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A mass of polar air will send temperatures plunging in Spain: widespread frosts and values down to –5 ºC from this Thursday
Spain is preparing for an abrupt turn in the weather. Aemet has confirmed that a very cold mass of polar-origin air will enter the Peninsula in the coming days, causing a severe temperature drop, widespread frosts and even snowfall in several mountain ranges.
After the final tail end of storm Claudia and a start to the week marked by rain, wind and overcast skies across much of the country, the real change will arrive from Thursday, when the tongue of cold air descends from the north and brings back a fully wintry atmosphere.
“The very cold air mass will arrive in the coming days. Temperatures will fall progressively, with frosts from Tuesday that will intensify afterwards,” Aemet warned on its official account.
What will happen and when
The first signs will arrive on Wednesday, when an active front reactivates rain in the Cantabrian region, the upper Ebro and the Pyrenees, where snow will return strongly. But it will be on Thursday that thermometers plunge:
At middle levels of the atmosphere (1,500 metres), values below 0 ºC are expected in the north, centre and east.
Some models foresee down to –4 ºC in the north-east and the northern plateau.
This drop will quickly reach the surface.
Where will it be coldest?
The atmosphere will be fully wintry across much of the interior:
Burgos, Ávila or Soria: highs around 5 ºC.
Palencia, Burgos, Soria, Guadalajara, Cuenca or Teruel: lows of –5 ºC or below.
Madrid: below-zero temperatures during the weekend.
In high mountain areas, the situation will be even more extreme, with severe frosts.
Snow returns
The Pyrenees and the Cantabrian mountain range could accumulate between 20 and 40 centimetres, according to the current forecasts. Snowflakes could also return to the Iberian System and the Central System, with unusually low snow levels due to the intensity of the polar air.
With this scenario, Spain faces one of the year’s most intense cold spells, at a time when the transition towards climatic spring seemed already to be underway.