(Bloomberg) -- The cold weather that's hit Europe this February will linger as high pressure over Scandinavia brings chilly air from Russia into central and western Europe.
Five out of seven meteorologists surveyed by Bloomberg News say February will be colder than normal with average temperatures dropping as much as 3 degrees Celsius below the norm in western Europe, according to Marex Spectron Group Ltd.
After one of the warmest starts to the year since 1981, the winter will get back on track with February predicted to be the coolest for three years. While the cold snap may cause people to turn up their heating, gas prices haven't really reacted, a sign that traders aren't that concerned about supplies.
Seasonal stocks of natural gas are higher than in 2017. Benchmark U.K. gas prices have dropped 14 percent this year, even after the the nation received just one tanker of liquefied natural gas last month, the least since January 2014.
The cold should be “enough to drive prices, but this far into the season the market is less sensitive especially after a significantly mild January,” said Giacomo Masato, a meteorologist at Marex Spectron in London.
“Bursts of mild, wet, windy conditions will sweep east over northern Europe briefly punctuated by short colder interludes,” said Matthew Dobson, an energy meteorologist at Meteogroup U.K. Ltd. Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the Alps in particular can expect cold interludes, he said.
Some Other Views:
- Temperatures for the month will drop well-below freezing, or lower than minus 2 degrees Celsius in western Europe, as the high pressure drives arctic air southward into Europe, according to Tyler Roys, meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc.
- The heavy snow fall that covered the Alps last month will continue in this month, also moving to the south and further east, according to Joe D'Aleo, chief meteorologist at Weatherbell Analytics LLC.
- Near-normal temperatures are expected in the U.K. and for central Europe this month; January was third warmest since 1981: Rebecca Fuller, meteorologist at Radiant Solutions
- Weather Co. sees colder air flow from Siberia dividing Europe with milder temperatures in the east
To contact the reporter on this story: Rachel Morison in London at rmorison@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net, Lars Paulsson, Andrew Reierson
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