As autumn arrives in force in France this week, Central Europe will experience major storms this weekend, with very heavy rain and abundant snowfall in the mountains. The risk of catastrophic flooding is very high.
With the passage of an active depression between the Adriatic Sea and Poland, very severe weather is expected across the whole of Central Europe, particularly Austria, the Czech Republic and parts of Poland and Slovakia. The risk of flooding will therefore be significant throughout the weekend.
A complex situation on a European scale
Following the drop in temperatures over France generated by the descent of maritime polar air, warm air is currently continuing to rise over Eastern Europe, with temperatures well above seasonal norms. For example, 25°C was recorded in Moscow in recent days. This is therefore a strong conflict of air masses that is developing between the west and the east of Europe, of around ten degrees over a few hundred kilometres.
Between this conflict of air masses, a strong depression is gradually moving up over Central Europe and will generate very degraded conditions until the beginning of next week.
A very rainy episode in the plains, abundant snow in the mountains
The depression responsible for the bad weather is unfortunately expected to be stationary, generating torrential rain, drawn in by the still warm Adriatic Sea. Accumulations of 150 to 250 mm are expected over a large area of the Czech Republic, but also over eastern Austria. Locally, accumulations could reach or even exceed the 300 mm mark by Sunday evening, which could cause major catastrophic flooding in the regions concerned.
In the mountains, particularly in the Austrian Alps, heavy snowfall can be expected from 1500 m on the northern slopes, and more than 1.50 m to 2 m of fresh snow above 2000 m.
The wind is also expected to blow strongly between Friday and Saturday on the border between Austria and the Czech Republic, where gusts of up to 100 km/h are expected.
This event poses a major risk to local populations, given the intensity of the expected rainfall and the sometimes steep terrain of the region, which could increase the risk of landslides or major flooding.
- La Chaîne Météo
