THE wintry weather that arrived overnight and has given the region a dusting of snow this morning is here to say, forecasters have warned.

The Met Office issued a severe weather warning on Friday evening and now experts have predicted that the freezing temperatures and snow showers will continue for much of the next few days.

And Weatherquest forecasters have warned that conditions will take a turn for the worse on Tuesday, with “bitterly cold” conditions on the way.

Expert Jim Bacon said: “The air is incredibly cold. There’s a small area of pressure over the southerly North Sea and that’s generating quite a significant area of snow showers that extends even across to Holland.

“We can expect a succession of these snow showers over the weekend.”

Mr Bacon said that if temperatures dipped even further overnight, as expected, and the roads were quite, there could be snow on many roads tomorrow morning, especially in rural areas.

He added: “There’s a very real risk that it will turn frosty again, even right along the coast. It could well be that if we don’t get much traffic overnight and it settles, then there will be quite a lot of snow on the ground tomorrow morning.

“It’s a spell of wintry weather and it does look like it will last for quite some time.”

He said the region should brace itself for a cold week ahead, with an easterly wind bringing some “bitterly cold” conditions with it from Tuesday.

He added: “It’s going to be bitterly cold - we will notice the change.”