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Bitterly cold winds, plunging temperatures and heavy snow to hit Suffolk and north Essex later this week
Rebecca Bantick with her children Joey and Millie in the snow at Christchurch Park. Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWN - Credit: Archant
Heavy snow will fall in coastal parts of Suffolk and north Essex overnight – and the first flurries are starting to sweep in from the east already, forecasters believe.
Forecaster Adam Dury, from Norwich based Weatherquest, is predicting coastal and eastern parts of Suffolk and north Essex will get another 5-6cm of snow overnight into Wednesday.
He said: “We are already starting to see a few snow showers coming in from the east and these will start to get heavier overnight.
“The weather system coming up from the south could bring gusts of 35mph and upwards to the region, and with those blustery winds it will feel bitterly cold.
“On Thursday morning temperatures will struggle to get above freezing, and some areas particularly on the coast again could be around -5C to -6C in the early hours.
“More snow could be brought in again, around 2-3cm.”
Read more: Stunning pictures capture snowy scenes in Suffolk and north EssexStrong winds – some that could be gale force – and more snowfall are also predicted to spark disruption in the region until Saturday.
Highways bosses, who have not made any decisions yet about whether they will close the Orwell Bridge, said they are monitoring the situation closely.
Met Office forecasters have put a yellow ‘be prepared’ weather warning of wind and snow put in place from midnight on Friday until 11.55pm on Saturday.
The chief forecaster said: “A weather system is expected to move slowly north through Thursday, initially affecting the south east of the warning area before intensifying and pushing north across the rest of the warning area later on.
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“As it comes into contact with the very cold air resident over the UK, it has potential to produce widespread snow, accompanied by strong to gale force winds.”
Highways England chiefs added: “We are not currently planning to close the Orwell Bridge but we are keeping a close eye on the situation and should the situation change we will inform people as soon as possible.”
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