In Europe, late spring feels more like winter in May

By Paul Homewood

h/t Dennis Ambler

This must be what climate breakdown means!

From Al Jazeera:

Hail fell to create what looked like a covering of snow in Bulgaria on the plain south of the Danube. Antoaneta Vladimirova

Traditionally, Britons expect it to be cold and wet on a Bank Holiday Monday, so May 6, 2019, lived up to expectations, with temperatures in the UK a full 15 degrees Celsius below last year’s record-high figures.

Almost the whole of Europe has seen a brief return to a few days of winter-like weather because an Arctic wind blew south as the month of May came in. Temperatures dropped typically at least 10C from one day to the next. The driving force, a centre of low pressure over Scandinavia, seems to be reluctant to move.

Low-pressure centres often bring storms. Snow has fallen in the Netherlands, France, Germany and Switzerland. A gale blew down the Rhone valley, whipping up the Mediterranean. Hail fell thickly from thunderstorms in Bulgaria.

Roads needed to be cleared near Spitzingsee, after a late-spring snowfall in southern Germany. Michael Dalder/Reuters

A cold and, unusually for May, snowy morning in Feniers, central France. Pascal Lachenaud/AFP

Rough conditions offer good practise opportunities as strong winds blow at the Plage du David beach in downtown Marseille as Storm Eleanor hits southern parts of France. Boris Horvat/AFP

Unseasonable May snow in a paddock in Schliersee, southern Germany. The Netherlands, France and Switzerland all saw late-spring snow. Michael Dalder/Reuters

A snowplough clears part of the Gotthard pass that links the north of Switzerland to the south. It is expected to officially reopen at the end of May. Alexandra Wey/EPA-EFE

Fresh snow covers the village of Falcade in the Dolomites, northern Italy. Antonella Schena/EPA-EFE

Early May snowfall in the Alps has reached up to 20 centimetres. Philipp Guelland/EPA-EFE

A man clears snow from a terrace in Vijlen, the Netherlands. The last time there was snow in early May here was in 1979. Marcel Van Hoorn/EPA-EF