The mercury will rise noticeably on a Sunday marked by the arrival of clouds.

After the incursion of cold air from the Arctic, which brought harsh winter conditions, strong winds, and widespread snowfall across the Pyrenees (you'll find images and data on the snowfall at the end of this report), we now face a distinctly different situation, with prevailing westerly winds and a rise in temperatures. Snowfall in the Pyrenees will resume during the first half of Sunday, but it will only accumulate as solid snow at mid and high elevations. On Tuesday, the mercury will drop significantly again, but there are still a couple of days of warming to come.

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 south, 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 or 2,000 meters. Therefore, snowfall will no longer be expected at lower elevations. In the rest of the country, no precipitation is expected, but the sky will be more variable due to the passage of cloud cover, as Saturday's sunshine has ended. The arrival of warmer westerly winds will cause a significant rise in temperatures, with highs clearly exceeding 15°C or 16°C along the coast and inland areas, and even approaching 20°C in the south. These are more typical temperatures for this time of year and will bring an end to the Arctic cold front.

Monday: intervals of clouds and a descending snow level by the end of the day

The week will begin with considerably less cold weather than in previous days, with westerly winds and temperatures ranging from 10°C to 15°C across much of the country at midday, and from 16°C to 19°C along the coast and in the southern half. Clouds will again be a significant feature of the sky; high and mid-level clouds will move from west to east, further obscuring the sky during the afternoon. These clouds will bring some precipitation, generally light, and the snow level will drop considerably by the end of the day, reaching around 1,000 meters in the Pyrenees.

The temperature will drop again starting on Tuesday.

Starting Tuesday, the arrival of a new mass of cold air will again bring a significant drop in temperatures, although the temperature fall won't be as pronounced as the episode we experienced this week. However, it will be significant enough to cause frost in many inland areas and snowfall at relatively low elevations in the Pyrenees, even below 1,000 meters.

Snowfall report for the Pyrenees

The snowfall was widespread in the Pyrenees and extended to the southern slopes, leaving a blanket of 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 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, maximum accumulations locally exceeded 20 or 30 centimeters above 2,400 meters, such as the 38 centimeters recorded in Certascan, in Pallars Sobirà. The accumulated snow, which had been melting due to strong winds, has been receding this Saturday. These are some of the images the snowfall has left us with.