
Britain will shiver in an Arctic blast this week with eight inches of snow and temperatures falling as low as -10C.

Plunging temperatures have been blamed for dozens of recent deaths across Europe as winter takes its toll.

And the cold snap will enter Britain with 55mph winds, sub-zero temperatures and frosts along with blizzards.

The Met Office has issued a snow warning for Scotland, Wales and eastern England from Wednesday to Friday.

It said cold air originating over Arctic Canada will affect the area, bringing snow showers and strong winds.

Turkish anti riot police officers patrol around the Blue mosque (Sultan Ahmet) during snowfall in Istanbul

Frozen bridges, small fishing boats and stones on the coast are seen near the Black sea town of Varna, some 279 miles east of the Bulgarian capital Sofia

Snow falls in Sammichele di Bari, near Bari in the Puglia region in the south of Italy as winter weather hits the continent

Ice floes float in the water of River Danube at the Szabadsag (Freedom) Bridge in Budapest, Hungary

Children play on a frozen river Bosnia in Zenica, Bosnia on Sunday. Extremely cold weather continued for a fourth day in a row in most of Eastern Europe

Up to eight inches (20cm) is expected above 1,000ft (300m) - and up to two inches (5cm) at lower levels.

Gusts up to 55mph are expected in exposed coastal areas and on hills with snow showers leading to blizzards.

Today will be wet and windy, particularly in Scotland, where gales are likely, while it will stay breezy tomorrow.

Wednesday will also be windy although a little less wet, and it will turn much colder later that day.

A chilly Thursday will see rain in the South clearing to sunshine and showers which will turn increasingly wintry.

It will continue to be windy later this week with coastal gales and remain very cold with frosts likely overnight.

Conditions will stay unsettled this weekend, with areas of cloud and rain pushing west to east across the country.

These will be interspersed with brighter, showery spells but it will stay windy with a risk of gales in the North West.

Wind gusts of up to 55mph are expected later this week according to the Met Office warning. Here is the current outlook

Map showing a cold front move across Europe. The weather has been blamed for dozens of deaths across the continent

Blizzards and dangerously low temperatures persisted in parts of Europe yesterday, prompting Pope Francis to draw attention to the homeless suffering in freezing weather.

The Met Office has issued a snow warning for Scotland, Wales and eastern England from Wednesday to Friday

In Serbia, aid workers scrambled to help hundreds of migrants sleeping rough in parks and makeshift shelters.

The extreme winter weather that has gripped Europe in the past days has caused more than a dozen deaths, left villages cut off, caused power and water outages, frozen rivers and lakes, grounded flights and led to road accidents.

Serbia's authorities yesterday banned river traffic on its stretch of the Danube - one of Europe's main rivers - because of ice and strong wind.

Two men died of cold in Poland on Saturday, bringing the nation's death toll from winter weather to 55 since November 1, authorities said Sunday.

Temperatures dropped to -30C in the mountains of southern Poland.

In Italy, eight deaths were blamed on the cold, including a man who died in the basement of an unused building in Milan, and another one on a street flanking Florence's Arno River.

Pope Francis asked God to 'warm our hearts so we'll help' the homeless.

In Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, several hundred men, mostly from Afghanistan and Pakistan, remained in an abandoned customs warehouse by the city's bus station, where aid organizations distributed heaters, blankets, clothes and food in an attempt to keep them warm.

'We are all working together to help these people,' said Mirjana Milenkovski, a UN refugee agency spokesman.

Ducks and ducklings swim in the frozen river Bosna during heavy winter in Zenica

Airport workers try to clean snow on and around a Turkish Airlines aircraft at Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul

Families enjoy tobogganing in the Hasenheide park in Berlin as snow continues to fall across Europe

Frozen bridges, small fishing boats and stones on the coast are seen near the Black sea town of Varna, Bulgaria

While most of the several thousand migrants in Serbia have stayed in the Balkan country's asylum centres, hundreds have refused to do so, looking for ways to move on toward western Europe.

