Britain will shiver in an Arctic blast this week with eight inches of snow and temperatures falling as low as minus 10 degree Celsius, the Met office has said.

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

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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, the Daily Mail reported.

The cold snap will enter Britain with 55 mph winds, sub-zero temperatures and frost along with blizzards.

An arctic maritime airmass originating over northern Canada will bring a period of cold weather across Britain later this week with snow showers, strong winds and widespread overnight frost, Xinhua news agency reported.

The cold weather is likely to last into the weekend.