Britain is set to get the shivers this week as the polar vortex nicknamed the 'Beast From The East' spirals southwards from the arctic.

This week will be unusually cold with a significant wind chill and the threat of heavy snowfall. Temperatures are not expected to rise above zero however with the wind chill temperatures will make the temperature a lot colder.

The Met Office have issued a level 3 cold weather alert valid from Monday, February 26th to Saturday, March 3rd which warns of potential health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services.

The Met Office has issued an early warning for snow in Herefordshire on Thursday, March 1st stating that there is a potential for a spell of heavy snow, accompanied by strong winds to move slowly north through Thursday afternoon and night.

Herefordshire Council have activated their Severe Weather page with the latest information on council services such as road and school closures, can be found at www.herefordshire.gov.uk/severeweatherThe council’s public realm contractor, Balfour Beatty Living Places, is continuing to monitor conditions around-the-clock to ensure the county’s 14 priority routes are kept clear during extreme weather conditions.

In preparation the Balfour Beatty Living Places team have gritted over 1,000 miles of road. This includes 600 miles of priority routes and over 400 miles of secondary routes.

The county’s salt barns are fully stocked with 4,800 tonnes of salt available to the 30-strong gritting team, which operates 16 frontline gritting vehicles, four snow blowers and two quad bikes.

You can find the latest gritting route information on Twitter @HfdsStreets

See the full story in this week’s edition of the Ross Gazette, or subscribe to our online edition here