KILLER CHILLER TO HIT UK
Snow & ice back next week
BRITAIN is heading for the deep-freeze with temperatures plunging as low as -22C, forecasters have warned.
A rare weather shift is set to bring icy winds and the threat of “disruptive snowfall”.
BRITAIN is facing temperatures of -22C as a weird weather nightmare grips the country.
A shift in the polar jet stream has triggered a so-called “sudden stratospheric warming”.
When it happened in 2010, it dropped the mercury dramatically and the country was blanketed in snow.
John Hammond, founder of the digital weather service weathertrending, said: “Winter is far from out for the count, and this week it will stage a dramatic fightback.
“By this time next week the reversal will be complete – and Britain will face the very real prospect of disruptive snowfall, severe frost and daytime temperatures that struggle to get above freezing.”
He said the rare sudden stratospheric warming phenomenon has left Britain in the path of bitterly cold winds from Arctic Russia.
And Mr Hammond added: “No-one should underestimate the possible impact – or length – of the surprise sting in winter’s tail.”
The forecast has seen health experts warning people to take care in the potentially dangerous conditions.
Dr Thomas Waite, of Public Health England’s extreme events team, said: “With the days feeling a little longer and lighter it can be easy to forget that cold weather can still kill.
“Over-65s, those with conditions like heart and lung diseases and young children are all at particular risk in cold weather as their bodies struggle to cope when temperatures fall.”
Meanwhile, bookmakers have cut the odds on March being the coldest ever recorded.
The conditions are set to roll over into next month and bookies have slashed the odds from 10-1 to 6-1 that a record will be set.
Ladbrokes spokesman Alex Apati said: “It looks as though we will have to strap ourselves in for more misery on the weather front.”