News Weather
Cows in the snow and heavy night frost
Parts of Europe were rocked last weekend by a heavy load of snow and temperatures well below 0 degrees Celsius. A sharp night frost is also forecast from Monday 6 May to Tuesday 7 May. The potato, vegetable and fruit growers hold their breath.
Snow fell this weekend from South Limburg to Switzerland. A record was even broken with the Swiss. Schweizer Bauer writes that on Sunday morning May 04th there was a pack of 19 centimeters of snow. The cows in the canton of St. Gallen walked in amazement through a pile of snow. In Bern, the ground mercury dropped to -7,6 degrees Celsius.
Frost in Germany
A layer of snow also fell closer to home, although in many cases it was no more than 4 centimeters. Nevertheless, it is exceptional. In Germany, temperatures also dropped sharply, with night frosts between -2 and -5 degrees Celsius. Temperatures dropped mainly in the north and east of the country last weekend, just like in the far south. In the mountain areas, cold air can linger for a long time and therefore freeze considerably.
In the early German potato growing areas, the mercury dropped to -4 degrees Celsius from Saturday 5 May to Sunday 3 May. It was also cold in Poland. The fleece cloth of the early potato crops there has just been removed. The potatoes are in their most vulnerable stage and not completely hardened off. There is therefore a fear of damage.
Damage in fruit cultivation is not too bad
The fruit growers in Poland and Switzerland do not expect that much damage. The flowering period is over and fruits have been formed in the meantime. There is, however, written about damage to strawberry plots and vegetable crops (such as rhubarb), which cannot withstand frost.
Heavy frost is again expected in the night of Monday 6 May to Tuesday 7 May. Especially when the sky clears up, after some local rain fell on Monday. If this happens in the Netherlands, it can also freeze in the northeast. There is a risk of frost, especially on the ground. In the northeast, growers on the light soil have experienced damage from strong winds. A minimum of 400 hectares of sugar beet must be sown.
Rain coming
After Tuesday 7 May, the danger of night frost has passed again. Stormy weather, with locally heavy rain, is expected in parts of Spain, France and Germany. It remains relatively cold. That is also the case for the Netherlands. More rain is expected in the second half of the week, but not very large amounts.
Niels van der Boom
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