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

On Friday, the full force of the Arctic air mass arrived, bringing a harsh winter atmosphere, strong northerly winds, and widespread snowfall across the Pyrenees at all elevations, including the southern slopes (you'll find images and data on the snowfall at the end of this report). To give you an idea of the cold air that reached us, the maximum temperature at 2,500 meters yesterday didn't exceed -13°C or -14°C. This frigid weather persisted into the early hours of Saturday, when minimum temperatures plummeted wherever the wind allowed. Strong winds blew at the extremes until midday, with generally sunny skies. The snowfall will stop on Saturday and resume on Sunday, but at a much higher elevation, rising from 1,500 meters to 1,700 or 1,900 meters as the day progresses.

Saturday: very cold morning

The Arctic air mass will gradually weaken, and we'll notice this with a rise in temperature in the high mountains, although the mercury will remain below freezing. This will cause maximum temperatures to rise more than on Friday overall, but we're coming from such a low altitude that the weather will still feel wintry. Many temperatures will range between 8°C and 14°C, lower in mountainous areas.

Be aware of the strong northerly winds during the morning in the south of the country, in the Empordà region, and at higher elevations in the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees. Strong to 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 areas 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 and eastern Pre-Pyrenees and the Alt Empordà until 1:00 PM.

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. And more precipitation is expected in the Pyrenees, with the snow level falling below 1,000 meters again.

Snowfall report for the Pyrenees

The snowfall has been widespread in the Pyrenees, reaching the southern slopes and leaving a blanket of white. Even lower-lying towns like La Seu d'Urgell (Alt Urgell) and Ripoll (Ripollès) have seen snowfall, as well as some areas in La Garrotxa and northern Alt Empordà. This snowfall was accompanied by sub-zero temperatures at both high and low elevations. At higher elevations, conditions were extreme, with snow, temperatures between -10°C and -15°C, and strong winds that created blizzard conditions. Accumulations of between 2 and 5 centimeters were recorded in most Pyrenean valleys, but in some areas, accumulations locally exceeded 20 or 30 centimeters above 2,400 meters, such as the 38 centimeters recorded in Certascan, in Pallars Sobirà. These are some of the images the snowfall has left us with: