Germany braces for cold snap with lows of -15C

After a relatively mild early December, Germany is bracing for a blast of polar air. Lows of -15 degrees celsius have been forecast, so what are the chances of a white Christmas?

Polar air set to cross Germany

Germany is set to get a blast of polar air just in time for Christmas. According to The Weather Channel Germany meteorologist Jan Schenk, temperatures will drop significantly around December 23.

“We are seeing a sudden blast of cold, arctic air heading in the direction of Germany,” Schenk explained. “It is pretty much set that it will be cold on Christmas. There is an 80 percent chance that the cold air is coming to us.”

As a result, Germany will see nighttime temperatures between -5 and -15 degrees over the holidays.  The weather will be coldest in the eastern and southeastern parts of the country.

“In the west, there will be frost, but in the east there will be proper ice days, where daytime temperatures don’t exceed 0 degrees, or reach highs of just -5 degrees,” Schenk explained.

Does this mean Germany will get a white Christmas?

In early December, weather forecasters seemed pretty sure that Germany was unlikely to see a white Christmas this year, but does the blast of polar ice expected on December 23 mean we can now anticipate a crisp blanket on Heiligabend and Christmas Day?

According to Schenk, the most extreme weather models forecast -5 degrees for southern Brandenburg on the evening of December 24, but whether it will snow remains to be seen.

Those in some German cities - namely Erfurt, Dresden, Stuttgart and Munich - can expect some snowfall and should be careful of icy conditions.

Finally, residents along the North and Baltic Sea coastlines in Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern can expect intermittent “snow showers”, according to Schenk.