AN EARLY VISIT OF SPRING
Today it will be mostly cloudy in the Alps, but during the weekend the sun will come through. With 10-15 degrees it feels like the first spring days of the year. After the weekend the temperatures even climb further up and the wind declines. Locally, 20 degrees may not be excluded. Second half of the week the temperatures will probably decrease again, but how much colder it will be is still uncertain. At least it is still too early to say that the winter is definitely over.
Cloudy Friday
Friday will be a cloudy day in the Alps, but some sunshine could be spotted especially in the French Alps and in Switzerland. It will be dry except for some rain drops or snow flakes on the northern side of the Alps. It does not feel like winter anymore with in the valleys temperatures of 8-12 degrees. The freezing level will be between 1500-2000 meters height.
Sunny weekend
The weekend feels like spring with sunshine and high temperatures. With the southerly winds, the temperatures climb to 10-15 degrees. Locally, temperatures of 17 degrees can be reached in some valleys because of foehn wind effects. Also, strong winds could occur on the mountain tops of 100 km/hour in the northwest of Switzerland. The freezing line will even be above 3000 meters height.
Further temperature increase next week
First days after the weekend the temperatures increase with Wednesday as warmest day. Locally, a value of 20 degrees may even be touched! In combination with less wind it will also feel warmer compared to the weekend. From Thursday possibilities for colder weather become visible. The temperature forecast is still uncertain, but at least it is way too early to give up on winter in February already.
Bitter cold in Lapland and Russia
At the northern and eastern boundaries of Europe, winter is still present. In the northern half of Scandinavia the temperatures during the day stay below zero and some fresh snow falls coming days. Lapland will have very low temperatures with in the nights -35 degrees and below -15 during the day. In Russia it could become -40 in combination with blizzard conditions. Lets see next week if winter comes closer than this again.