Beast is back, but only briefly, says Met Office

AMBER warnings for snow and ice have been issued by the Met Office, as the “mini Beast from the East” brings wintry weather back to the UK.

Up to 10cm (4in) of snow could fall in some parts of the UK this weekend as temperatures are set to tumble.

An amber warning for snow and ice has been issued for the Midlands, Yorkshire, London and the north-west, south-east, and east of England between 4pm today and 9am Sunday.

Mark Wilson, a Met Office meteorologist said: “The last couple of days have been quite mild across parts of the UK – we got to around 16C on Wednesday in Wales – but by Saturday all of us will be back to very cold weather as temperatures are set to drop to around -2C over the weekend with snow falling across Saturday and possibly Sunday.”

However, by Tuesday, temperatures will be getting back to average.

Martin Bowles, a meteorologist, said the weekend’s weather could be dubbed a “mini Beast from the East”. He said: “We don’t expect anything like the same impact as a result of it, although there will be some snow about.”

The warnings state that travel disruption is possible and power cuts may occur.

More than 70 flights to or from Heathrow Airport scheduled for today have been cancelled, most of them on short-haul routes, although British Airways services to New York and Chicago were among those affected.