THE Met Office has today upgraded some of its weather warnings as the 'Beast from the East' makes its way to the region. 

Forecasters have now put some amber weather warnings in place for snow and are warning of chaos as bad weather hits. 

Temperatures are expected to barely climb above freezing this week, with wind-chill making it feel much colder.

There is a yellow warning of snow in place for today and Thursday, but amber warnings are in place for Tuesday, from 4am until 11am, and Wednesday, from 4am to 9pm. 

The Met Office's warning says: "Snow showers or longer periods of snow are expected on Tuesday, accompanied by very low temperatures.

"The heaviest, most persistent snow looks likely to cross the area during the morning.

"There is the likelihood of travel delays on roads, with some stranded vehicles and passengers, as well as delays or cancellations to rail and air travel. Some rural communities could become cut off.

"Power cuts may also occur and other services, such as mobile phones, may be affected."

Wednesday's warning adds: "Heavy snow showers are expected on Wednesday.

"Travel delays on roads are likely, stranding some vehicles and passengers.

"Some delays and cancellations to rail and air travel are likely. There is a good chance that some rural communities could become cut off."

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."

He said winds will strengthen, adding: "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."