WeatherFanatics: Northern Europe to Stay Unsettled Into Christmas

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Northern Europe to Stay Unsettled Into Christmas

By Eric Leister, Meteorologist

December 23,2014; 8:56PM,EST

The final two in a series of fast-moving storm systems will continue the theme of unsettled weather from Ireland and the United Kingdom into northern Europe through Christmas Day.
While neither particular storm will cause widespread damage or travel disruptions, each will produce showers and gusty winds.
The showers will occasionally occur as or be mixed with snow in the higher terrain of the British Isles, as well as parts of Scandinavia and northern Europe.
Gusty winds will howl even when dry weather prevails, especially near the coastlines.
A storm brought heavy rain that resulted in some flooding in western Scotland Sunday into Monday. The flooding caused 42 people to become stranded in a supermarket in Kilmarnock, according to BBC News. Rescue crews used an inflatable boat to rescue those trapped inside the store.
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This same storm made its presence felt on Sunday into Monday across the rest of the British Isles as wind gusted near 65 kph (40 mph) in many areas. In some coastal areas and higher terrain, gusts topped 80 kph (50 mph).
These gusty winds spread east Monday from the Netherlands, Belgium and southern Scandinavia into Belarus and western Ukraine.

Along the frontal boundary, rain spread from Netherlands into northern Germany, Poland, Belarus and Ukraine on Monday. Meanwhile, snow fell farther north across the Baltic States and western Russia. This fresh snowfall along with a second storm Wednesday into Thursday will set the stage for a white Christmas for many across the region.

Much of the United Kingdom and Ireland will have a break from the stormy weather from Wednesday afternoon through Thursday as high pressure builds in from the Atlantic Ocean.
Meanwhile, a second storm system will bring another round of unsettled weather and gusty winds to areas from France to the Baltic States Wednesday into Thursday. Although precipitation will fall as rain at the onset of this storm on Wednesday, colder air rushing southward will result in a mixture of rain and snow from northern Germany into northern Poland Wednesday night into Thursday.
Cities such as Hamburg and Berlin may get snowflakes in the area on Christmas Day; however, little or no accumulation is expected.
Farther south, rain will fall from Paris through Prague and Warsaw. While there is a small chance for some wet snowflakes in Warsaw, the other locations will get only rain through Christmas Day.
On the colder side of this storm, snow will again fall from the Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia into western Russia Wednesday and Thursday.
A pair of powerful storm systems will impact much of Europe from Friday through the weekend bringing strong winds, downpours and snow.
Contributions by Meteorologist Adam Douty

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