black frost

A frost with devastating effects on vegetation, caused by the irruption of masses of very cold, dry air. Unlike white frost, it is not manifested by the formation of ice crystals on the vegetation cover, which forms a protective shell against the intense ambient cold. It is a dry frost, which causes the internal freezing of plants. It owes its name to the blackish tint that leaves and stems take on, as a consequence of the burns it produces. In the Iberian Peninsula, these frosts are associated with cold incursions of continental polar air, which arrive from the northeast after traveling across the interior of the European continent.