Unseasonably warm temperatures and increased rainfall are raising avalanche warnings in the Alps and triggering landslide and flood warnings across Europe, according to Bloomberg.
Heavy and persistent rainfall is causing flooding and landslides across parts of Switzerland, northern Italy and France, that are covered with fresh snow. That prompted the Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology to raise the avalanche risk in the ski resort region of the southern mountains to the red “high danger” level for Tuesday.
The weather warnings come as temperatures from Berlin to Amsterdam are set to rise this weekend, according to forecaster Maxar Technologies Inc. The warmer temperatures are keeping the demand for fossil fuels for heating low, easing concerns about energy supplies this season. European natural gas prices hovered near the lowest in over two months.
The warmth and rainfall are disrupting winter sports like skiing only a week after a cold snap hit the continent, leading to heavy snowfall. Europe has been hard hit by climate change-fueled extreme weather this year, with some areas experiencing some of the hottest months on record and others hit by storms and floods.
The above-normal temperatures are set to extend from northern to central Europe during the early part of next week, according to Maxar.
Showers are forecast for parts of northern UK and yellow alerts are in place for Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the UK Met Office. Cold will also persist across Scandinavia with temperatures staying below the average for the season in Stockholm and Oslo, according to Maxar.