Spring warmth bathes much of Europe

Following a long and cold winter across most of Europe, dominated by cold easterly winds and snow, the continent has finally warmed up.

In the last week here in the UK, spring has clearly sprung, with nature bursting into life, trees blossoming and daffodils standing tall, lapping up the warmth and sunshine.

You may recall a few weeks ago, I mentioned that the return to spring-like weather is due to the jet stream returning northwards to where it should be at this time of year.

The jet stream separates cold air to its north and warm air to its south and where this boundary lies, weather fronts form – bringing rain and marked changes in temperature either side of them.

Whilst spring warmth bathes much of Europe over the next few days, there are a few exceptions. Scandinavia, northern parts of the UK and western Russia still sit in the colder air.

Effectively, to the north of this chain of weather fronts, winter’s legacy is still being felt, with chilly days, frosty nights and the threat of some wintry showers – especially over the hills and mountains.

You can see from the graphic below that on Wednesday, much of Europe south of the chain of weather fronts will see temperatures in the range of 17-24C. However, the places north of it will be around 10C or below.

By the weekend, this chain of weather fronts will wiggle around and change position.

In western Europe, they’ll dive southwards, allowing cooler weather to sweep in, bringing rain or showers and a cool wind. However, in eastern Europe, they’ll head northwards, taking with them warmer air, higher temperatures and some sunshine.

So for us here in the UK, it means after some temporary warmth across England and Wales midweek, there’ll be a notable drop in temperature by the weekend.

This will mean a return to below average temperatures for a time, along with night frosts and the possibility of showers turning wintry over the hills in the north.

Don’t forget, you can get the latest forecast on the Channel 4 Weather website. You can also follow my regular updates on Twitter – @liamdutton