Europe’s Cold Spots This Week: The 10 Coldest Places in Europe
By Paul Harrison | Founder & Publisher, Orbis Weather
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Europe’s Cold Spots This Week: The 10 Coldest Places in Europe
By Paul Harrison, Orbis Weather
Week covered: Monday, October 19 to Sunday, October 25, 2026.
The coldest reading in Europe last week was 4°F (−15.7°C), recorded at the Jungfraujoch research station high in the Swiss Alps on Saturday, October 24, according to MeteoSwiss data published by Meteociel.
Saturday was the coldest day of the week on this list: nine of the ten places below logged their lowest reading then. All ten are mountain stations in the Alps, where a cold snap arrived on October 22. Lower down, Europe stayed mild for late October, and the coldest reading away from the mountains came from an Arctic island station.
The 10 coldest places
Every place on the list dropped to 13°F (−10.3°C) or lower. Readings are the lowest daily minimum at each site for the week; ties share a rank.
Rank | Place | Elevation | Lowest temperature | Date | Station type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jungfraujoch, Switzerland | 11,716 ft (3,571 m) | 4°F (−15.7°C) | Sat Oct 24 | MeteoSwiss high-altitude research station |
2 | Brunnenkogel, Ötztal Alps, Austria | 11,276 ft (3,437 m) | 6°F (−14.6°C) | Sat Oct 24 | GeoSphere Austria automatic station |
3 | Corvatsch, Switzerland | 10,876 ft (3,315 m) | 9°F (−12.8°C) | Sat Oct 24 | MeteoSwiss mountain station |
4 | Titlis, Switzerland | 9,974 ft (3,040 m) | 11°F (−11.9°C) | Sat Oct 24 | MeteoSwiss mountain station |
4 | Gornergrat, Switzerland | 10,266 ft (3,129 m) | 11°F (−11.9°C) | Sat Oct 24 | MeteoSwiss mountain station |
6 | Zugspitze, Germany | 9,698 ft (2,956 m) | 11°F (−11.6°C) | Sat Oct 24 and Sun Oct 25 | German Weather Service (DWD) mountain observatory |
7 | Sonnblick, Austria | 10,200 ft (3,109 m) | 11°F (−11.5°C) | Sun Oct 25 | GeoSphere Austria mountain observatory |
8 | Les Diablerets, Switzerland | 9,724 ft (2,964 m) | 12°F (−11.3°C) | Sat Oct 24 | MeteoSwiss mountain station |
9 | Eggishorn, Switzerland | 9,495 ft (2,894 m) | 13°F (−10.4°C) | Sat Oct 24 | MeteoSwiss mountain station |
10 | Valluga, Austria | 9,203 ft (2,805 m) | 13°F (−10.3°C) | Sat Oct 24 | GeoSphere Austria automatic station |
Where the cold showed up
The Alps: a cold snap reached the high Alps on Thursday, October 22. Jungfraujoch fell from 24°F (−4.5°C) on Wednesday to 6°F (−14.6°C) on Thursday, and the cold peaked on Saturday. Inhabited valleys stayed far milder. Segl-Maria in Switzerland’s Engadine, at 5,919 ft (1,804 m), reached 21°F (−6.0°C) on Friday, October 23. The village station at Obergurgl, Austria, at 6,368 ft (1,941 m), reached 23°F (−5.1°C) on Sunday, October 25.
The Arctic: the coldest reading away from the mountains was 14°F (−9.8°C) at the Krenkel Observatory on Heiss Island, Franz Josef Land, Russia, on Wednesday, October 21. On Svalbard, Ny-Ålesund fell to 23°F (−5.2°C) on Monday, October 19.
Norway and Finland: the coldest Scandinavian readings came from Norway’s interior. Fokstugu, on the Dovre plateau at 3,192 ft (973 m), reached 19°F (−7.3°C) on Tuesday, October 20, and Røros Airport reached 20°F (−6.9°C) on Monday, October 19. On the Finnmarksvidda plateau, Čoavddatmohkki near Karasjok reached 20°F (−6.7°C) on Wednesday, October 21. In Finland, Lappeenranta Konnunsuo reached 22°F (−5.8°C) on the night into Tuesday, October 20, Foreca reported.
