Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BEWARE BEAST FROM EAST.. IT WILL KILL
Weather warning as heavy snow, ice and -15C winds from Siberia sweep in
AN icy blast dubbed the Beast from the East threatens death and chaos as a big freeze sweeps towards Northern Ireland.
Gales roaring in from Siberia will make temperatures feel as low as -15C which could be fatal to the vulnerable.
Snow is expected to bring travel chaos and power cuts. The Met Office said: “It’s going to be historic.”
SNOW and sub-zero winds will make it colder than the North Pole this week, sparking fears vulnerable people could die.
A blast of Siberian air – dubbed the Beast from the East – is bringing Arctic conditions with icy gales making it feel as low as -15C.
Northern Ireland is set to be blanketed by snow and the Met Office has issued Yellow weather warnings for today, tomorrow and Wednesday.
Meteorologist Alex Burkill said: “This weather event is probably going to be historic. The theme is very, very cold.
“We have an extremely cold east polar continental wind that is going to bring even lower temperatures than we’ve got at the moment and some significant snow.” By the middle of the week, the majority of the UK is being warned of travel chaos with the potential for delays on the roads, trains and in the air.
The alert also warns there may be some power cuts and loss of mobile phone signal.
The Met Office said that by the end of Wednesday more than 20cm of snow may have accumulated in some parts of Northern Ireland as well as eastern England and Scotland.
With the bad weather set to last well into March, people were urged to look out for the most vulnerable.
Dr Thomas Waite, of Public Health England extreme events team, said: “Cold temperatures, indoors and out, pose real health risks to many and every winter we know thousands of people get ill and even die following exposure to cold conditions.”
Met Office meteorologist Charlie Powell added: “The UK is on track for some really cold weather this week. It’s not going to be recordbreaking, but it’ll be pretty exceptional – winds are going to make it feel -10C to -15C during the day.
“We will see the first signs of that tonight in the shape of snow showers working all the way down the east coast.
“That continues into Monday, with snow showers moving across the country during the day before reaching Wales. Winds are then going to strengthen and we could see some easterly gales through the eastern Channel and East Anglia by the middle of the week.
“That’s going to make it feel really cold, daytime temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday will be struggling to get above freezing for most of the country.
“By Thursday evening, there are growing signs there could be some significant snowfall across southern England. 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 people should make sure they are prepared for some seriously cold weather.”
Lows of -5C recorded over
This weather event is probably going to be historic. The theme is very, very cold ALEX BURKILL MET OFFICE METEOROLOGIST
the weekend marked the lowest temperature in the week leading up to March 1, the first day of spring, since 1986.
The wind chill on the way rivals the temperatures forecast for parts of northern Norway and Iceland.
Simon Partridge, from the Met Office, said: “This is going to be the most significant cold spell of this winter.”
The prolonged cold spell may lead to a spike in deaths, experts warned last night. Figures from Intelligent Health revealed record numbers of people have died unnecessarily in cases related to the cold this winter.
The UK has the highest number of winter deaths from cold and flu for almost 20 years.
There have been 33,464 avoidable deaths – including from infections such as pneumonia, hearts attacks and strokes which can be triggered by cold conditions – between December and mid-february. This is predicted to rise to more than 45,000 by the end of March – the highest for 18 years.
Professor James Goodwin, from Age UK, said: “We have known about avoidable deaths for decades and every time it gets cold we have thousands more.
“It is likely the number of deaths from the forthcoming cold spell will lead to a scandalously higher number of deaths compared to other European countries.”
RAC traffic spokesman Rod Dennis said the breakdown organisation had helped 10,000 breakdowns on its busiest day in December during the snow.
It predicts an increase of 25% on its usual daily call outs and urged people to check their cars before embarking on any journey.
Mr Dennis added: “The end of winter has got a sting in its tail.
“It looks like it’s going to be the most prolonged spell of cold weather that drivers have had this winter.”