SOME parts of the UK are set to feel colder than places in the Arctic Circle as the freezing temperatures continue into the week.

Widespread snow is forecast, and the Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for Monday in the North-East, amber warnings for Tuesday and Wednesday and a yellow warning for Thursday.

By the middle of the week, the majority of Britain is being warned of the potential for delays on the roads, trains and in the air.

The alert also warns there may be some power cuts and loss of mobile phone signal.

The Met Office said that by the end of Wednesday, more than 20cm of snow may have accumulated in some parts of eastern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Met Office meteorologist Charlie Powell said: "The UK is on track for some really cold weather this week. It's not going to be record-breaking, but it'll be pretty exceptional - winds are going to make it feel minus 10C (14F) to minus 15C (5F) during the day.

"Winds are then going to strengthen and we could see some easterly gales through the eastern Channel and east Anglia by the middle of the week.

"That's going to make it feel really cold, daytime temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday will be struggling to get above freezing for most of the country."

He added: "By Thursday evening, there are growing signs there could be some significant snowfall across southern England.

"Unusually for Britain, the snow is going to be quite dry, so it will blow around and gather in drifts and we could see some blizzard conditions.

"We don't want to scare people, but people should make sure they are prepared for some seriously cold weather."

Lows of -5C (23F) recorded over the weekend marked the lowest temperature in the week leading up to March 1, the first day of spring, since 1986.

The wind chill, which could see parts of the UK feeling as cold as -15C (5F), rivals the temperatures forecast for parts of northern Norway and Iceland.

Councils across the region are gearing up for whatever the weather throws at them.

A Stockton Council spokesman said: “Our winter maintenance gritting crews are on standby 24/7 from October until late April ready to treat the roads whenever frost and snow is forecast.

“In severe weather, our priority is to keep open all major routes and roads serving emergency facilities and outlying communities.

“As always during periods of freezing temperatures, we have been gritting the Borough’s major routes to help minimise disruption. This will continue for as long as necessary.

“Although we call it grit, the product we actually spread on our roads and footpaths is rock salt.  The salt works by lowering the freezing point of moisture on the road surface so it has to become colder before ice will form. Before salt can become effective it needs to be crushed by traffic and dissolved into solution.

“If the forecast snow materialises then we will also divert staff from cleansing, grounds maintenance and routine highways duties to support snow clearance operations."

A spokesman for Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council said: “Our ‘Streetscene’ teams will be working hard through the night to ensure our roads are safe and services remain operational.

"Gritters will be on the road from today (Monday) on all primary and secondary routes. From midnight our teams will be dealing with snow clearance and keeping main primary routes open.

"Work gritting and ploughing will continue until 10am tomorrow when the situation will be reviewed. Our priority remains safety and we ask residents to bear with us if bin collections and other services are disrupted. Log on to our website or follow us on Twitter and Facebook for regular updates.”