Snow shovel XXL! An excavator shoveled white mountains at the Brandenburg Gate Photo: picture alliance / dpa
By Sabine Klier
The chances of a white Christmas in Berlin are there! Reason: the unusual weather conditions. The Icelandic low and the Azores high have switched places. Like in 2010, when they gave us a snowy December with this constellation.
A white Christmas is likely – because the weather is upside down. Azores High and Icelandic Low have recently switched positions. In doing so, they ensure a special weather phenomenon. The otherwise typical west wind circulation has come to a standstill, but a cold north or east wind is blowing in our direction.
The extreme weather conditions led to many S-Bahn failures twelve years ago Photo: dpa
“One also speaks of a so-called ‘high-over-low’ weather situation, which occurs mainly in winter and usually results in cold weather in Central Europe. The high in the north, in this case near Iceland, blocks the mild westerly winds and pushes the low-pressure areas onto a very southerly track,” says Björn Goldhausen, meteorologist at Weather Online.
In 2010 there was perfect tobogganing weather Photo: Thomas Spikermann
It stays cold and it will snow. Regionally even really strong, when a low from Italy moves over the Alps.
But: Christmas thaw is currently just as possible as a continuation of the winter weather. Due to the current wintry weather conditions, the probability of a white Christmas in Germany has at least increased somewhat.