Greater Manchester could be a blanket of white this week as a winter blast from Siberia heads our way - although as winter spells go, we've had much worse.

We've trawled the archives to look back at winters gone by in our region, and we've unearthed some spectacular scenes that show not only how radically the area has changed, but also how we coped with a heavy spell of snow.

You can see the stunning shots in the gallery below.

Pictures are from the M.E.N. archive, Mirrorpix and the Manchester Local Image Collection.

Many of the pictures are from the aftermath of much heavier snowfall than what we're likely to get this week.

But while the amount of snow due to fall might not be vast, the bitterly cold temperatures mean that whatever does fall could stay with us for some time.