Arctic blast hits Europe with snow and hurricane-force winds
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Britain’s Met Office expanded warnings for snow and ice to cover much of the country, with potential disruptions to road and rail transport.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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LONDON – Snow is blanketing parts of Europe as a blast of Arctic air delivers the first cold snap of winter, boosting heating demand across the region.
Britain’s Met Office expanded yellow warnings for snow and ice to cover much of the country, including London. Those alerts will extend into Nov 20, with potential disruptions to road and rail transport across Britain. Temperatures dropped as low as minus 11 deg C in Scotland, with as much as 12cm of snow in parts of England.
The freezing weather is set to lift heating demand, forcing some European countries to tap gas reserves, especially on days when lower wind speeds curb renewable generation. British wind generation is set to slump below 3GW on Nov 22 as temperatures remain low, putting pressure on the power grid.
Londoners could see lows of minus 4 deg C on Nov 20, according to the Met Office. Temperatures in Berlin and Paris will also dip below zero throughout the week, according to Weather Services International. In the Nordics, Oslo is forecast to remain below zero for five days.
There is a severe weather alert in place on Nov 19 for south-west Germany, which is bracing for hurricane-force winds of up to 130kmh. Snow will spread to Germany, Switzerland and Italy later this week, with Meteo Suisse expecting up to 70cm at higher altitudes.
Copernicus forecasts widespread snowfall across parts of France in the coming days. Some ski resorts, such as Chamonix, may get more than 1.5m of snow by the end of the week.
On the French island of Corsica, wind speeds as strong as 200kmh are forecast on Nov 20. BLOOMBERG
