Cold weather continues to grip region

SNOWY scenes have returned to Suffolk once more as one of the coldest winters for 30 years continues.Motorists ploughed through snow showers yesterday as the icy weather made an unwelcome return.

SNOWY scenes have returned to Suffolk once more as one of the coldest winters for 30 years continues.

Motorists ploughed through snow showers yesterday as the icy weather made an unwelcome return.

John Bacon, a forecaster at Weatherquest, said the wintery spells were expected to last tonight and into the middle of the week.

He said: 'This morning will be reasonably dry and bright at first with some icy patches on the roads. As the day progresses it will gradually become colder with some rain, snow and sleet.'

The frosty forecast prompts the question of when the cold snap will end.

Icy temperatures and snowy showers could mark a return to the winters of the 1960s and 1970s, with blizzards starting before Christmas and lasting well into February.

'We have had quite a lot milder weather over the last 20 years,' Mr Bacon added. 'This particular weather is perhaps more akin to the weather we had in the '60s and early '70s. This is perhaps the coldest run for about 30 years.'

Average temperatures for January usually reach about 6C, but the mercury struggled to get above 3.5C last month.

In February so far, the average temperature has been between 4C and 5C, also below the average monthly temperature of about 7C.

But Mr Bacon said hope was on the horizon as warmer winds from the Mediterranean were possibly on their way.

'This has been one of the longest periods of below average temperatures,' he said. 'But there could be some better weather coming by the end of next week.'