Met Office gives update on date 'Beast from East' will hit
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While some people might enjoy the cold weather, we are now halfway through February and it's not too much to hope that we could be heading for some warmer days.
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The long, dark nights and cold days of winter have long outstayed their welcome and it's just a matter of time before spring has truly sprung and we can enjoy trying not to slip on the wet, mushy remains of tree blossom that's been mashed into the pavement.
However, before we can get there, we've got a 'Beast from the East' weather event to contend with and the Met Office has given a clearer idea of when exactly we can expect it to hit.
We already knew this was on the way and had a vague idea that it was going to be on the way in the next few weeks, but it's always helpful to nail down a clearer idea.
It's bad news for those first, hopeful shoots of spring as there's a chance their early optimism is going to be met with a chilly death.
Met Office forecaster Aidan McGivern gave a clearer idea of when we could expect a 'Beast from the East' to show up, and it looks like the start of March is when we'll see it coming.
He explained that a 'major Sudden Stratospheric Warming' (SSW) was occurring above the North Pole, and while that sounds like it should make things warmer, what it actually does is reverse winds.
Rather than going west to east, the wind will now be going east to west and send colder air our way, but it will take time for this process to happen.
He said: "Not immediately, though, although this is taking place right now, there is a lag effect so we are not expecting an impact if any to take place until the first week of March."
McGivern also said that this didn't necessarily mean it was going to be really cold as there were 'a lot of ifs, buts and maybes here' with 'no strong signal for the effect it is going to have at the surface'.
According to the Met Office, a 'Beast from the East' is a phrase meaning 'cold and wintry conditions in the UK as a result of easterly winds from the near continent' between November and April.
High pressure over Scandinavia tends to lump the UK with something called a 'polar continental air mass', and since it's coming in from the east that's where we get the term.
Also 'Beast from the East' rhymes and conjures up a certain type of weather in the imagination, a sort of anthropomorphised storm on the way which sounds far more interesting than saying 'it's going to get colder'.
The Met Office says how it affects the UK depends on which body of water this cold air crosses to reach our shores.
If the 'Beast from the East' heads over the English Channel we tend to get cold, dry air heading our way which makes for clear skies but frosty conditions, but if it crossed the North Sea moisture gets added to the air which results in rain or snow.
This also tends to make temperatures colder, potentially resulting in entire days of below-freezing conditions, so do prepare to wrap up warm in March.
