A frosty and windy start to the weekend, but the most intense cold will gradually subside.

This Friday brought the full force of the Arctic air mass, with a harsh winter feel, northerly winds, and widespread snowfall across the Pyrenees, including the southern slopes (you'll find images and snowfall data at the end of this report). To give you an idea of the cold air mass, the maximum temperature at 2,500 meters today didn't exceed -13°C or -14°C. This frigid weather will cause minimum temperatures to plummet to record lows early Saturday morning, with frost and wind in many areas. Warm clothing will be essential, but temperatures will rise throughout the weekend. Strong winds are expected at the extremes until midday Saturday, with plenty of sunshine overall. Winds exceeded 100 km/h this Friday in areas like Ulldeter (Ripollès) and Portbou (Alt Empordà). The snowfall will stop on Saturday and will resume on Sunday, but at a much higher level.

Saturday: very cold morning

We'll be experiencing sub-zero temperatures across much of the country. Only along the coast and in windy areas will temperatures remain above freezing, although it will feel very cold. In many coastal areas, it will drop below 5°C. You'll need to dress warmly first thing in the morning.

But the bulk of the Arctic air mass will gradually move away, and we'll notice this with a rise in temperature in the high mountains, although the mercury will remain below freezing. All of this will cause maximum temperatures to rise more than on Friday overall, but we're coming from so far south that the weather will still feel wintry. Many temperatures will range between 8ºC and 14ºC, lower in mountainous areas.

Be aware of the strong northerly winds during the early morning hours in the south of the country, in the Empordà region, and at higher elevations in the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees. Strong or very strong gusts are expected in these areas, which could locally exceed 100 km/h, with particularly adverse weather conditions in the Pyrenees with blizzards, as well as in the northern part of the Alt Empordà region. The wind will also be felt moderately in many other regions overnight and until midday, such as the Barcelona area, with gusts that could exceed 40 or 50 km/h. But throughout the day the wind will clearly decrease everywhere. Meteocat maintains the alert for strong winds in the Pyrenees, Pre-Pyrenees and Empordà until Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

It will generally be sunny, and the snowfall will stop in the early hours on the northern slopes of the Pyrenees, where only scattered clouds will remain. Overall, it will be a pleasant day, but it will still feel wintry despite the rising temperatures. The precipitation will also clear from the Balearic Islands.

Sunday: New front and rising temperatures

The passage of a warm Atlantic front will bring renewed precipitation to the Pyrenees on Sunday, especially during the early morning hours. It will mainly affect the northern slopes, but may intermittently spread to the southern slopes, and some showers are possible in nearby areas, such as northern Empordà. However, the snow level will rise sharply above 1,500 meters, climbing to 1,900 meters. Therefore, snowfall will no longer be expected at lower elevations. In the rest of the region, no precipitation is expected, but the sky will be more variable due to the passage of cloud cover. The arrival of warmer westerly winds will cause a significant rise in temperatures. It will be easier to reach or exceed 15°C on the coast and in the pre-coastal areas, and temperatures could even approach 20°C in the south. More typical temperatures for this time of year will bring an end to the Arctic cold snap.

It will be colder next week.

Temperatures will rise further on Monday, but from Tuesday onwards, the arrival of a new mass of cold air will bring a significant drop in temperatures. They won't fall as much as in the last episode, but the weather will still feel like early winter. New precipitation is expected in the Pyrenees, with the snow level falling below 1,000 meters again.

Pyrenees Snowfall Summary

Snowfall was widespread across the Pyrenees this Friday, reaching the southern slopes and blanketing the landscape in white. Even lower-lying towns like La Seu d'Urgell (Alt Urgell) and Ripoll (Ripollès) saw snowflakes, as well as some areas in La Garrotxa and northern Alt Empordà. This snowfall was accompanied by sub-zero temperatures throughout the day in the mountain range. At higher elevations, conditions were extreme, with snow, temperatures between -10°C and -15°C, and strong winds that intensified the cold and created blizzard conditions. Between 2 and 5 centimeters of snow accumulated in most Pyrenean valleys. In the Alt Pirineu, the Vall d'Aran, Andorra, and other exposed areas on the north face, many snow depths of 8 to 15 centimeters have been recorded at mid and high elevations, but in some cases, accumulations have locally exceeded 20 or 30 centimeters above 2,400 meters, such as 3.8 cm. These are some of the images left by the snowfall: