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Large parts of Europe are starting the 2023-2024 winter season with plenty of snow and cold, a stark contrast to last year, which was unusually warm and snow-free.
In Munich, Germany’s third-largest city, a weekend storm dropped nearly a foot and a half of snow, setting a December record. It was also that of the city Biggest snowstorm since the beginning of March 2006 and to the greatest of each month on record.
Munich was far from the only European city to experience a sudden onset of winter. Large parts of Germany and the rest of Europe are covered in snow.
More snow is also on the way, particularly from the Alps north across Germany and parts of Eastern Europe.
Further snow also fell in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich on Monday Geneva and eastward to Russia. According to tracking company FlightAware, fresh flakes are leading to new airport delays.
In Munich, hundreds of flights have been canceled every day since the end of last week because of the snow. Amsterdam Airport was also particularly hard hit, and other airports, including Glasgow Airport, had to be temporarily closed.
The airport delays even spread to places where comparatively little snow fell, including London.
The snow is also impacting roads and utilities. Up to 30cm of snow fell in Cumbria in northwest England. According to the BBC, vehicles broke down there and around 13,000 customers lost power.
Remarkable snow extent across Europe
Satellite images and ground observations show remarkable levels of snowfall across the continent.
Typically, snowy places – such as the Alps – see above-average amounts of snowfall, with some places reaching record highs for the time of year. accordingly MeteoSchweiz, Switzerland’s forecasting agency.
“Europe is likely to experience the snowiest start to a meteorological winter since 2010” wrote the French meteorologist Nahel Belgherze on X, formerly Twitter.
Snow began to fall in the Alps in mid to late November as freezing air began to flow south from Europe’s far north, where temperatures have fallen below normal since October. In recent weeks, only the Iberian Peninsula and the countries directly on the Mediterranean have been able to avoid most of the cold.
During heavy snowfall in southern Germany Temperatures have fallen near or even below zero (minus -18 degrees Celsius).Levels that are more typical of the Scandinavian countries in northern Europe.
Above-average snow cover in the northern hemisphere
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Rutgers University, the extent of snowfall over the Northern Hemisphere over the past eight weeks has been near above-average, largely due to abundant snow in Europe. This is despite a below-average snowpack in North America.
Extreme cold and snow have also hit parts of Russia, including Siberia, in recent days. One of the worst daily snowfalls on record occurred in Moscow on Monday, canceling flights and stranding motorists.
Temperatures in Siberia have fallen to minus 60 to minus 70 degrees (minus 50 to minus 57 degrees Celsius) in recent days. accordingly Weather historian Thierry Goose, so a level of cold extraordinary for so early in winter.
Some research has shown that severe cold and snow early in the winter in these regions may be a harbinger of severe winter weather in North America later in the season.
The European cold and snow may soon ease
The severe winter weather in Europe is linked to the negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation (AO), which allows cold air from near the North Pole to descend southwards.
It tends to support a pattern where the jet stream is pushed south over the British Isles before spreading across southern and central Europe. Often the jet stream decline also extends to Eastern Europe and Asia, as it did this week.
However, as this negative Arctic Oscillation weakens and is expected to trend toward its neutral phase, winter conditions may begin to ease somewhat. There will be a gradual thaw in Western Europe this week, while the cold in Eastern Europe and Russia is expected to be less extreme through next week.
However, in winters where the negative phase of this fluctuation occurs early in the season, it tends to return, so additional cold and snow spells are likely.
Despite continued severe winter weather in Europe, much of the rest of the world continues to experience significantly warmer than normal conditions. The data suggests that was last month By far the warmest November on earth since records began and the fifth consecutive month of record warmth.
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Jason Samenow contributed to this report.