A wave of Arctic air blanketed Europe with frigid weather and intense snowfall, snarling travel and triggering power outages in some areas.
Northerly winds driven by high pressure systems in the Atlantic and Arctic caused temperatures to plummet Monday and Tuesday in northern and central Europe.
Overnight lows in Marham in southeastern England plunged to -12.5C (9.5F), according to the UK Met Office. Temperatures in Mouthe in eastern France and Oberstdorf in the Bavarian Alps dipped to -22C, according to government forecasters.
The cold snap has sent power demand soaring, as slumping wind and solar generation tightens the continent’s electricity supply.
France was forced to ramp up gas generators to meet power demand that hit a five-year high on Monday, and is expected to see it surge further to 91.9 gigawatts on Tuesday — the highest since February 2012. Despite a public holiday in several large states, Bloomberg models show power demand in Germany climbing to about 69 gigawatts, well above the seasonal average of 63 gigawatts.
Snowfall closed runways and limited flight operations, leading to hundreds of cancellations at airports from Paris to Amsterdam, with particularly severe disruptions at the Nantes airport in Brittany. Rail and bus services in the UK,Netherlands and France also faced setbacks, while some Eurostar trains connecting London to Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels were canceled or delayed.
The cold spell is France’s most severe since 2012, meteorologists at Meteo France said, with temperatures 10C to 15C below seasonal norms in many areas. Snowfall reached 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) in the Charente-Maritime department on the Atlantic coast, but the weather service downgraded snow and ice alerts from orange to yellow on Tuesday.
Another wave of snow is expected in the country on Wednesday. So far, two people have died and two others were hurt in road accidents due to icy roads in the Paris region, authorities told AFP. School transportation was suspended Tuesday in parts of the country’s northwest, and authorities ordered lower speed limits and banned traffic for heavy cargo vehicles in the regions under orange weather alerts.
Snow and ice also triggered power blackouts affecting roughly 7,500 households in Loire-Atlantique and Vendée, according to France Info.
In Berlin, around 27,000 homes are still without power for a fourth day after an arson attack produced a major blackout on Saturday, with the frozen ground making it more difficult to repair the cables.
Top photograph: Pedestrians walk through snow near the Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, Paris, on Jan. 5, 2026; photo credit: Aurore Marechal/Getty Images.
Topics Europe
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
2 New Jersey Pilots Killed in Helicopter Collision Frequented Nearby Cafe Together 
Howden Buys M&A Insurance Broker Atlantic Group in US Expansion 
Relief But Questions on Agents’ Duties to Insureds After Florida Court Ruling 
Good Times for US P/C Insurers May Not Last; Auto Challenges Ahead 
