A week of cold begins, with already winter temperatures that will progressively decrease in the next few days, according to the forecasts of the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet). Starting from Tuesday there will be frosts due to the arrival of an arctic air mass. According to the entity’s spokesperson, Rubén del Campo, “between Thursday and Saturday the frost will extend to a good part of the interior of the peninsula and will be more intense during the day, where in many areas it will not reach 10 degrees”. This Monday the rains will continue in Extremadura, Andalusia and the Straits due to the effects of the storm Claudia. Cloudy skies also over the Cantabrian Sea and the Pyrenees due to the arrival of a new front, with rainfall that could reach Catalonia and the Balearics in the afternoon.
In the early hours of Tuesday, rain will continue in the Balearic Islands, parts of Catalonia and the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, but in general it will be a day without precipitation. Northerly winds will begin to arrive, blowing intensely in the north-east of the peninsula and temperatures will decrease. Night frosts are expected within the peninsula, especially in the north and center. Del Campo explains that the frosts “will be more intense in the mountain areas, but in the moorland areas it could drop to five degrees below zero and in Soria the dawn will be three degrees below zero”. The Canary Islands will be left sheltered from the cold, with cloudy intervals and a chance of rain in the north of the islands during the week.
On Wednesday, dawn will be below freezing across much of the north and center of the Peninsula. “In Teruel it will be around five degrees below zero, in Madrid the dawn will be zero degrees and in Tarragona it will be at least five degrees,” according to Del Campo. In the central hours of the day, several areas will remain below 10 degrees and only in points in the south of the Valencian Community, the Region of Murcia and Andalusia will it reach 18 degrees. At the same time, a front will leave heavier and more persistent precipitation over the northern third of the peninsula starting in the afternoon. Snow levels will drop to 800 metres.
Frosts will become widespread and more intense on Thursday and Friday. «We will be talking about practically mid-winter temperatures», underlines the spokesperson and specifies that «in a good part of the northern plateau they will drop to values of two degrees below zero, with very cold weather even during the day». Burgos, Cuenca, León, Pamplona, Teruel or Vitoria could remain below the maximum threshold of five degrees. Madrid will only reach seven degrees. Combined with the north winds it will give a greater sensation of a cold environment. These winds will bring moisture and leave heavy rain late this week in the northern third of the peninsula. Snow levels will drop to 500 metres. Heavy showers could also occur in areas of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. There are also chances of snow in other areas of the north and center of the peninsula, and Del Campo specifies that Aemet will expand and update the information in the coming days.
On Saturday the dawn will be “with intense frosts over large areas”, but starting from Sunday temperatures will rise steadily again until the beginning of next week. Warmer air will arrive, causing temperatures to rise to “normal values for the time of year.”
