A 57-hour weather warning for snow in Suffolk and Norfolk has said that some rural communities could be cut off.
The Met Office has issued the warning from 2pm on Monday, February 26 to midnight on Wednesday, February 28.
It warns that snow showers are expected to become more persistent through Monday afternoon and evening, with potential for travel delays, “stranding of some vehicles and passengers” and delays and cancellations of rail and air travel.
“Some rural communities could become cut off,” the warning states. “Power cuts may also occur and other services, such as mobile phones, may be affected.”
Snow showers “or longer periods of snow” are expected on Tuesday, while heavy snow showers are expected on Wednesday.
Freezing air from Russia is to grip the UK in what is set to be the coldest late February in five years. The cold blast - dubbed the beast from the east - will see temperatures plunge below zero from Sunday night.
A forecaster joked that spring had been “postponed” due to the chill arriving from the east just before March 1 - the first day of the meteorological spring.
This weekend, wind coming in from the continent and in particular Russia, temperatures will continue to dip to as low as 2C or 3C during the day.
Some areas will start to see snow on Sunday night but it’s uncertain whether these showers will make it as far south as our region.
Met Office meteorologist Martin Bowles said that the low temperatures – around -5C for London – expected over the next few days were unusual.
Mr Bowles said: “Somewhere like the Scottish mountains might go lower than that, but that’s actually quite normal in the Scottish mountains, whereas it’s definitely not normal to have minus 5C in London at the end of February.
“We haven’t had temperatures that low in late February since 2013. It’s not unheard of. There are records that are lower than that.”
He added: “But it is quite unusual, particularly as it’s quite late in the season.
“We refer to March 1 as being the first day of spring and of course March 1 will be right in the middle of this cold spell, so spring will be postponed for a couple of weeks, shall we say.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here