THIS coming winter is being forecast as the coldest for decades with a deep arctic freeze set to just be weeks away.
Forecasters are warning that Britain could face an Arctic winter in 2014, with some forecasts of snow in some parts of the country as early as next month.
Reports, based on forecasts from Vantage Weather, warns the UK is set for a 'horror freeze' which will bring brutal winds and fierce blizzards.
The predicted cold weather is being blamed on the jet stream which is expected to be stuck south of the UK, allowing a continual flow of freezing Arctic air.
Although forecasters at the Met Office say that it is impossible to predict seasonal and long term forecasts with any sort of accuracy, Essex County Council has already started preparations for winter.
The county's 60-strong fleet of gritters were out in force this week to test drive their routes in preparation for plummeting temperatures.
The vehicles began their pre-season checks on the busiest roads in Essex on Saturday, October 4 and will be seen again on Saturday, October 11.
Essex County Council's highways department, which is in charge of keeping the roads safe during cold and icy weather, also said some of the gritters will briefly be spreading salt to make sure they are working properly.
The council is responsible for salting 2,000 miles of roads in Essex – 40 per cent of the county's road network – which includes all A and B roads, access routes for emergency services, rural link roads and major public transport routes.
Official weather recording only started in 1910 and despite similar headlines predicting an artic freeze, the winter of 2012/13 was only the 43rd coldest on record with an average temperature of 3.3celcius.
Winter officially starts on December 1, with MET Office forecasters saying it is too early to tell how this year's winter will turn out.
A MET Office spokesman said: "There is absolutely no certainty about what weather the UK will see over the winter period.
"The science doesn't exist to predict forecasts that far in the future accurately."
The MET Office says the rest of October will remain unsettled with temperatures around normal or a little below normal with a risk or fog and mist.
The unsettled conditions are due to continue into the early part of November.
