Snowfall is expected to leave some vehicles stranded
Commuters are facing a week of travel chaos as the “Beast from the East” brings Siberian temperatures to the UK, forecasters are warning.
Some parts of the UK “are set to feel colder than places in the Arctic Circle, and the majority of the country has been warned of potential delays on the roads, trains and in the air”, says the London Evening Standard.
The Met Office is forecasting “heavy snow showers” that are expected to affect a range of services.
A spokesman told Sky News: “Some delays and cancellations to rail and air travel are likely. There is a good chance that some rural communities could become cut off.”
“Power cuts are likely and other services, such as mobile phones, may be affected.”
The Army is “at the ready, with hundreds of soldiers on standby to deal with ‘contingencies and emergencies’ over the coming days”, says the Daily Express.
A yellow warning for today and tomorrow was last night upgraded to a more serious amber in eastern and central England, amid alerts that parts of Britain will feel close to -15C (5F) during the day as a result of windchill.
Train companies across the country warned of disruption to services this evening. South Eastern advised customers not to travel after 6pm, while Greater Anglia said that trains would run until 10pm only. C2C said it could also implement limited services and that services after 9pm on Monday may be altered or cancelled.
*IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING ADVERSE WEATHER NEXT WEEK* pic.twitter.com/OZsx6kAloL
— Greater Anglia (@greateranglia) February 25, 2018
Transport for London (TfL) urged London Underground users to check before travelling.
Monday “started with four Tube lines facing delays due to a batch of signal failures - and a faulty train”, says City AM.
Today is set to be the warmest day in the UK this week, with meteorologists predicting up to 10cm of snow in London and the southeast on Thursday.
Whilst it is cold today, even colder air is going to move in from the Eurasian Arctic this week causing temperatures to drop further pic.twitter.com/F61gjBRsEP
— Met Office (@metoffice) February 25, 2018
Met Office meteorologist Charlie Powell said: “Unusually for Britain, the snow is going to be quite dry, so it will blow around and gather in drifts and we could see some blizzard conditions.
“We don’t want to scare people but they should make sure they are prepared for some seriously cold weather.”
Fellow meteorologist Alex Burkill said snowfall could be “quite frequent and persistent” on Tuesday, with further wintry showers expected on Wednesday.
“On Thursday, it will be windy and feel very cold. The temperatures will barely climb above freezing but it will feel as if it is between -5C or -10C,” Burkill added.
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