Britain faces a winter mauling from a new ‘Beast from the East’, forecasters have warned.
The country started the New Year in the grip of an icy Arctic blast.
And shivering Brits have been warned there could be worse to come in the form of a sub-zero Siberian onslaught.
The atmospheric conditions which led to the bitter ‘Beast from the East’ in February 2018 are forming again.
Two years ago much of the UK was gripped by travel chaos and school closures after heavy snow.
It followed in the wake of a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW), which causes colder air from the east to be sucked over the UK.
And it appears another SSW is possible next week, which could lead to even lower temperatures later in the month.
The Met Office says the current cold snap is set to continue into next week, with large parts of the country having wintry showers.
Overnight sub-zero temperatures will lead to icy conditions on the roads, with maximum daytime temperatures of 5C.
Yesterday (FRI) motorists in the south west woke to warnings of icy road conditions and there were 78 flood warnings and alerts in place across England and Wales.
And in North Lincs a police officer was pictured casually skating across a frozen road. He was seen sliding down the A18 near Scunthorpe as freezing temperatures turned the highway into an ice rink.
Humberside Police Roads Policing Section posted: “Sliding into 2021 like .... the A18 Mortal Ash Hill is closed into Scunthorpe this morning due to treacherous conditions. Please take care, very icy out here.”
The road is the main route into Scunthorpe from the east.