This week's outlook MONDAY: Rain will push south east and will clear for northern areas to leave sunny spells with heavy showers, some wintry on the high ground. TONIGHT: Heavy showery rain in the North. Drier for southern areas with clear spells but showers in the West. TOMORROW: Cloudy with showery rain in the West. Dry with sunny spells in the East, and windy in the North. WEDNESDAY: It will be very windy in the North with heavy showers, wintry on high ground. For southern areas, it will be mainly dry with sunny spells. THURSDAY: Windy and much colder with heavy wintry showers, especially in the North and West. Snow for most areas away from the far South. FRIDAY: A cold air stream bringing occasional snow showers in parts. WEEKEND: Unsettled, with areas of cloud and rain pushing west to east. Advertisement

In neighbouring Bulgaria, police said two men from Iraq and a Somali woman died from cold in the mountains near Turkey as they tried to make their way toward Europe.

Many in the Belgrade warehouse were sick after few days in extreme cold, aid workers said.

'The next few days are critical, and for sure the health condition of these people is worsening,' said Stephane Moissaing, MSF Head of Mission in Serbia.

German federal police said yesterday they picked up 19 migrants - including five children - at a highway stop in Bavaria who were suffering from hypothermia after their driver disappeared and left them on the back of an unheated a truck for hours in the freezing cold.

Elsewhere, emergency measures were declared in several municipalities in Serbia's south and southwest.

Dozens of villages in Serbia's remote Pestar region were sealed off by heavy snow, prompting the evacuation of some 100 people by emergency crews. Authorities said 70 kilometers of water pipes there were frozen.

Numerous villages in northern Bulgaria also were left without electricity and water. Power outages were also reported throughout the region.

Polar temperatures of between -15C and -26C saw ice forming on the Adriatic sea and the Danube, while countless smaller rivers, lakes and ponds froze.

Montenegro's port of Bar in southern Adriatic closed down on Saturday, while sea traffic was suspended for days in neighbouring Croatia.

Strollers walk in a snowy landscape near the small Bavarian village of Eichenau, southern Germany

Polar bear Wolodja takes a nap on some snow which has fallen in its enclosure in the Berlin Tierpark zoo

A man pushes his bicycle during snowfall in Sammichele di Bari, near Bari in the Puglia region in the south of Italy

Snow covers the archaeological excavations site in Ancient Corinth, Greece as the cold front moves across the continent

A family enjoys a sledge ride after heavy snowfall in Berlin, Germany as they pull each other on sledges

Police in Bulgaria said a passenger train was derailed yesterday after it hit a pile of snow in the central part of the country.

Snow fell on Istanbul, Turkey, for the third straight day, and Turkish Airlines grounded hundreds of flights in and out of the city's two airports.

A dozen major roads remained closed in Romania due to heavy snow and some ferry services between Romania and Bulgaria across the Danube were cancelled.

Authorities said schools would be closed today and tomorrow in many areas, including in the capital Bucharest.

Four Portuguese nationals were killed when a bus skidded on an icy road in eastern France early yesterday. The road is notorious for fatal accidents.

A man walks in a street of Sammichele di Bari during snowfall near Bari in the Puglia region in the south of Italy

A picture taken early on January 8, 2017 shows snowfalls in Sammichele di Bari, near Bari in the Puglia region in the south of Italy

Snow falls on a courtyard and on houses in Sammichele di Bari, near Bari in the Puglia region in the south of Italy

People enjoy a snowy day in Istanbul, Turkey by making snowmen

Icicles hang from a roof of a house in Oberstdorf, southern Germany, as winter sets in across the continent

Black ice across northern and western Germany has caused countless accidents and injuries - firefighters in the city of Hamburg said yesterday they were called to weather-related accidents 415 times during the weekend.

Near Hannover, one person died in a car accident when his car skidded against a tree on an icy road, German news agency DPA reported.

City authorities shut down the public transportation system and across the country, people were asked to wait out the severe weather conditions at home.

For hundreds of Muscovites, however, the fact that the temperature had plunged to -27C was no reason to avoid going for a group bicycle ride.

About 500 cyclists, many equipped with fur hats and other nonstandard gear, held a ride of about five miles along the Moscow River on Sunday as the capital shivered through a fierce cold snap.