More rain and snow and a full-winter atmosphere in the coming days

BarcelonaWinter officially began on Sunday afternoon and has arrived with a bang. The rain front has dumped between 5 and 15 liters per square meter in several areas, but between 20 and 50 liters per square meter in the Girona and northern Barcelona regions. Snowfall has been widespread and significant throughout the Pyrenees, the heaviest of the season so far in many areas, especially in the eastern Pyrenees. The snow level dropped to between 1,000 and 800 meters depending on the area and time of day, but locally fell even lower. Snow has also been seen in other mountainous areas of the country (more data and images can be found at the end of this report). The weather will remain unsettled this Tuesday, with further precipitation in the Pyrenees and the northeast. Between Christmas Day and Boxing Day (Sant Esteve), a strong easterly wind could bring widespread rain and another significant snowfall to the Pyrenees. The weather will remain cold and wintry.

Tuesday: Unsettled weather

Some showers will linger in the northeast well into the night, but from the early hours of the morning, a band of precipitation will move in through the Girona region, spreading throughout the Pyrenees and reaching more areas, especially Barcelona and the coast. The snow level will be around 800 to 1,000 meters in the early morning, but will rise as the day progresses, settling between 1,200 and 1,400 meters. More snow is expected in the eastern Pyrenees.

Temperatures will drop slightly more overall, and it will be cold throughout the day. Winter conditions are expected, with most highs between 8 and 13°C, noticeably lower in mountainous areas. Northerly winds will blow at both ends of the region.

Awaiting a possible lifting

Wednesday will be a calmer day with little precipitation in the Balearic Islands. But on Christmas Day, rain will return, with the snow level plummeting to 500 meters below the average in the west of the country and around 1,000 or 1,200 meters in the rest. This will be the prelude to a Boxing Day (Sant Esteve) when the weather maps indicate we could see a rise in the snow, with widespread and heavy rain and another significant snowfall in the Pyrenees above 1,500 meters, especially on the southern slopes.

This situation is still uncertain and will need to be clarified as we move on. Temperatures will fluctuate, but always with a wintry feel and below-average values for this time of year. The year could end even colder.

Summary and images of the snowfall in the Pyrenees

Beyond the rain of the last few hours, which has again left more than 30 or 40 liters per square meter in parts of the Girona and northern Barcelona regions, the snowfall has been particularly significant throughout the Pyrenees and at quite low elevations. Many Pyrenean valleys have been blanketed in white, with the heaviest snowfall occurring in Ripollès, where accumulations of more than 40 centimeters of fresh snow have been recorded in areas such as Vall de Núria and Vallter. This snowfall is very welcome in the ski sector as the Christmas holidays approach. Snow has also fallen and snow has accumulated in other areas of the country above 800 or 900 meters, such as in the Prades Mountains, on the peaks of Montserrat and the Sant Llorenç del Munt i l'Obac Natural Park, in northern Solsonès, and in Montseny. These are some of the images from this episode, featuring landscapes of the dead of winter and a nativity scene.