Heavy snow covers cities, cuts power for portions of Europe

A stormy pattern that began across Europe last week and brought widespread flooding to the United Kingdom will continue as several more storms are forecast to track across the region, but the threat for flooding and accumulating snow will shift south.

The first storm to watch will be Storm Ignacio, which moved over Italy on Sunday, as it sweeps across eastern Europe through midweek.

Heavy rain tapered off across Italy on Sunday night as the storm moved over the Balkan Peninsula. Here, Ignacio dumped areas of heavy rain and mountain snow fueled by moisture from the Mediterranean Sea on Monday.

As Ignacio continued to track to the north Monday, rain and snow spread across Ukraine and into Poland, Belarus, Lithuania and Latvia. Widespread snowfall totals of 8-15 cm (3-6 inches) fell across these areas while 15-30 cm (6-12 inches) blanketed areas from eastern Poland to central Latvia.

One area hit particularly hard by heavy snow Monday into Tuesday was Podlaskie region of northeastern Poland. Much of the region, home to the city of Bialystok, was covered in between 20-30 cm (7.5-12 inches) of snow during this time period.

Gusty winds also accompanied this heavy snow and created whiteout conditions for travelers across the region. The snow covered cars, led to accidents and shut down travel for some. Power cuts were also common across the region. At one point early Tuesday, local time, over 80,000 customers were without power, according to local media.

Portions of Germany and the Czech Republic also received snowy scenes early this week.

A single horse leaves tracks in the snow in its paddock in Niederreifenberg near Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

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While eastern Europe hunkers down in the midst of days of stormy weather, western Europe will also remain active.

On Sunday, rain mixed with and even changed over to snow for a time across southern England and Wales. Enough snow fell to turn London into a winter wonderland through the afternoon hours, local time.

As the storm advanced east into France, snow could be seen accumulating on grassy surfaces in towns like Versailles.

Snow showers lingered over the southern British Isles and northern France on Sunday night while the heaviest snow shifted into eastern France and southern Germany.

Between this storm and another small storm that will sneak across Germany on Tuesday, snowfall totals of 3-8 cm (1-3 inches) will be common across these areas through Wednesday.

According to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Tyler Roys, it is possible for snowfall totals to reach 8-15 cm (3-6 inches) across of Germany, while higher totals are expected into the Alps. There, totals can easily climb to 30 cm (12 inches) or higher.

By the middle of the week, this storm will follow in the footsteps of Storm Ignacio and will push across the Adriatic Sea and over the Balkan Peninsula.

This storm will bring rain and snowfall totals similar to what the region received from Ignacio. However, this midweek storm is forecast to track farther south, bringing the heaviest rain into western Greece.

This track farther south will also drag colder air farther south, which can lead to accumulating snow in Bulgaria and southern Romania. By the end of the week this storm is forecast to make a sharp turn to the north, spreading snowfall into central Ukraine.

This won't be the end of the unsettled weather pattern across Europe as another storm system is forecast to move into western Europe during the second half of the week. This storm can bring another round of blustery rain and high-elevation snow from the British Islands into Poland as well as the Alps.

Even more storms may be on the horizon for next week as the stormy pattern persists.

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