A yellow weather warning for snow has been issued for much of the Eastern region, including Suffolk and Essex, next week.

The Met Office is warning of persistent snow showers from late Monday afternoon, continuing overnight and throughout Tuesday.

“There is the potential for travel delays on roads, stranding some vehicles and passengers, as well as delays or cancellations to rail and air travel,” it adds.

“Some rural communities could become cut off. Power cuts may also occur and other services, such as mobile phones, may be affected.”

Temperatures are expected to struggle to reach highs of only 4C this weekend, before plummeting early next week when the “Beast from the East” arrives.

The cold weather is due to a “polar vortex” – a mass of cold air, which usually sits above the North Pole but is expected to shift, forcing wintry air from Siberia and Eastern Europe towards the UK.

Phil Garner, a forecaster for Weatherquest in Norwich, said there would be no major change for the rest of today or into the weekend.

“We should see a little bit of sunshine and daytime temperatures will continue to struggle to reach 3-5C, while night time temperatures could drop to -3C or -4C,” he added.

“Another factor is that the wind is likely to pick up so it will feel a good deal colder.”

Mr Garner said the major changes were expected early next week.

“We’ve got some thick cloud coming in from the east bring the risk of snow flurries,” he added.

Day time temperatures on Monday will struggle to get above 3C, while Tuesday is expected to be even colder, with overnight lows down to -5C in places.

Mr Garner said the snow was more likely to be a “light dusting” than anything deeper.