New Year's weather in St. Petersburg: heavy snowfalls and frosts up to -17 degrees
Residents and visitors of St. Petersburg can expect contrasting weather in the last days of 2025. By New Year's Eve, the city and the region will be at the mercy of cold air: on December 31, thermometers will show from -6 to -9 degrees, and on New Year's Eve the frost will increase to -12. For more information about the weather in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, see the Izvestia article.
Weather in St. Petersburg before the New Year
On the last weekend of the outgoing year and on Monday, December 29, residents of the Northern capital will face unstable weather with temperatures close to zero. According to Roman Vilfand, scientific director of the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia, in an interview with Izvestia, thermometers will show from -4 to +1 degrees.
The atmosphere will be saturated with moisture, which will lead to precipitation in the form of sleet and light rain. However, the situation will change dramatically on Monday.
According to the forecaster, St. Petersburg will be in the western part of the cyclone, from where the cold air masses of the northern direction will begin to flow. This will be the starting point for a gradual but steady cooling. Nighttime temperatures will drop to -3 by the middle of the week...-8 degrees, although the air will still warm up to +5 during the day.
The weather in the Leningrad region during the New Year holidays – 2026
Meteorological conditions in the Leningrad region in the last week of December will develop according to a scenario similar to the capital. Roman Vilfand noted that during the pre-holiday weekend and Monday, the temperature background in the region will also fluctuate around zero. Similar precipitation is expected — sleet and rain. The turning point will come on December 29, when the region will move to the rear of the cyclone.
From this moment, a steady decrease in temperature will begin. At night, the thermometer will show -3...-8 degrees, and during the day — from 0 to +5 degrees. Thus, the main part of the pre-holiday week will be marked by mild and slushy weather, which will only begin to transform into winter weather by Wednesday.
New Year's Eve 2025 in St. Petersburg: weather forecast for December 31 and January 1
New Year's Eve and the first day of January in the Northern capital, according to updated forecasts, promise to be truly wintry, frosty and snowy. Forecaster Roman Vilfand said that the cooling process, which started on December 29, will continue on December 30, 31 and January 1. The temperature will decrease consistently: -5...-10 is expected at night on December 30, and around -3...-8 in the afternoon.
On New Year's Eve and on the night of January 1, the frost will increase to -7...-12, and the daytime temperature on January 1 will be -5...-10 degrees. According to the scientific director of the Hydrometeorological Center, such values will be about four degrees below the climatic norm for this period.
The main winter attribute will be active snowfall. According to Wilfand's forecast, snow is expected on December 30, 31, and January 1, amid low pressure and active cyclonic activity. It is noted that this will not be the usual weak snowfall for the beginning of winter, but heavy precipitation, capable of creating snowdrifts more than 20 cm high.
— I think that this is exactly the kind of weather that residents associate with New Year's weather. It's going to snow, and it's going to snow when you can ski, you can roll a snow woman, you can play snowballs," he said.
The forecast by Tatiana Pozdnyakova, a leading specialist at the Meteonosti news agency, details the picture directly for December 31.
The weather on New Year's Eve will be determined by a deep cyclone, the center of which will shift to the eastern regions of Central Russia. St. Petersburg will be in its rear area, which means partly cloudy skies and no precipitation on December 31, said Tatiana Pozdnyakova, a leading specialist at the Meteonosti news agency. The temperature will be consistently frosty throughout the day, in the range of -6...-9 degrees.
New Year's Weather in the Leningrad region
In the Leningrad Region, New Year's weather is expected to be similar to that in the capital, but with potentially more pronounced frosts, especially in the eastern and northern regions far from the mitigating influence of the Gulf of Finland.
According to Roman Vilfand, the region is waiting for the same significant cold snap with night temperatures on December 31 and January 1 to -7...-12 and daytime — up to -5...-10. Heavy snowfall forecast from December 30 to January 1 should create a stable snow cover throughout the region, which, according to the forecaster, is the classic New Year's weather for these places.
Pozdnyakova added that in the following days, on January 1 and 2, significant precipitation is not expected in St. Petersburg and the region, but frosts will intensify. The peak of the cold snap, according to preliminary data, will be on January 3.
— By the 3rd, according to preliminary forecasts, the minimum temperature may reach -17 degrees. However, on the afternoon of the 3rd, the influence of the new Atlantic cyclone will bring a wave of relative warmth and daytime temperatures will rise to -5...-6 degrees, while the nights will remain very cold," the specialist noted.
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