Multiple amber severe weather warnings for snow and ice have been issued for the weekend.

The so-called Mini Beast from the East comes on the back of a bitterly cold plume of air from Scandinavia, bringing with it snow and strong easterly winds.

Amber warnings are in place for between 4pm on Saturday afternoon and 9am on Sunday morning, with up to 15cm of snow expected over the East and West Midlands, North West England and Yorkshire and Humber.

The East of England and London and the South East are also in line for strong easterly winds and drifts of lying snow, leading to significant wind chill. Up to 10cm of snow is expected for these regions.

Yellow snow, ice and wind warnings blanket much of the rest of the Eastern side of the country, with up to 10cm of snow possible. Gusts of up to 70mph are possible.

On Sunday the amber warnings remain in place until 9am for the East and West Midlands, North West England and Yorkshire and Humber, as well as the East, London and the South East of England, with 10cm of snow still a possibility.

Yellow warnings for snow and ice are in place throughout the day on Sunday covering the same areas and stretching to South West England and Wales, with 20cm of snow likely on higher ground.

On Friday, a yellow warning will be in place from 6pm until 11.55pm, when up to 5cm of snow could fall over high ground.

Rain will increasingly turn to snow across Scotland, the North East, North West, East, East Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber.

“Following the clearance of an area of rain and snow, ice will form on untreated surfaces Friday evening and persist into Saturday morning,” the chief forecaster said.

“Despite a cold day then on Saturday surface temperatures are expected to rise above freezing during the morning allowing ice to melt.”