An anticyclone brings dry days, and the weekend brings frost: mornings below zero on November 7 and 8

The rainy spell has left with one last number worth remembering. In the 24 hours to 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Demir Kapija got 50 litres of rain per square metre, Gevgelija 45, Popova Šapka 43, Kruševo 38 and Strumica 34. Skopje-Petrovec and Bitola got 20 litres each. Popova Šapka woke up to 1 degree.

From Wednesday, November 4, the picture changes. Meteorologist Slavčo Poposki explains that a high-pressure field, an anticyclone, is settling over Macedonia and will bring stable, dry weather without precipitation over the coming days, with sunny spells and a light to moderate wind from the north and north-east. In the mornings there will be fog in the basins and river valleys.

In Skopje, morning temperatures will be between 8 and 9 degrees, with daytime highs reaching 13-14. Across the rest of the country, lows will range from 3 to 11 degrees and highs from 9 to 15.

The real change comes at the weekend. "We'll have less cloud over the weekend, Saturday and Sunday, November 7 and 8, when morning temperatures will be considerably lower," says Poposki, with lows dropping below zero at higher altitudes and in the mountains, bringing frost and hoarfrost. So it's time for winter tyres and for checking the heating. And an anticyclone, fog in the basins and still air are a combination Skopje residents also remember from winters of polluted air. Will we breathe more easily this autumn, or will we be staring at the air-quality apps?