European Russia: the coldest Russian mainland readings came from the southern Urals foothills and the Vologda region. Zilair, Bashkortostan, reached 20°F (−6.5°C) on Tuesday, October 20, and Tot’ma, Vologda region, reached 21°F (−6.2°C) on Thursday, October 22. The far north was unusually mild, with no Arctic cold over the Russian mainland.
Lapland was notably warm for the season. Sweden’s weather service, SMHI, reported 52°F (11.0°C) at Karesuando on Tuesday, October 20, the town’s highest reading so late in the year.
About this list
The list ranks the lowest observed temperatures at distinct places in Europe from October 19 to 25, 2026. Here, Europe means the continent west of the Ural Mountains and the Ural River, plus Svalbard and Russia’s Arctic islands. Readings come from national weather services: MeteoSwiss, GeoSphere Austria, the German Weather Service (DWD), MET Norway, SMHI, the Finnish Meteorological Institute and Roshydromet. They were taken from the station archives published by Meteociel, GeoSphere Austria’s data hub, Wetterkontor, Yr and Pogoda i Klimat.
Most stations report the lowest temperature in the 24 hours ending at 1800 UTC, so a reading is dated by that day. Not every European station was searched, and some Russian Arctic stations had missing days, so colder spots may have gone unlisted. Iceland and the Caucasus were not checked. All figures are preliminary and can be revised.
Frequently asked questions
Why are all ten places mountain stations? Air generally gets colder with height, and these stations sit between about 9,200 and 11,700 ft (2,800 and 3,570 m). Lowland Europe had no comparable cold last week, so the summits filled the list.
Was northern Europe colder than usual? No. The Finnish Meteorological Institute said on October 19 that Lapland was averaging about 41°F (+5°C), against a typical 32°F (0°C). In Russia, the Komi news site BNK reported on October 27 that Vorkuta was having its warmest autumn since records began in 1947.
Why does Zugspitze show two dates? The station recorded the same lowest reading on both Saturday and Sunday. Both dates are listed.
Will it be colder this week? Only slightly in the north. Finnish forecaster Foreca said on October 27 that high pressure would spread over Scandinavia on Friday, bringing light frost to far-northern Lapland from Friday night. Russia’s Hydrometcentre expected central and southeastern European Russia to stay 5 to 14°F (3 to 8°C) above normal through October 29.
Sources
- Meteociel, October 2026 station records (MeteoSwiss, DWD and other national services): Jungfraujoch, Corvatsch, Titlis, Gornergrat, Zugspitze, Les Diablerets, Eggishorn, Segl-Maria, Ny-Ålesund
- GeoSphere Austria data hub: Brunnenkogel, 10-minute minimums, Oct. 24; Valluga, Oct. 24; Sonnblick, Obergurgl and others, daily minimums Oct. 19–25
- Wetterkontor, Zugspitze review (DWD data)
- Pogoda i Klimat, October 2026 station archives (Roshydromet and SYNOP data): Krenkel Observatory, Zilair, Tot’ma
- Yr (MET Norway) station statistics: Fokstugu, Røros Airport, Čoavddatmohkki
- Foreca: lowest readings in Finland, Oct. 20, 2026; Foreca: forecast for the week, Oct. 27, 2026
- SMHI blog: unusually mild in the far north, Oct. 21, 2026
- Finnish Meteorological Institute press release, Oct. 19, 2026
- Hydrometcentre of Russia weather review, Oct. 26, 2026
- BNK: Vorkuta’s warmest autumn, Oct. 27, 2026
About the Author
Paul Harrison — Founder & Publisher, Orbis Weather
Paul Harrison founded Orbis Weather in 2026 to make global weather and natural-hazard information easier to find, follow and understand. His coverage includes tropical cyclones, severe weather, extreme temperatures, earthquakes, volcanoes, wildfires, flooding and significant natural disasters worldwide.
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