Weather in Europe 2021 - up

[Mark]

Berlin’s grid was deliberately sabotaged on Jan 3 by a far-left extremist group calling itself Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

Arsonists set fire to a high-voltage cable bridge over the Teltow Canal, cutting electricity and heating to 45,000 to 50,000 homes and more than 2,000 businesses in southwest Berlin during freezing winter conditions.

The group openly claimed responsibility, stating the attack targeted fossil fuel infrastructure and rising power demand from AI data centers. Even days later, around 20,000 homes are still without power.

This was a targeted attack on civilian energy infrastructure — and it has received minimal media attention.






Germany has been dealing with persistent cold and disruptive snow since the turn of the New Year, with lows of -13C (8.6F).

This has been the story for much of Europe. Lows nearing -40C have swept from Scandinavia to Turkey. And most recently, during the early hours of Jan 7, temperatures across the Alpine arc read -31.1C (-24F) on Monte Rosa and -33.4C (-28F) on Mont Blanc.

Looking ahead, the pattern looks to be deteriorating further.

A rapidly deepening Atlantic low is forecast to impact western Europe late week, bringing hurricane-force wind gusts and multiple feet of snow, particularly across England and France.
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/europe-is-frozen-juneau-snow-emergency

[Mark]

A severe Arctic air mass tightened its grip on Europe over the weekend, delivering extreme, in some cases record-breaking cold across the north and east while heavy snow buried mountain regions farther south.

Scandinavia led the plunge.

Karasjok, Norway dropped to -41.5C (-42.7F), marking a fourth consecutive night below -40C and a third straight below -41C — both new records for any month since observations began there in 2005.

Røros Airport, also Norway, logged -37.3C (-35.1F), the station’s third lowest January reading on record. Nearby Karesuando, Sweden fell to -40.1C (-40.2F). Finland went lower still, registering a new coldest temperature of the winter at -42.8C (-45F).

The cold spread well beyond the Arctic Circle.
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/europe-in-the-freezer-juneaus-cold

[Mark]

The western Alps are being buried under intense snowfall, with extreme avalanche danger now widespread.

In parts of Savoie, France including the corridor between Mont Blanc and Tarentaise, avalanche risk has reached the rare level of 5 out of 5. Heavy, continuous snow has forced major resort closures, with some areas—such as La Plagne—shutting all operations.
Snowfall rates have been pretty extreme..
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/european-alps-buried-parts-of-north

[Mark]

Northern Europe has been enduring continued, continent-scale cold since the start of the year.

Across Scandinavia, the Baltics, and into Belarus, this year has delivered weeks of uninterrupted subzero weather. Daytime thaws have been rare. Nights have been relentlessly cold.

In Estonia, air temperatures have remained below 0C (32F) for 45 consecutive days across large areas — a level of continuous cold not seen there in decades.

Norway tells the same story.

In Oslo, temperatures have held below freezing for 32 straight days now. That makes it the third-longest subzero streak of the 21st century, behind only the 40-day run of Nov–Dec 2010 and the 33-day stretch of Dec 2009–Jan 2010.

At Røros Airport, themometers plunged to -33.8C (-28.8F) on Sunday, which marked the 20th day below -30C (-22F) so far this year. Records at Røros date back to 1876, and by Feb 15 only one year —1942— has recorded more such extreme cold days (with 22).
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/northern-europe-locked-in-deep-freeze

[Mark]

Powerful snowstorms are hammering the western and north-western Alps. Around 1 m (39 in) of snow fell over large parts on Monday, with another meter in the forecast Tuesday, pushing totals well beyond seasonal norms.


The heaviest accumulations span the French Alps, north-western Italy, and western and northern Switzerland.

Snowfall rates have been intense. In Stuben am Arlberg, for example around 15 cm (6 in) fell in under 20 minutes overnight Monday — reportedly among the most intense snowfall bursts observed there in years.

The avalanche danger is now extreme across much of the Alps. In Switzerland, the SLF warns that rail lines, roads, and even exposed settlements are at risk. On Monday, an avalanche near Goppenstein derailed a train.
Farther southeast, while snow is more limited, cover remains healthy.

Predictably, less than a week after climate activists warned that global warming threatens the future of the Winter Olympics, Cortina d’Ampezzo, host of the 2026 games, is receiving an impressive dumping, one that is disrupting events, even.
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/western-alps-buried-arctic-cold-intensifies

[Mark]

Europe's avalanche crisis is escalating, with 86 people including at least four Brits killed this season as severe snowfall and unstable mountain conditions wreak havoc across the Alps and beyond.

