Czech Republic sees extreme snow as another Arctic front descends on Europe

Wide swaths of the Czech Republic, including Labska Bouda, have been buried in extreme snowfall this late in the season. The unseasonal winter weather conditions were brought by a cold Arctic air mass descending on Europe and keeping much of the continent under below-average temperatures.

Extreme snowfall engulfed vast regions of the Czech Republic, including Labska Bouda in the Krkonose Mountains in mid-May.

Jaroslav Palivoda, a snowplow driver in the area for almost 40 years, said he has only experienced this level of accumulation on three occasions and never this late in the season.

Ales Hnizdo, operations director of Labska Bouda, pointed out that there has been "an extreme amount of snow" this year.

The rare Czech snowfall was due to a descending Arctic air mass on Europe, which was swept unusually far south by a weak meridional jet stream flow.

Image credit: Tropical Tidbits

Meanwhile, weather forecasts suggest that northwest Russia will be swept by a cold blast as another powerful Arctic front engulfs much of the European continent.

This setup is expected to persist for the rest of the month of May and may further intensify. 

Late-May frosts may hit major growing regions, such as France and Ukraine.

Unprecedented snowfall is also forecast to cover the continent's higher elevations, including the northern UK.

Record cold recently invaded parts of Europe in early April, following an unusually warm March which also saw historic temperatures.

Featured image credit: Tropical Tidbits