Riga, Jan 12 (LETA) - This week is likely to be the coldest since January 2024 in Latvia, according to forecasts by the Global Forecast System.

The sky is expected to clear at times and precipitation will be scarce; it will snow more at night on Thursday in Kurzeme and Zemgale. Tuesday is expected to be mainly windless, with slow to moderate south-eastern winds in the following days.

As the skies clear, temperatures may drop below -20 degrees C in some places, mainly in the east. In most of the country, temperatures are expected to be in the -5.. -15 degree C range at night and during the day.

Warmer air will approach from the west in the middle of the week, but is unlikely to reach Latvia. In addition, an anticyclone may strengthen in north-eastern Europe towards the end of the week and into next week, which could bring more frost.

According to the Latvian Centre for Environment, Geology and Meteorology, the air temperature in the country never dropped below -20 degrees C last winter, but the coldest weather on 2023-2024 season was -29.5 degrees C on January 8, 2024, at the Daugavpils observation station. The hardest freeze in previous winters was -31 degrees C on January 17, 2021, in Stalgene.