Fresh weather warnings have been issued for Tayside and Fife as forecaster predict a blast of cold weather from Russia will endure into the weekend.
The region is preparing to be hit by an intense weather system nicknamed the Beast from the East this week. It could bring thundersnow, blizzards, more than a foot of the white stuff and widespread travel disruption to the local area.
The Met Office now has three severe weather warnings for snow in place for Tayside and Fife covering a period of five days running into the weekend, one of which is “amber” – the second most serious which the organisation issues.
This alert will endure across Courier Country from Wednesday at 6am until Thursday at 6pm, with “frequent and heavy snow showers” predicted across the area. Dundee, Perth, Perthshire, Angus and most of Fife are predicted to be affected.
Thundersnow, blizzards and 8in of white stuff as Beast from the East approaches Tayside and Fife
Severe wind chill will lead to conditions feeling even colder than they are, with temperatures not expected to move above freezing in the coming days.
A yellow warning is in place until midnight on Tuesday, with another now in place from Friday morning until Saturday at midnight.
The Met Office said as much as 15in (1.25ft) could land in parts of the UK from Wednesday to Thursday.
Across Friday and Saturday, the forecaster said “frequent snow showers” could continue across areas affected by the yellow warning. Up to 4in of additional snow could land across both days.
Shedding light on this week’s amber warning, the Met Office’s chief forecaster said: “Snow showers will bring variable snow cover, but parts of northeast England and Scotland are expected to see the most frequent snow showers from Wednesday morning to Thursday afternoon.
“During this time, 5-10 cm (2in-3.9in) of snow is expected quite widely. Where showers become organised though, most likely across Scotland and over the hills of northern England, some places are likely to have an additional 15-25 cm (5.9in-9.8in) of snow, locally as much as 40cm (15in).
“Strong winds will lead to drifting of snow and severe wind chill, while lightning could be an additional hazard, particularly near coasts.
“This warning has been updated to extend the area south across parts of northern England, this particularly for Wednesday and the first part of Thursday, whilst the end time has been extended to later on Thursday.”
Flights were cancelled from Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow on Tuesday as the freezing weather moved into the UK.
Snow showers landed across Tayside and Fife on Tuesday morning.
