The RSPCA has said the number of calls it has received has soared by nearly 300% because of the ice and snow.

Treacherous weather dubbed the ‘Beast from the East’ has left places across the country battling the elements.

But the RSPCA has said it has also had an impact on the welfare of animals, causing the number of calls to its national control centre to dramatically increase.

Between Sunday and Wednesday, it has received almost 8,000 calls, and at peak times means it has been receiving nearly 300% more calls than normal for this time of year.

Among some of the reports have been for horses collapsing in the snow, a cygnet trapped in ice and a cat stranded on a snow-covered roof.

The organisation has said its officers are working around the clock, but the bad weather had been hindering their efforts and increasing journey times for getting to incidents.

RSPCA superintendent Simon Osborne said: “With the bad weather hitting large sections of England and Wales we are taking a huge amount of calls from members of the public concerned about animals.

“We are very busy with animal rescues up and down the country and will get to as many of the incidents as we can – but we are only able to respond to emergencies at the moment and we must also consider the safety of our officers in severe weather conditions.

“We would ask that while the bad weather continues that members of the public call us with emergency cases – but if their report is for advice or something that is of a less urgent nature we would ask if they could get in touch with us via our website or use our Ask Us A Question facility on our website.

“The cold weather and adverse weather makes this a busy time of year for us in our wildlife centres too as that wild animals that would normally be released at this time of year have to be kept in our care until we can be confident they will be able to find food and shelter.”