Europe Easter outlook: Warmth to prevail, but rain may dampen some events

By Eric Leister, AccuWeather senior meteorologist

As millions of people plan to travel to or partake in Easter activities this weekend, near- to above-normal temperatures are expected throughout all of Europe as cold Siberian air remains entrenched over northern Asia.

The coolest air will be found over eastern Europe, where highs on Saturday and Sunday will be in the middle 10s Celsius (57-62 degrees Fahrenheit).

Conversely, the highest temperatures are expected from Portugal to France, Belgium, the Netherlands and western Germany.

Locations such as Lisbon, Portugal; Paris, France; and Frankfurt, Germany, can expect high temperatures in the low 20s C (70-76 F). The warmest locations could see a high temperature of 27 C (80 F) on either day.

The British Isles can also anticipate unseasonable warmth, with daily high temperatures ranging from 16 C (60 F) near the coast to 22 C (77 F) around London.

For those planning to be in attendance at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City for Pope Francis' Easter Sunday mass, temperatures will climb from 18 to 23 C (64 to 74 F) during the midday hours.

While everyone can expect mild weather for the holiday weekend, not everyone will stay dry.

RELATED: 
Europe Weather Center 
Interactive Europe weather radar 
Easter weekend: What to expect across the UK as 12 million motorists hit the road

"A slow-moving storm will cause heavy rain to spread southward across eastern Spain Thursday night into Saturday, threatening to trigger flash flooding and mudslides," according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Tyler Roys.

"Rain will continue to stream into Valencian Community on Easter Sunday and can aggravate any flooding or mudslides that occurs earlier in the holiday weekend," he added.

Showers will dampen Madrid and the rest of Spain on Easter, while spottier showers and thunderstorms erupt over Portugal. Another zone of thunderstorms may ignite across central France, mainly from the late morning to the afternoon.

Locations from Moldova into Greece will be at risk for showers on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday may be more active than Sunday around Greece, and isolated thunderstorms may also rumble.

Another zone of showers with a few thunderstorms may spread from western Russia to Belarus, the Baltic states, eastern Poland and Ukraine this weekend.

A few showers may also dampen western Northern Ireland and northern Scotland both days of the weekend. Far northwest Ireland will also be at risk for these showers, while the remainder of the British Isles can expect dry and mostly sunny weather on Saturday and Sunday.

Anyone with outdoor plans will have to be prepared to reschedule or change locations for their event due to the risk of rainfall.

Mild air will remain entrenched across all of Europe on Monday; however, the risk for showers and thunderstorms will increase across Italy.

Download the free AccuWeather app to monitor the latest forecast and potential for rain in your community.