EUROPE: From record cold October days to record warm November days!

Written by Mark Vogan on November 7, 2018 in Rest of Europe, United Kingdom & Ireland with 0 Comments

A mild October ended with an exceptional cold spell for Europe, particularly for France and Spain thanks to a large and deep low drifting north out of the Med.

https://twitter.com/TheNimbus/status/1056228234008895488

While not too much in the way of snow, the Irish capital recorded a low of -4.3C, Dublin’s coldest October low since 1939. For England and Wales, a low of -7.3C was the coldest for October since 1997.

The UK snow was largely in higher areas but Durham did get a good dumping.

https://twitter.com/owenhumphreys1/status/1056120647527620613

While the UK and Ireland shivered, it was regions around Fruges, Montreuil, Desvres, Le Touquet, Thérouanne in France which saw up to 3cm of on Oct 27. According to Meteo France, these regions haven’t seen snow in October in some 100 years.

https://twitter.com/bbcweather/status/1057245492705406976

Several cities in France as well as Spain observed their coldest October highs on record. With back to back maximums of 6.0 and 6.3C, this was the first time Bordeaux has ever observed two consecutive days below 7C in October. Records date back to 1921.

Record maximums beaten or tied.

This record cold followed record heat in the same areas just days before.

https://twitter.com/EKMeteo/status/1055525607818346496

It wasn’t just France but Spain too witnessed coldest ever October days and nights.

With the aid of ex-hurricane Oscar which became a large, deep and beautiful Atlantic Atlantic cyclone west of Ireland and strong blocking high over eastern Europe, strong southerly winds blowing off a still-hot Algeria and Libya drove temperatures to record levels from the Netherlands in west to Hungary in east and as far north and west as Norway.