France has recorded the highest toll so far with 25 deaths, followed by Italy with 21 and Austria with 14, while Switzerland has lost nine and Spain eight.

Slovakia reported four deaths and Slovenia three, with a single death in Andorra.

The vast majority of victims were caught in wind slab avalanches or collapses linked to persistent weak layers buried deep within the snow, often triggered after fresh downfalls.

Most were skiing off piste or travelling in backcountry terrain, with others killed while mountaineering, climbing or hiking.


At least four Brits have been killed by avalanches this season, with the latest tragedy taking place on Tuesday, when a British man died in the Alps after an avalanche hit a group of five off-piste skiers and their guide near a French resort.

The slide struck the Côte Fine couloir in La Grave on Tuesday morning.

Two skiers were found in cardiorespiratory arrest and later pronounced dead, according to Marion Lozac'Hmeur, Public Prosecutor of Gap.

One man, born in 1987, was Polish. The other, born in 1989, was a British national originally from Poland who lived in Switzerland.

The deaths come just days after two other British skiers as well as a French national were killed in an avalanche in the upmarket French Alpine resort of Val d'Isere on Friday.

The Brits were named as Stuart Leslie, 46, and 51-year-old Shaun Overy.

Emergency services responded quickly but could not save their lives, a resort official said, noting that all of the victims had avalanche transceivers.

This unfolded less than 24 hours after the Savoie region was placed on a rare red avalanche alert - a warning level issued only twice before in the 25 years since its introduction.

Although the alert had been lifted by Friday morning, the risk remained at four out of five - officially 'high' - with avalanches 'easily triggered by skiers or hikers' and capable of mobilising 'very large volumes of snow'.

Two skiers also died over the weekend after being buried in the snow following an off-trail avalanche in Italy, close to the borders with France and Switzerland.

At least three skiers were caught up in Sunday morning's avalanche on the Mont Blanc massif.

The tragedy occurred in the Couloir Vesses, a well-known freeride route in Courmayeur, in upper Val Veny, according to Italy's Alpine Rescue.

A record 13 backcountry skiers, climbers and hikers died in the Italian mountains during the first week of February, Alpine Rescue reported last Monday, including 10 in avalanches triggered by an exceptionally unstable snowpack.

Earlier this month on February 7, three people were killed by avalanches while skiing off-piste in mountains close to where the Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games are taking place.

The Alpine rescue service said they recovered a man's body after two avalanches hit the Marmolada area in the Dolomites, not far from Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Another two off-piste skiers died in Albosaggia, a village in the lower Valtellina valley, some 40 miles east of Bormio.

The deaths came just days after another avalanche in the Trentino Alto Adige region killed two Finnish skiers.

And last month, an Englishman, believed to be in his 50s was reportedly amongst six skiers killed in avalanches over the weekend of the 11th, after skiing off-piste at the La Plagne resort in south-eastern France.

Rescue teams received an avalanche alert at 1.57pm on Sunday and immediately went to the site, the resort said.

The man was located after 50 minutes buried under eight feet of snow, but could not be revived.

His death came during a weekend marked by several avalanches across the Alps following several days of heavy snow.

Amongst other victims that weekend were three skiers killed in the Savoie region after being caught in avalanches in Val-d'Isère and the Arêches-Beaufort resort.

A female skier also died in Austria on January 11 after being buried by an avalanche on Weerberg mountain in the Schwaz district of Tyrol, while a man in Italy was killed by an avalanche above the northern city of Aosta on January 10.

On January 13 a Czech child was tragically killed by an avalanche while skiing off-piste in the Austrian alpine resort of Bad Gastein

And on January 18, eight skiers died after three avalanches struck across Austria in the space of just four hours.

Beginning on Monday of this week, severe snowfall across Switzerland and parts of northern Italy has created mounting issues.
https://www.sott.net/article/504748-Europes-mounting-avalanche-death-toll-86-so-far-this-winter-with-record-downfalls-burying-ski-resorts

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SLynpeAbeAM?feature=share

[Mark]

A powerful storm has buried parts of the Alps under deep snow, with extreme accumulations reported across Switzerland and northern Italy.

In Bosco-Gurin, Ticino, 116 cm (45.7 inches) of snow fell in just 24 hours, setting a new station record.

Elsewhere across the southern Alps, totals exceeded 1 m (3.3 ft) at altitude. Heavy snowfall hit eastern Aosta, northern Piedmont, and southern Switzerland, including areas around Gressoney and Macugnaga.

In Bosco-Gurin, 116 cm fell in 24 hours, a new station record.

Snowfall was not confined to high peaks. Even at mid-elevations, the storm exceeded expectations. Pila in Valsesia (at 686 m / 2,250 ft) was heavily snow-covered by the morning of March 15.
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/record-snow-pounds-the-alps-rare

[Mark]

A powerful late-season storm cycle has delivered a major refresh across the eastern Alps, with Switzerland leading the charge after several days of sustained snowfall. The standout has been Engelberg, where snowfall totals have been exceptional even by mid-winter standards. According to OpenSnow data, the resort received 84 cm (33 inches) in the past 24 hours and 132 cm (52 inches) over the past five days, catapulting conditions back into peak-season form.

The storm has been driven by a moist northwesterly flow, favoring northern Alpine regions and creating classic "Nordstau" conditions—where precipitation intensifies as air is forced over the mountains. The storm didn't stop at Switzerland. Zugspitze, Germany's highest peak, was also hammered, with around 1.5 meters (nearly 5 feet) of fresh snow reported in recent days. But that much snow comes with complications. In a post on social media, the resort cautioned: "A lot of snow does not automatically mean a lot of skiing. 1.5 meters of fresh snow must first be tamed... colleagues work around the clock to secure the ski area and prepare the slopes." Ongoing snowfall and poor visibility have delayed operations, with the resort indicating it expects to reopen over the weekend, pending improved weather conditions.
https://youtu.be/wrAqbTFIsWQ?si=XmdbxfW21LC2Xx6v

[Mark]

https://electroverse.substack.com/p/winter-returns-to-europe-cold-extends
Winter has pushed back across much of Europe in the final days of March, with fresh snowfall, sub-zero temperatures, and a stronger Alpine storm now underway.

In the Elbasan Region, central Albania, heavy snowfall delivered a sharp return to winter across Elbasan, Librazhd, Gramsh, and Prrenjas, with 25 cm (9.8 inches) settling, and deeper accumulations in higher terrain including Shebenik National Park.

To the south, in Greece, snowfall swept through the mountainous regions of Epirus and Western Macedonia. In northwestern Greece, conditions are more typical of midwinter than late March, with snow-clearing operations deployed.

Turning east, to the Alps, a two-stage storm cycle is unfolding.

A modest first pulse delivered 15 cm (6 inches) to western and northern ranges overnight Saturday, with snow levels down to 400 m (1,300 ft) allowing accumulation at most ski areas.

[Mark]

Fresh snowfall has piled up fast across the European Alps — 50 cm (19.7 in) widely reported, with localized totals doubling that.

More than a meter (41 inches) has been registered over high terrain in parts of France, Switzerland, Austria and the Bavarian Alps of Germany.

Strong high-altitude winds have redistributed snow beyond the usual spots, pushing accumulations into areas like Ticino.
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/late-march-snow-buries-the-alps-as

[Mark]

Intense snowfall mixed with strong gusts of wind, villages buried under astronomical amounts of powder snow... It is almost apocalyptic weather that reigns over these regions in recent days... and the inhabitants will remember it.

Who could have predicted that 2026 would go down in history? Both in terms of rainfall and snowfall, it has broken numerous records this year. The many ski resorts still open are proof of this, as the intense snowfall of recent days has once again blanketed the slopes in white.

This allows skiers who wish to do so to enjoy the pleasures of skiing one last time at Easter. While the heavy snowfall is a boon for ski resorts, this isn't necessarily the case elsewhere. When winter hasn't yet had its final say in the mountains, sometimes an entire area is paralyzed, as was the case this week.

https://www.sott.net/article/505523-More-than-a-meter-of-snow-closed-roads-villages-cut-off-in-southern-France
https://www.sott.net/article/505523-More-than-a-meter-of-snow-closed-roads-villages-cut-off-in-southern-France

[Mark]

Capracotta, Italy has just been buried by a spring snowstorm more typical of January.

The mountain town in Molise, sitting at 1,421 m (4,662 ft), was recently hit by a blizzard that dropped 1.5 m (59 in) of snow in about 24 hours. Follow-up coverage from Italian media showed snow depths in the town exceeding 2 m (79 in), with some local reports saying the deepest drifts topped 3 m (118 in).
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/capracotta-buried-by-2m-of-april