PARIS – Mild weather is expected to remain over most of Europe during the holidays, dimming the chances of a white Christmas but easing pressure on the region’s power grids.

Temperatures in Paris and Frankfurt are expected to be around 7 deg C warmer than seasonal norms on Friday, Maxar Technologies said in a report. The mild weather is expected to stay through the first week of January, it said.

That outlook will ease pressure on Europe’s energy systems, which were strained earlier in December by the first cold blast of winter.

European natural gas prices fell for a fifth day, while the region’s gas storage remains 83 per cent full.

Demand for power and gas typically drops during the holiday period, with most offices and businesses shut. A total of 71.4 heating-degree days are expected for Dec 27 until Dec 31, below the 10-year average of 76.4 days, Maxar said.

German wind output is expected to peak at 15,093 megawatts at midnight on Friday, compared with a high of 19,442 megawatts at 11am on Thursday, according to Bloomberg model and EEX data.

Further north, the Nordics will stay icy with the potential for snow. The temperature in Oslo on Christmas Eve could be 11 deg C below the seasonal average, according to Maxar. BLOOMBERG