UK weather forecast: New Beast from the East could bring snow and freezing temperatures to UK in January

Sudden stratospheric warming that caused arctic chill in March has potential to bring similar chaos in new year

Britain could be hit by another Beast from the East in the new year after the same conditions that caused widespread snow and freezing temperatures in March start to form high in the atmosphere.

Forecasters say Britain faces an increased chance of severe weather due to a phenomenon known as sudden stratospheric warming (SSW), which is currently taking place over the Arctic.

This raising of temperatures at high altitudes eventually led to the Beast from the East being drawn in from Siberia earlier this year, battering the UK with heavy snow and ice-cold temperatures and bringing parts of the country to a standstill.

However, the Met Office said SSW does not always produce snowstorm conditions and it may take up to a fortnight before the effect the current weather system will have on Britain is fully understood.

“Sudden stratospheric warning is taking place at the moment, but it can take a couple of weeks before any results of that make it down to the surface and we see a change in the weather,” Met Office forecaster Greg Dewhurst told The Independent.

“Such an event means there is an increased likelihood that the UK could see some colder conditions within the next 10 days to two weeks, but right now it is too early to know what will happen.

“We are waiting to see. It did happen earlier in the year when we saw the Beast from the East in March – all the ingredients came together and we saw much colder temperatures.”

Snowy conditions hit the length of the UK in late February and early March this year, prompting the Met Office to issue a rare red weather warning, its highest category, in central Scotland.

The extreme weather, brought by a mixture of the Beast from the East and Storm Emma, saw widespread travel disruption and resulted in the deaths of 17 people.

Before the UK discovers whether it is set for another spell of severe weather in January, 2018 is likely to end with a mild and relatively calm period.

Much of the UK will enjoy unseasonably warm highs of 11 or 12C on Saturday and Sunday, staying mostly dry and overcast with some light showers as the weekend wears on.

Conditions look set to remain the same in most areas for New Year’s Eve, but some parts of northern Scotland may see gales of up to 50 miles per hour developing from the late afternoon onwards.