EU-DIGEST

Ciara or Sabine: Call it what you want, but countries across Europe are being hit by a powerful storm. Transport has been plunged into chaos and schools have been closed.

Read more at:
https://www.dw.com/en/storm-sabine-serious-weather-shuts-down-air-traffic-across-europe/a-52310322

8A storm raging through much of eastern Spain has claimed at least four lives and cut off power to hundreds of thousands. Alicante Airport was also temporarily shut, disrupting over 200 flights.

Read more at:
https://www.dw.com/en/spain-storm-gloria-kills-4-disrupts-travel/a-52081614

The death toll from fierce back-to-back storms pummeling Spain, Portugal and France has risen to nine as the region reels from more powerful winds and flooding.

The death of a fisherman in Catalonia, who was swept away by strong waves in the Mediterranean, brought the number killed up to nine since Storm Elsa whipped across from Wednesday to Friday. Seven of the deaths have been in Spain and two in Portugal.

Read more at: Storms Elsa and Fabian leave nine dead across southern Europe | News | DW | 22.12.2019

As if Hurricane Dorian wasn’t enough.

The National Weather Service said Tuesday that there are two other storm systems developing in the Atlantic, and another could be on the way.

“The entire tropical Atlantic basin has become quite active,” the service said on Twitter.

Tropical Storm Fernand was churning away off the Mexican coast in the Gulf of Mexico, moving west close to the Texas shoreline with 40-mph winds.

The National Hurricane Center said another storm system — identified only as “Disturbance 2” for now — was developing farther out in the Atlantic, with a 50 percent chance of becoming a full-blown cyclone within 48 hours, which could bring heavy rains to Bermuda.

Read more at: Dorian just be taste of hurricane season as more storms form

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Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium have recorded their highest ever temperatures as the second extreme heatwave in as many months to be linked by scientists to the climate emergency grips the continent.

The Dutch meteorological service, KNMI, said the temperature reached 39.2C (102.5F) at the Gilze-Rijen airbase near Breda on Wednesday afternoon, exceeding the previous high of 38.6C set in August 1944.

In Belgium, the temperature in Kleine-Brogel hit 38.9C, fractionally higher than the previous record of 38.8C set in June 1947. Forecasters said temperatures could climb further on Thursday.

Germany’s national weather service, DWD, said it believed a new all-time national high of 40.5C – 0.2C higher than the record – had been set in the town of Geilenkirchen near the Dutch and Belgian borders, but had still to confirm it.

“The most extreme heat will build from central and northern France into Belgium, the Netherlands and far western Germany into Thursday,” said Eric Leister of the forecasting group AccuWeather.

Read more at Temperature records surpassed across western Europe | World news | The Guardian

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This year, the Netherlands has experienced an unusually hot summer, with a code orange being issued due to the heat and two heatwaves engulfing the country in a short period of time. Not to mention the drought that did not go unnoticed across the land.

Well, if you thought the weather was just a tad too warm, you won’t have any luck in terms of cooler summers for the next few years. According to a new statistical analysis by KNMI climate researcher Sybren Drijfhout and colleague Florian Sevellec, globally, we are in for another four years of warmer than usual weather.

From now until 2022, the earth will be in the throes of a “warm anomaly”, in addition to the slow advance of global warming due to greenhouse gasses. Although the anomaly may only contribute to temperatures worldwide by a few hundredths of a degree, it could result in heatwaves, extreme weather conditions and hot summers.

Drijfhout credits the coming warm period to a four-year hiatus, roughly between 2010 and 2014, in which the earth’s temperature hardly increased. During this period, it seems as though the extra heat was absorbed by the sea; extra heat which could still be released into the atmosphere, he says. Up until 2022, there is a 70 percent possibility of extra hot summers and higher temperatures in general the world over, the weather model currently reports.

Read more: Four years of hot summers expected in the Netherlands

Berlin in particular turned into a vast snowscape, with all parts of the city from Treptower Park to Alexanderplatz coated in a growing amount of white.

The day has a historic average temperature of 8 degrees, according to Accuweather.com, in contrast to today's high temperature of 3 degrees and low temperature of -4 degrees.

Read more: Snow falls on first day of spring in much of Germany - The Local

 Icy temperatures across Europe have left more than 20 people dead and blanketed even the Greek islands and southern Italy in snow.

Italy saw ferries and flights cancelled and schools in the south are expected to close on Monday.

Turkey has also been badly affected. The Bosphorus was closed to shipping as a heavy snowstorm hit Istanbul.

At least 10 people died of cold in Poland. Night temperatures in Russia plunged to minus 30C.

