Britain to be hit by Siberian freeze in two weeks

PA

Prepare for more travel chaos: Britain's glorious autumn and unusually mild weather is about the be hit by Siberian temperatures, say experts.

Following an October that set records for its warm weather, temperatures will drop to below zero within a fortnight - and could be down to -15C by December.

The UK was thrown into travel turmoil last year when high levels of snow hit across the country at the end of November.

Now forecaster are saying snow could hit even earlier than last year, with some even predicting temperatures as low as -20C.

Jonathan Powell of Positive Weather Solutions told the Daily Mail: 'It will not be as sustained as last year, but these episodes are expected to be severe, with Siberian temperatures.'

And forecaster Brian Gaze of The Weather Outlook, told the Daily Express: 'There are signs of a significant change in the mild weather in mid-November.

'The current mild weather is caused by a high pressure block to our east, keeping us under a south-westerly flow of Atlantic air.

'But it looks as though high pressure could move further north west, allowing much colder air to filter across the UK from the north or east, with the risk of snow increasing.'

And Exacta Weather's James Madden said there would be 'frequent and widespread heavy snowfalls during November to January across many parts of the UK and Ireland, with below-average temperatures'.

The news comes as the Government announced the Met Office will send out extreme weather alerts to the NHS this year, in a bid to prevent 25,000 deaths caused by winter in the UK.

Meanwhile, Heathrow Airport's operator BAA has announced it has tripled its number of snow clearance vehicles, as well as the number of staff ready to clear snow, compared with last year, when heavy snowfall caused chaos as 4,000 flights were cancelled over five days before Christmas.

BAA now has boosted its snow-shifting machines from 47 to 185, and 468 staff per shift, compared with 117 last year, according to the BBC.

The move is part of a £50m snow-tackling plan, of which £32.4m has been spent so far in the war against bad weather, according to the publication of the Winter Resilience Enquiry Report.

The report also revealed plans for new airport control centre and better airport-to-passenger communication.

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