The story: Winter’s Grand Arrival: Snow Blankets Western Europe

Winter’s Grand Arrival: Snow Blankets Western Europe

Posted by Claudia Moser on 9:00 AM

The first week of 2026 has officially delivered a wintry wake-up call to Western Europe. What began as a dusting in the Scottish Highlands on New Year’s Day has transformed into a sweeping weather system, bringing heavy snowfall, plummeting temperatures, and significant travel disruptions to the UK, France, and the Benelux region.

If you’re reading this from under a cozy blanket, you’re doing it right. For those on the move, here is everything you need to know about the current "Cold Snap" of 2026.

The Forecast: Where is the Snow Hitting?

Arctic air blowing in from Scandinavia has turned much of the continent into a postcard-perfect (but icy) landscape. As of Monday, January 5, the impact is widespread:

• The United Kingdom: Yellow and Amber warnings are in effect. Northern Scotland has seen up to 40cm of snow on higher ground, while a "snow bomb" has stretched down through Manchester, Birmingham, and London.

• The Netherlands: Storm Anna brought heavy snowfall and strong winds over the weekend. Major cities like Nijmegen and Amsterdam are navigating deep drifts and icy paths.

• France & Switzerland: A powerful Atlantic low-pressure system has triggered warnings across France, with heavy snow disrupting life from Paris to the Alps.

Travel Impact: A Difficult Start to the Year

The timing of the storm—coinciding with the return to work and school after the holidays—has created a "perfect storm" for commuters. So happy I still have a day off today!

Motto

"A story is not like a road to follow … it's more like a house. You go inside and stay there for a while, wandering back and forth and settling where you like and discovering how the room and corridors relate to each other, how the world outside is altered by being viewed from these windows. And you, the visitor, the reader, are altered as well by being in this enclosed space, whether it is ample and easy or full of crooked turns, or sparsely or opulently furnished. You can go back again and again, and the house, the story, always contains more than you saw the last time. It also has a sturdy sense of itself of being built out of its own necessity, not just to shelter or beguile you."
by Alice Munro