Wet Weather Returns to Western Europe for Weekend

By Eric Leister, Meteorologist

February 13,2015; 10:39PM,EST

 

 

While much of Europe is welcoming a break from rain and windstorms, change is on the way for western Europe as storms return into early next week.
A large dome of high pressure was positioned over northern Europe, blocking the arrival of storms from the Atlantic for much of the week.
This high pressure shifted eastward on Friday and opened the door for the first of a pair of storms that will bring wet weather back to areas from Ireland and the United Kingdom to France and Spain.
The first storm arrived on Friday, spreading rainfall across much of the United Kingdom and Ireland before dampening western France and northwestern during the midday and afternoon hours.
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The first storm will shift south on Saturday as rain continues across much of France and northern Spain. Rain will also spread into northern Italy with snow falling in the Alps.
As the storm pushes south, drier air will build across the United Kingdom and Ireland limiting any rainfall to showers in England and Wales while dry weather prevails elsewhere.
Widespread rain and showers will continue on Sunday across southwest and southern Europe while another storm targets Ireland, Northern Ireland and western Scotland by the late afternoon.
Numerous showers are expected across the United Kingdom, Ireland and western France into Monday.

While wet weather returns to parts of western and southern Europe, high pressure will shift east and foster dry weather from much of Germany and Austria eastward.
Along with this dry weather, sunshine will prevail much of the time through the weekend in locations such as Berlin, Germany and Warsaw Poland.
The placement of the high pressure will cause clouds to linger in areas farther north and east from the Baltic states into western Russia.
The clouds will occasionally be accompanied by drizzle and fog. That is especially true in the late-night and morning hours and could cause travel disruptions (both on the ground and in the air) by reducing visibility.
Another danger will arise when temperatures are below freezing and cause the drizzle or any dense fog to turn untreated surfaces slippery.