Overview
- The German Weather Service reports daytime temperatures mostly between -6 and 0 °C with widespread night frost down to -12 °C, often sunny and dry with local high fog.
- Official warnings highlight frost, icy roads and strong to stormy easterly gusts in exposed ridges, with peaks around 70–80 km/h in parts of the Mittelgebirge and Bavaria.
- DWD guidance flags a pattern shift next week that could allow polar air to bring snow increasingly down to low elevations around the turn of the year.
- Forecasts diverge: the U.S. GFS model depicts a notable winter outbreak with potentially heavy, prolonged snowfall in places, whereas the ECMWF scenario is colder but much drier.
- Several outlets note this may be the coldest Christmas in roughly 15 years, and authorities urge drivers to expect night and morning glätte on many routes.