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A new ‘Beast from the East’ could bring ice and snow to the UK next week

The Met Office says temperatures are set to plummet across the country

Chiara Wilkinson
Written by
Chiara Wilkinson
Deputy Editor, UK
A street with thick snow
Photograph: Paul Maguire / Shutterstock.com
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The days may be getting lighter, but it’s not quite time to swap your jumpers and gloves for sunnies and shorts just yet. The Met Office has warned that parts of the UK could face freezing temperatures next week as an Arctic blast from Greenland pushes colder weather to northern and eastern areas. 

The cold air could lead to some disruptive snow and ice at the start of next week. But the Met Office suggests that any disturbance is unlikely to be as severe as the legendary 2018 snowstorm known as the Beast from the East.

‘During the weekend, low pressure over the mid-north Atlantic will start to feed energy northwards and allow high pressure over the UK to migrate towards Greenland,’ says Aidan McGivern of the Met Office. ‘At the same time, there’s a highly amplified, very perturbed jet stream.

‘It loops around this low (pressure) and then pushes all the way back to the north of the high pressure that’s developing over Greenland, allowing this northerly feed that’s allowing the colder weather to push into the north of the UK by the end of Saturday.’

Parts of Europe have already faced low temperatures this week, with snow falling in popular summer holiday destinations like Corsica and Mallorca.

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