Greece and Turkey have found themselves in the grip of a late-season cold spell this weekend. Conditions will persist over the next few days as an area of low pressure situated over Turkey is pulling in colder, moisture-laden air from the north-east via the Black Sea; this meteorological set up has suppressed temperatures well below where they should be for the time of year. Away from the Mediterranean coast, much of Turkey struggled to reach double figures, which is around 10C below the average, while Greece saw a similar chill. In Athens, temperatures only crept into the low teens Celsius, a far cry from the mid-20s typically expected in early May.
But they haven’t just faced cold. Greece had gale force winds whipping through the islands in the South Aegean – gusting around 60mph on Sunday evening, and the unsettled weather has brought a surge of heavy rain to Turkey. The Central Anatolia region of Turkey would normally see about 50mm of rainfall across the entire month of May, but on Sunday had already seen many areas pick up half that total in just 24 hours. With colder air in place, higher elevations have even seen a return to winter, with up to 30cm of fresh snow forecast across the Anti-Taurus Mountains on Monday and Tuesday. In Ankara, temperatures on Monday 4th are expected to peak at just 7C – nearly 14C below average – before slowly edging back towards normal by the weekend.
Meanwhile, it’s a very different story farther north. Central Europe is enjoying a burst of early-summer season heat, with temperatures widely running around 10C above the average for early May. Poland particularly stands out, with Warsaw forecast to reach just shy of 31C on Tuesday – around 12C above its usual 19C. Katowice is close behind, with a forecast high of 29C on Tuesday too. However, this early taste of summer won’t last long – a cold front is set to sweep in from the north by midweek, bringing the heat to an abrupt and potentially electrifying end in the form of thunderstorms.
In Asia, attention turns to north-eastern India and Bangladesh, where the atmosphere is primed for intense thunderstorms. The India and Bangladesh Meteorological Departments have both given severe weather alerts for the thunderstorms, also known as kalboisakhi, unique to this region in the pre-monsoon season. Downpours could exceed 50mm in just three hours on Monday and Tuesday evenings, with daily totals reaching about 100mm. Damaging hail, strong gusty winds and frequent lightning are among the other hazards, and while these rainfall totals are not unusual for severe thunderstorms, the sloped terrain along the Himalayan foothills can see intense rainfall quickly lead to disruption, as well as loss of life from flash flooding and landslides.
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