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After some snow at the weekend, winter is visually recognizable again in the Northern Alps, although the base still leaves a lot to be desired. Some measuring stations are scratching the record minimum for the time of year. At least it's snowing in the south this week and maybe next week too!

Only the avalanche situation is more exciting than the weather. The dry early winter in the Austrian Alps is taking its revenge. A pronounced weak layer combined with wind and fresh snow has provoked a series of avalanche accidents and claimed several victims. Kamchatka was also badly hit, with huge snowdrifts burying homes and people. Europe is also facing a stormy week. Quo vadis 2026?

After around two weeks of fairly low temperatures, it will become milder again over the next few days. The cold air masses that have migrated to us from Arctic latitudes have moved eastwards and the high-altitude current is turning to westerly to south-westerly directions. After fresh snow in the north followed by considerable icy weather, the medium-term signs are now pointing to Föhn and südstau.

At the beginning of the year, it's not just world events that are coming thick and fast, but also the weather. Winter has finally descended on Europe, is currently spreading deep into the Balkans and the next trough promises to bring large amounts of fresh snow to the northern slopes of the Alps as early as today. High pressure is prevailing over Greenland, however, and temperatures are very high. We therefore turn our attention last to the special role that Greenland and its ice sheet play in the global climate.

The lucky ConditionsReporters who made it to Piedmont, spoiled by PowderAlerts, can enjoy friendly touring weather over the next few days. For the rest of the Alps, it will be a little more unstable. Particularly in the east, the general development and especially the precipitation options are not yet easy to assess thanks to the indecisive development of low pressure and a fickle air mass boundary.

As announced in PowderAlert 3 and the SnowChase Xmas Special, it's been snowing - sometimes heavily - from the Maritime Alps to Piedmont since Sunday morning. While people are still sitting in the dry north of the Alps, winter is knocking on the door in the south.

Every year, we and all the Christmas tourists are waiting in the wings, but the weather isn't really cooperating. The foggy areas in the foothills of the Alps are probably the most wintery at the moment. In the mountains, the sun is shining and temperatures are climbing into the double digits with the influence of föhn winds.

Various WeatherBlogs, regulars' table discussions and powder oracles have already hinted at it and we confirm: the winter weather is over for now. The infamous Omega weather pattern is currently establishing itself over Central Europe and it is already getting noticeably warmer. Whether there will be a summery Christmas, how much rain could fall and what this has to do with the polar vortex is discussed below. For the Omega weather situation, we recommend that nervous freeriders take a meditative "Ommm", inhale deeply through the nose and exhale with the belly. We hope this will help regulate stress levels for the time being.

As my colleagues predicted last week, all that's left for me this week is the meteorological start of winter and tough, snow-unfriendly weather conditions. For the time being, we'll have to make do with what's left of the first snow of the season and what the snow cannons are still producing.

There is a magic in every beginning, and winter has got off to a magical start.

There is no corresponding translation for the Italian term "la foliage": it describes the changing color of the leaves in autumn. In recent days or even weeks, the colorful foliage in the light-flooded treetops and under a blue sky has painted a picture-book Indian summer. Together, we will find out why the leaves are changing color, what this has to do with climate change and what the term "climate greening" means. Of course, we'll also take a look at further weather developments, which predict some snowfall at the end of the forecast period.