Normally milder Greece has witnessed temperatures of minus 15C in the north where an Afghan migrant died of cold last week and roads were closed.

Read more:n Deadly icy spell grips much of Europe, including Greek islands - BBC News

Europe heatwave: Germany and Poland to hit near-record temperatures as warmer weather sweeps towards Britain 

Read more: Germany: heatwave set to beat record set only in July | euronews, world news

The temperature tipped 37.3 degrees in Maastricht on Thursday, making it the warmest July day ever recorded in the Netherlands, broadcaster Nos said. Last night was also the warmest evening since formal records began in 1901.

 In Arcen, in Limburg, the temperature did not dip below 24.1 degrees. In coastal regions, however, a sea breeze means the temperature is being kept below 28 degrees. In addition, there may be some localised thunderstorms on Thursday evening, weather forecasters say.

The heatwave has led Dutch railway company NS to reduce services on some routes to head off the risk of the rails buckling. A number of events, such as fun runs and shows involving animals, have also been cancelled or brought forward this weekend because of the heat.

Read more: The Netherlands swelters as temperatures hit record levels - DutchNews.nl

 Summer in Europe will lack any long-lasting heat waves across northwestern Europe, while parts of southern and eastern Europe will feel the heat.

This heat will also trigger rounds of strong thunderstorms from Poland and Czech Republic into Belarus and Ukraine.

Typical summer heat will be felt from eastern Spain into southern France and Italy, while beneficial rains will bring occasional cooling to western Spain and Portugal.

Read more: Europe Summer Forecast: Extreme Heat to Grip the Balkans but Bypass UK, France

“You are free to throw snowballs at this window,” the signs say in the Kadikoy district on the Asian side of Istanbul, and not because the shopkeepers here love the sound of breaking glass.

Read more: In Turkey, Even Snow Can Be Tainted by Politics - NYTimes.com

Dozens of planes were buffeted by gusts as they landed on the airport's runway - watch video of an Aer Lingus flight and the Airbus A380 struggle in the winds as they land 

Airline passengers faced a see-saw ride when they arrived at Manchester in high winds today.
Dozens of planes were buffeted by gusts as they landed on the airport's runway.

Passengers on an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin were among those who safely touched down - closely followed by passengers an Airbus A380 from Dubai.

The Met Office has issued a 'yellow' weather warning for today, with gusts of up to 70mph expected in some parts of the region.

You can watch two dramatic videos of the landings below in the complete report by clicking on the link below.

Read and see more: Video: Watch as planes - including the Airbus A380 - are buffeted by high winds as they land at Manchester Airport - Manchester Evening News

A severe winter storm caused major travel problems in parts of western Europe Tuesday, stranding passengers travelling for Christmas at Paris and London airports and leaving hundreds of thousands of homes without power.

The storm caused four deaths in Britain, including a man who jumped into a fast-flowing river to try and rescue his dog. The severe weather also left a 12-year-old boy crushed to death beneath construction materials in Normandy, France.

In Britain, thousands of people trying to get away for the holidays were affected by reduced or cancelled train services due to landslides and fallen trees and flooded roads. Power outages at London Gatwick Airport's North Terminal caused 26 cancellations and many more delays.

 Read more: Winter storm blasts Europe, wreaks travel chaos

Britain braced for severe flooding and the worst tidal surge in 60 years after a powerful storm with hurricane-force gusts hit the country Thursday and began moving across Europe.

Read more: Fierce Storm Lashes Europe; at Least 3 Dead - ABC News

Named Xaver by meteorologists, blue skies will turn black as the low pressure system arrives on Thursday from Greenland. It may well be the worst storm the north has seen since the 1960's.

Thursday morning will, meteorologist Thomas Ruppert from state weather service DWD said, see wind up to force 12 on the coast – the same level as a hurricane - and further inland around force 10 or 11.
Hamburg will be in the middle of the action, where high winds, biting cold and blizzards will reach intensity later in the afternoon.

This will be accompanied by freezing snow showers and coastal inlet water levels around 2.5 metres higher than normal. This bad weather will travel eastwards and inland, but lose power as it goes.Coastal areas are at risk of flooding.

“Storm tides would be a concern for sandy coasts,” said head of coast protection Dietmar Wienholdt. “The dykes are winter-ready” he said, adding that “they will stand a storm tide like 1962 or 1976.”

The south of the country will also experience gale-force blasts, especially in the mountains, although this will not be as bad as in the north, which will have to wait until Friday for the wild weather to calm down.

Read more: Hurricane-strength storm threatens north Germany - The Local