Major cooldown on the way for Europe

A taste of summer marked the final days of March across western Europe, with multiple cities sneaking in new record highs for March just before the calendar flipped to April.

While temperatures more reminiscent of late spring or early summer lingered through the end of the week, AccuWeather meteorologists warn that a reminder of winter is on the horizon.

One of the cities that set a new record was Paris. The afternoon temperature reached 78 F (25.6 C) in the French capital on Wednesday. This set a new record high temperature for the month of March in the City of Lights.

People enjoy the sunny weather along the Canal Saint-Martin despite the Coronavirus Pandemic in Paris, France, on March 31, 2021. Critical care doctors in Paris say surging coronavirus infections could soon overwhelm their ability to care for the sick in the French capital's hospitals, possibly forcing them to choose which patients they have the resources to save. President Macron is expected to give a TV speech on Wednesday detailing possible new restrictions to fight Covid-19. Photo by Aurore Marechal/ABACAPRESS.COM

In Germany, several cities topped high temperature records for the month. The mercury reached 81 F (27.2 C) in Cologne Memprechtshofen.

Arcen, Netherlands, also had the hottest March day on record after the temperature reached 79 F (26.1 C) on Wednesday, according to the BBC.

Highs in the 70s F (21-26 C) were common from Spain and France to Germany and western Poland. Even parts of central England topped that same threshold.

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Normal high temperatures during the end of March range from the middle 50s F (around 13 C) in France and Germany to around 60 F (16 C) in Spain.

A dome of high pressure over western Europe drove the weather pattern that allowed temperatures to climb to levels usually expected during the beginning of summer.

This high pressure also brought Saharan dust north into Europe, which could be seen on satellite as far north as the United Kingdom and France. A dust storm turned the skies a haunting shade of yellow in Algarve, the southernmost region of Portugal, earlier in the week.

Mild conditions are forecast to linger across western Europe through the end of the week and into the weekend, but temperatures will begin to trend lower as the high over the area begins to weaken.

By Easter Sunday, a drastic change in the weather pattern will begin. A storm near Scandinavia will drag a cold front across the United Kingdom and Ireland through Sunday night.

Anyone headed to church in celebration of Easter across Scotland, Northern Ireland and far northern England should prepare for showers as well as cooler weather.

The cold front will continue advancing across France and Germany on Monday. The front will usher in areas of showers as well as drastically cooler conditions compared to the end of March.

On Monday, temperatures in the 40s F (4-9 C) are expected across much of the United Kingdom, northern France and northern Germany. In the Scottish Highlands, temperatures will struggle to climb out of the 30s F (0-4 C).

Similar temperatures are expected to occur in southern France and Germany into the middle of the week.

With showers lingering over northwestern Europe throughout the beginning of next week, temperatures will be low enough to cause rain to mix with or change over to snow in the highest elevations.

Chilly weather can persist into the second half of the week as the next storm system can bring a reinforcing blast of cold as well as another round of showers.

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