is giving different problems.

Behind this latest storm, an icy blast from Siberia is causing the temperatures to drop like a stone. The top temperatures expected on Monday in eastern Europe are:

Moscow               -17C

Kiev                    -13C

Bucharest            -10C

These temperatures are so far below the average January temperatures, that new temperature records are likely to be set.

Even across the other side of the Mediterranean, the temperatures have plummeted. In Algiers, the maximum temperature on Monday is forecast to be just 8C.

This icy blast is now expected to spread westwards across the continent, and it comes as quite a shock after the very mild start to the winter.

Part of the reason for our sudden change in the weather is due to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO).

The NAO has spent the majority of this winter in what’s known as a ‘positive phase’, meaning that Europe and the Eastern coast of the USA, have been much milder than usual. However, recently the NAO has become less strong.

The current forecast is for the NAO to be negative for the first week of February, which means that the icy blast across Europe is likely to linger for a while.

The snowstorm that hit the southeast corner of Europe has gone, leaving Romania and Bulgaria under a thick blanket of snow. Now the weather is giving different problems.

Behind this latest storm, an icy blast from Siberia is causing the temperatures to drop like a stone. The top temperatures expected on Monday in eastern Europe are:

Moscow               -17C

Kiev                       -13C

Bucharest            -10C

These temperatures are so far below the average January temperatures, that new temperature records are likely to be set.

Even across the other side of the Mediterranean, the temperatures have plummeted. In Algiers, the maximum temperature on Monday is forecast to be just 8C.

This icy blast is now expected to spread westwards across the continent, and it comes as quite a shock after the very mild start to the winter.

Part of the reason for our sudden change in the weather is due to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO).

The NAO has spent the majority of this winter in what’s known as a ‘positive phase’, meaning that Europe and the Eastern coast of the USA, have been much milder than usual. However, recently the NAO has become less strong.

The current forecast is for the NAO to be negative for the first week of February, which means that the icy blast across Europe is likely to linger for a while.