Summer meets winter in central Europe

As some parts of Europe continue to bask in warm summer sunshine a change to cooler weather is under way.

Wet and windy weather is making it feel more like autumn across the northwest. Elsewhere, we have even had a taste of winter over the higher grounds of Germany and Austria.

Temperatures are still hitting the low to mid-30s degrees Celsius in Spain and Portugal along with much the Mediterranean and across the Black Sea into Romania and Ukraine.

Meanwhile, central and northern parts have seen something like a 15C drop in temperatures recently with highs nearer the low 20s or even high teens.

It’s that feed of fresher air which was been cold enough over the Austrian mountains to bring up to 50cm of snow on Saturday and Sunday.

The dramatic change in conditions hit the ski resorts south of Salzburg and the plunging temperatures led to more than 30cm of snow. Several Austrian mountains had a good covering prompting people to break out the snow shovels and ploughs.

It was a similar picture on the summit of the Zugpitze Mountain in Gainau near Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Southern Germany where they also enjoyed a good dusting of summertime snow.

According to local residents, some snowfall in August is not unusual, but this amount was exceptional. The wintry weather is not expected to last long. The temperature is forecast to reach 27C in Salzburg by the middle of the week.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies