Met Office say ‘Beast from the East’ may return this week with -6 temperatures

Brits are warned to prepare for a harsh easterly wind expected to sweep across the country and bring down temperatures – with several flood warnings already in place

The Met Office gave their verdict on whether the infamous ‘Beast from the East’ storm could return to the UK as temperatures plummet.

Flood and snow warnings have been issued across the country, with the weather organisation recently weighing in on whether Brits could be in for more severe weather over the next few weeks. Originally, keen meteorological followers asked whether the storm, which caused huge damage from strong Easterly winds back in 2018, could be back for round two.

Currently, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) have released cold weather warnings, which remain in place until 9am on Tuesday. There is an area of high pressure over Scandinavia, which is feeding into a bitter easterly wind – heading for the UK.

It first hits the North Sea, filtering in moisture and cloud, which has caused a wet and gloomy start to the year. Meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said this bitter cold will “fall over the hills as snow” in parts of the north and east, particularly the Pennines.

He continued: “Temperatures for most of us are really going to be struggling, around 6C. Once we add on the strength of that easterly wind it’s going to be feeling even colder than that – close to freezing for the majority of us, so it really will be quite bitter out there.”

The area of the country expected to feel the drop in temperatures most will be the Eastern coastal areas. Other parts of the country will continue to feel colder weathers and scattered showers.

According to the Met Office’s five day forecast, we can expect “further outbreaks of rain, sleet and hill snow across central and eastern parts”. Vautrey said there will be “patchy frost overnight” in parts of the UK, while tomorrow is expected to see “longer spells of rain in the south east”.

Tuesday will also be a “grey, dull, gloomy day”. The Environment Agency has 27 flood alerts and seven warnings currently in place across England.

In a post on X on Thursday, the Met Office said: “An easterly wind will develop over the coming days but it wont be as cold as the one in 2018 which brought the Beast from the East.”

The north west of the UK will most likely experience overnight frosts, but the rest of the country should escape this.

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