A cold front dubbed the 'Beast from the East 2' is "unlikely to roar" next week - but there is still a chance of snow.
The Met Office's chief meteorologist has shared an update about the forecast for the coming days, after a "dramatic" event above the North Pole called a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW).
There were signs that the event could bring a Beast from the East-style storm to the UK, which was triggered by another SSW last February.
In a tweet this afternoon, however, the Met Office said: "There's been lots of reporting in some media about a 'Beast from the east' bringing extreme cold weather to the UK next week.
"We've put a blog post together to explain why this so called beast is unlikely to roar."
The forecaster has not ruled out the chance of snow altogether, however.
Its chief meteorologist, Paul Davies, said: "The unsettled, wintry weather forecast for next week is consistent with the expected effects of an SSW and there is a chance there could be more snow in parts of the UK and Europe.
“However, the winds will be generally from a northerly direction not from the east, as cold air from Scandinavia is drawn across the UK.
"So perhaps not a Beast from the East but normal wintry weather from the north.”
The full blog post can be read here.
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Earlier this week some weather charts predicted a "weather bomb" that could dump snow across an area covering hundreds of miles.
While the Met Office has now cast doubt on that, it has issued a yellow snow warning for parts of southern England.
The warning, which will be live between 3am and 8pm tomorrow (January 16), applies to London, Cambridge, Reading and other areas.
However, it does not currently cover any of the South West.
A separate warning for snow and ice is in place across much of northern England and Scotland.
