Many people in Germany may have woken up this morning to a sprinkle of white on the tree branches outside. It’s time to fish out your winter jacket and woolly hat, as temperatures will continue to sink across northern Germany this weekend, making way for more snow and frost.

Snow and frost hits northern Germany

Following an unseasonably warm October and early November, frost, snow and sleet are expected to reach northern Germany and the Netherlands this weekend as the winter season begins.

The snowfall first hit Germany in Schleswig-Holstein on Thursday night, the federal state which lies furthest north, before making its descent to Berlin and Brandenburg. Over the weekend, temperatures will drop below freezing, meaning much of northern Germany will see its fair share of Schmuddelwetter (dreary weather), including smatterings of snow and sleet.

The cold weather will then move further south, crossing Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia. Snow and sleet will pass over the national park in the Harz Mountains, the Thuringian Forest and the Ore Mountains, which line part of Germany’s border with the Czech Republic. Due to increasing winds, temperatures will feel lower, around minus 5 to minus 10 degrees.

Milder weather to return on Sunday

The end of the weekend will bring a return to milder temperatures between 2 and 8 degrees. Due to overall warmer temperatures, snow is unlikely to settle anywhere in Germany apart from at higher altitudes, and even sunshine will return to Leipzig, Berlin and Hannover.

The new week will bring more familiar grey skies and rain showers. The sharp, biting wind which has been present across northern Germany over the past few days is also expected to persist.