Valentia Observatory, Ireland

Weather Underground Forecast for Wednesday, February 08, 2012. The main weather headline for Wednesday will be due to the cold air that will continue to produce starkly cold temperatures in the continent. The coldest temperatures will remain in the Baltic States and western Russia where maximum temperatures will struggle to rise above -10(C), but cold Arctic air will push into Bulgaria, Romania, and surrounding countries as well.

Nearly the entire continent will be under a high pressure system that will keep temperatures cold and many areas absent of precipitation. To find any precipitation, you have to travel south to the Mediterranean Sea where a storm south of Italy will be trapped from moving to the north. This will instigate widespread rain and snow from southern Italy through Greece and as far east as Istanbul.

This cold spell is quite remarkable and dangerous in its duration as much of the continent has experienced freezing temperatures for several days. Even normally mild countries such as Portugal and Spain will experience a significant cooling trend this week with Madrid only rising into the upper 30s(F)/mid-0s(C) by Thursday. It will also reach into northern Africa where countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea will also experience a dampening of temperatures.

London will rise into the mid-30s(F)/lower 0s(C), while Paris will see temperatures in the lower 20s(F)/mid -0s(C). Moscow will rise into the mid-0s(C)/mid -10s(C).