After a cold weekend in north-eastern Europe, chilly conditions are expected to spread southwards this week. This cold spell is due to a large area of high pressure over the North Sea, which allowed very cold Arctic air to sink southwards over the weekend and will continue to do so this week.
The chill began to be felt on Saturday in countries such as Poland and Lithuania, which had daytime highs of 11C and 6C (52F and 43F) respectively, compared with their high temperatures of 21C and 18C the previous day. As the week progresses, the cold will spread more widely, with temperatures about 5-10C below average from Russia to Germany, and from Estonia as far south as southern Italy and Greece. This means maximum temperatures in the single figures for much of eastern Europe, with highs in the low teens in Greece. Mountainous regions will also have subzero maximums, with some snowfall possible.
Temperatures in western Europe will be about 5C above average under a more southerly air flow. France and Spain will have daytime maximums in the mid to high 20Cs, and highs in the UK will be in the mid to high teens.
Central and eastern parts of the US continue to experience thunderstorms, flooding and tornadoes as a low-pressure system moves eastwards, and at least 16 deaths have been reported. To the west of the unsettled weather a high-pressure system developed with a cold plume from the north that pushed across southern states and into northern Mexico, as temperatures dropped to more than 10C below average. This cold plume is projected to propagate eastwards through this week, bringing respite from the severe weather across central and eastern states.
On the other side of the Atlantic, a low-pressure system strengthened over the Canary Islands last week, and was named Storm Nuria by the Spanish meteorological service, becoming the 14th named storm in Spain this season. The island of La Palma received the worst of the weather with gusts of more than about60mph (about 100km/h) and more than 30mm of rain in an hour. Storm Nuria then moved north-eastwards towards Spain and Portugal, bringing further rain and strong winds.
