Winter crop areas of central and northern Europe were dry and cold (2-5°C below normal, up to 7°C below normal from southern Germany to the western Balkans), with a shallow to moderate snowpack (2-20 cm) prevalent from Germany into Poland and the Balkans.
Winter grains and oilseeds were dormant and mostly in good condition, with no damaging freezes reported in snowfree areas during the period.
By week’s end, showers (5-40 mm) arrived from the Iberian Peninsula into western England, improving soil moisture for dormant (north) to vegetative winter crops.
The rain was especially welcomed in northwestern Spain (Castilla y León), where a protracted spell of dry weather reduced moisture supplies for vegetative wheat and barley.
The rain’s arrival also signaled a pattern shift, as the recent dominant area of cold high pressure was replaced by Atlantic storms.