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A Storm Is Expected To Bring Coldest Temperatures In Five Years

A Storm Is Expected To Bring Coldest Temperatures In Five Years

Public Health England is warning people to check in on their friends, family and neighbours to ensure they're okay...

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

If you woke up this morning clutching the duvet a bit tighter than yesterday, you wouldn't be alone as it's pretty goddamn cold today in the UK. Temperatures are hovering around zero with only a few lucky cities to be at four or five degrees Celsius.

Unfortunately, that's due to a 'polar vortex' brewing in the east that could bring the coldest week in five years.

Let that sink in for a hot little second.

Every cold day you've experienced in the last 1825 days will likely be warmer than what's to come. The storm is affectionately being nicknamed 'The Beast from the East' and it will bring freezing winds from Siberia to make your outdoor pint that extra bit chilled.

The Met Office says south-east England will be the first hit by the snow storm on Monday evening, warning there could be some delays on the roads as well as potential cancellations on rail and air services.

A few hours later and that beast will extend all the way to northern Scotland, blanketing a decent portion of the two countries with snow.

via GIPHY

The Met Office says: "Some rural communities could become cut off. Power cuts may also occur and other services, such as mobile phones, may be affected."

The most dire message has been issued by Public Health England, with Dr Thomas Waite saying: "Check on friends, family and neighbours who may be at risk and make sure they're heating homes to at least 18C, see if they need any particular help or just someone to talk to and keep an eye on the Met Office's forecasts and warnings."

You know when they urge you to check on friends, family and neighbours, it's bad.

PA

While we always hope and pray these types of storms leave as quick as they come, sadly it doesn't appear to be the case for The Beast from the East.

Meteorologist Alex Burkill told the Evening Standard: "Britain faces what we could call a significant cold period that is likely to last for much of next week and beyond. Temperatures will remain below 0C in some places dropping to minus double figures overnight.

"It will be similar to a cold period seen in spring 2013 and is very likely to be colder as it is slightly earlier in the year meaning the sun is not as strong."

Great, it might be a bit too early to hope that winter is well and truly behind us.

Sources: Met Office, Guardian, Evening Standard

Featured Image Credit: Day After Tomorrow/20th Century Fox

Topics: Weather, UK News, News, Beast From The East, UK, cold, temperature