Europe’s record-breaking weather

Many parts of Europe have suffered unusual weather over the last few weeks.

For the north, it has been the persistent cold weather which has caused frustration.

In the UK, March 2013 was the coldest since 1962, while in Germany locals shivered through the coldest March since their records began in the 1880s.

The cold weather still prevails across the northern parts of the continent, despite the arrival of a series of weather systems, which have filtered into the Mediterranean and the up into the northeastern parts of Europe.

These systems have already caused problems across the southern parts of Europe. Parts of Spain and Portugal have seen record amounts of rainfall in the last month. The latest weather system over the weekend caused some rivers to burst their banks, flooding towns and roads.

In central Portugal, 60 people had to be evacuated from a campsite after the waters rose, and flooding also caused a bridge to collapse in Spain, killing three people.

A travel advisory issued on April 1, warned that flooding could affect almost all of Spain’s river basins.

The Balkans have also reported flooding, as the heavy rain has combined with water from melting snow. This has caused some of the rivers to burst their banks and inundate homes and farmland.

After triggering flooding in southern Europe, the system then tracked up the east of the continent. As the wet weather slammed into the cold air in the north, it turned wintry and swamped many parts with heavy snow.

In Poland, more than 100,000 people spent the Easter weekend without electricity after heavy snow dragged down powerlines.

30 cm of snow fell across the country on Easter Sunday, with the provinces of Mazovia and Podlachia the worst hit. This has left many roads impassable and delayed dozens of flights.

The snow also fell in Moscow. This brought the depth of snow lying on the ground up to 65 cm, setting an all-time record for April. The previous record of 61 centimetres was set in April 1994,

For the next few days the weather is likely to remain cold and icy for many northern parts of Europe. Another weather system will bring more snow to the northeast on Wednesday and Thursday. Unfortunately for the Iberian Peninsula, there will be more heavy rain in the coming days.