ac The last weekend of January will continue to be cold in Spain. The icy cold and frost will persist. And the month of February also looks set to start cold.
A ‘very cold night’ is expected on Sunday, with minimum temperatures 2-4 degrees below zero in much of the interior. In the Pyrenees, temperatures of up to 10 degrees below zero or less are anticipated.
Cold, dry and anticyclonic weather is forecast for the coming days. This is with the exception in the Pyrenees, the Cantabrian Sea and parts of the Mediterranean and the Balearic Islands. Here, moderate and isolated precipitation may fall with snow from 400-500 metres. Also, in the Cantabrian mountains there may be some more snow.
Spanish weather service spokesman AEMET Rubén del Campo said there will be widespread freezing at night in the interior of the peninsula. Furthermore cold temperatures are also forecast during the day, with values between 3 and 5 degrees. It could even reach 5-10 degrees below normal for this time of year.
Snowfall
AEMET is warning of snowfall in the north of the peninsula at low altitudes from around 400 or 500 metres. This could hamper mobility on major roads, especially in Navarre, the Basque Country and in the north and east of Castilla y Leon, as well as around the central system, between Madrid and Segovia.
AEMET has activated code yellow (risk), for snowfall in the following municipalities;
- Asturias
- Cantabria
- Castilla y León
- Catalonia
- Navarre
- Basque Country
- La Rioja.
Saturday and Sunday will see no warmer than a maximum of 10 degrees in most of the interior. Except in the Guadalquivir Valley where it could reach 12-14 degrees. In large parts of the centre and north of the peninsula, it will barely reach 6 or 8 degrees at the warmest times of the day.
Very cold night in Spain
On Sunday in particular, a “very cold early morning” is expected, with minimum temperatures between 2 and 4 degrees below zero in much of the interior in the north and east of the peninsula, although frosts will be stronger in mountainous areas, reaching 8-10 degrees below zero.
Moreover, the cold will be intensified over the weekend by northerly winds that will blow strongly in the northern and eastern third of the peninsula and also in the Balearic Islands.
Rising temperatures
Next week will remain cold, dry and anticyclonic, although temperatures will start a ‘progressive rise’ from Monday. Admittedly with night frosts in the interior of the peninsula, but they will be less widespread and less intense.
Daytime values are rising and will be closer to the normal average. By Wednesday or Thursday, temperatures will rise above 10 degrees in the north and reach 14 or 16 degrees in the centre and south. In parts of the Mediterranean and the Guadalquivir Valley, it could even reach 18 degrees.
Meteored’s forecast
Weather service Meteored predicts that a DANA could develop between the peninsula and the Canary Islands, although its trajectory cannot be predicted at present. Little precipitation is expected for the first few days of February, although there could be some weak and scattered rain with some snowfall in Cantabria and the upper reaches of the Ebro. The same applies to the Pyrenees. In southern Andalucia, local rain may fall.
Outlook for February
Del Campo predicts that the first week of February will be cold, but with temperatures above normal in the east of the peninsula and islands. For precipitation, no clear trend can be observed yet.
February is usually the third coldest month of the year, after January and December, with an average temperature of 7 degrees Celsius and less precipitation than the other two winter months, although it does rain slightly more than in March.
Also read: Heaviest snowfall in Mallorca in five years
