After weekend springlike temperatures, winter cold expected to blast back

The record-setting springlike weather of the weekend will end, and temperatures in Prague and across the Czech Republic will drop back to freezing during the coming week. High winds, which caused fallen trees and power outages in the country, are expected to end before noon Monday.

Record-high temperatures of over 15 degrees Celsius were registered at dozens of places in the Czech Republic on Sunday, when the country was also hit by strong winds that caused power outages and other damage.

The highest temperature was in Jeseník, in the Olomouc region, where meteorologists recorded 16 degrees Celsius, beating the previous high of 12.4 degrees from 2006. Temperatures over 15 degrees were mainly in the northern part of Moravia and in Silesia. In Ostrava-Mosnov it was 15.7 degrees and at Ostrava-Poruba and Bohumín-Záblatí 15.2.

Temperature records on Sunday were recorded at 40 out of the 150 stations in the Czech Republic where temperatures have been monitored for more than 30 years.

At Prague’s Klementinum, the oldest Czech station where temperature has been registered daily since 1775, a high of 13.6 degrees was recorded, tying the most recent record from 1961.

The warm weekend was quite windy. Firefighters had to remove fallen trees and branches from roads in several regions.

Thousands of households were temporarily without power Sunday due to the windstorm. The state-controlled power utility ČEZ registered 12,000 clients without electricity, mostly in the Central Bohemia, Pardubice and Hradec Králové regions. Outages were also reported in the South Bohemia, Zlín and Vysočina regions where utility company E.ON distributes electricity.

Today, should be cloudy with occasional rain and snowfall in the mountains. During the day, skies should clear and precipitation should let up. Prague will see a high of around 9 degrees before noon, dropping to below freezing later in the day, with winds subsiding across the city.

Tuesday will be cloudy to partly cloudy, with fog in the eastern part of the country and snow in the western mountains. Rain will be seen in lower areas. Highs in Prague should be slightly cooler than on Monday, with a high of 5 degrees, dropping to below zero later in the day.

Wednesday will again be cloudy and overcast, with possible rain and snow in higher elevations in the country. Prague should see a high near 5 degrees and low again below zero.

Clouds extend into Thursday, with an increased chance of rain in Prague. Highs should be slightly above freezing, while the low is expected to dip to -1.

Friday could see the sun peeking out of the clouds a bit, bringing the week's lowest temperatures with a high of zero, dipping to -3 degrees.

The weekend should warm up a bit with highs near 4 degrees and lows at or above freezing, with some sources predicting that rain or snow likely.