Met Office downplays Beast from the East rumours after reports of 'snow storm' hitting UK

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

The Met Office has addressed rumours that a 'Beast from the East' storm could hit Britain in the coming weeks. Reports suggested that blizzard could hit the UK in two weeks' time, bringing with it 18 hours of continuous snowfall.

Impacting almost all the country, the first hints of snow were thought to fall on Friday March 3. WXCharts, a weather forecast model, claimed the storm would spark a mega 24-hour snow blitz in the North Sea until Monday March 6, with up to six inches forecast to fall up and down England. READ MORE: Boy, 7, rushed to hospital after 30ft fall onto stone path at Greater Manchester beauty spot But the Met Office has confirmed that while conditions will be turning colder this week, there is no sign of a snowstorm coming.

The weather coming up is 'nothing unusual' for this time of year, Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said. He told the Manchester Evening News on Tuesday (February 21): “Within the next seven days – our current forecasting window – there is no prospect for a Beast from the East type weather set up.

Conditions will turn cooler toward the end of the week and into the early part of next week, but these conditions are fuelled by home-grown cooler conditions and in fact the weather over the next week will be nothing unusual for the time of year: typical winter weather." He continued: “With recent weather features over the Arctic and around the pole there could be a longer-term prospect of colder conditions affecting the UK at the end of February and into March.