After a cold weekend in north-eastern Europe, chilly conditions are expected to spread southwards this week. This cold spell is due to a large area of high pressure over the North Sea, which allowed very cold Arctic air to sink southwards over the weekend and will continue to do so this week.
The chill began to be felt on Saturday in countries such as Poland and Lithuania, which had daytime highs of 11C and 6C (52F and 43F) respectively, compared with their high temperatures of 21C and 18C the previous day. As the week progresses, the cold will spread more widely, with temperatures about 5-10C below average from Russia to Germany, and from Estonia as far south as southern Italy and Greece. This means maximum temperatures in the single figures for much of eastern Europe, with highs in the low teens in Greece. Mountainous regions will also have subzero maximums, with some snowfall possible.
