Czech temperatures plunge below minus 14 as overnight frost breaks records

Temperatures in Czechia fell below minus 14 degrees Celsius overnight into Saturday, with eight long-running weather stations recording their lowest-ever temperatures for Nov. 7.

The coldest reading was minus 14.2 degrees at a station near Jizerka in the Jablonec nad Nisou district. Two other stations nearby registered minus 13.2 and minus 11.7 degrees, making the area the country’s coldest overnight.

Despite those mountain lows, most of the new records were set at lower elevations, according to the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (ČHMÚ). Forecasters expect freezing conditions to continue through Monday morning before cloudier weather brings milder nights.

Of the 169 weather stations with records stretching back more than 30 years, eight registered new minimum temperatures for the date.

Six of those stations lie at elevations of roughly 250 to 405 meters above sea level, showing that the record-breaking cold extended beyond mountain locations.

In Čáslav, Central Bohemia, the temperature dropped to minus 6.4 degrees, beating the previous Nov. 7 record of minus 5.3 degrees set in 1969.

Průhonice, just outside Prague, broke a record dating back more than 80 years. Its overnight low of minus 4.8 degrees was substantially below the previous minimum of minus 3 degrees, recorded in 1943.

The country’s fourth-lowest reading was at Rokytská slať in Šumava, where temperatures reached minus 10.1 degrees. That station and the three near Jizerka are all above 800 meters.

The records relate specifically to Nov. 7 at individual stations, rather than all-time temperature lows.

Freezing temperatures will affect much of Czechia overnight into Sunday and again into Monday, ČHMÚ said in its weather update.

Morning lows will generally range from zero to minus 4 degrees, with temperatures in valleys potentially falling to minus 7.

From Tuesday, increasing cloud cover is expected to limit the overnight cooling. Morning temperatures will initially hover around zero before rising further during the second half of the week.

Forecasters then expect morning readings between 1 and 6 degrees. Temperatures could still slip slightly below freezing where skies clear, but the widespread overnight frost should ease.