UK cold weather: Europe gripped by once-in-a-decade snow event as freeze heads to Britain

The last time Europe had this much snow cover was in 2010 - more than a decade ago.

Snow in Scotland

Parts of the UK saw heavy snowfall on Friday with warnings continuing into next week (Image: Getty)

The UK is set to be submerged in snow as 60 percent of Europe is covered in it for the first time since 2010.

Temperatures have drastically dropped across Britain this week, with snowfall in some parts of the UK and frosty conditions elsewhere.

Across Europe, countries have been battling heavy snowfall, with weather maps showing a large percentage of snow coverage across countries like Scandinavia and Russia.

According to Met4Cast, the last time Europe had this much snow cover at this time of year was in 2010.

And it's not likely to stop anytime soon, with more snow forecast in the coming days.

Europe weather map

60 percent of Europe is blanketed in snow in new weather maps (Image: climatebook)

"We could see some snow overnight Saturday into Sunday in the Midlands, but it’s patchy and uncertain,” said Operational Meteorologist at the Met Office, Tom Morgan. “Monday is the most likely day for disruption from snow.”

Thousands of towns and villages in Moldova, Ukraine and Bulgaria were left without electricity on Friday. In Moldova, four people were reported dead, with two bodies being recovered from cars that had been buried in snowdrifts.

In Ukraine, severe snowstorms impacted travel and left 10 people dead across the Odesa, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and Kyiv regions.

1,500 villages and towns were left without power as they battled the snowstorm, leaving 2,500 people in need of rescue and around 850 cars needing to be towed.

Winter Sets In As Kyiv Residents Prepare For Further Russian Attacks

10 people have died in Ukraine as a result of the snowstorms (Image: Getty)

Bulgaria was also badly affected, declaring a state of emergency as winter storms left more than 1,000 villages without electricity.

Parts of the UK experienced snowfall on Friday, with Glasgow Airport forced to close amid flurries. The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for the entire east coast of Britain as temperatures are set to fall as low as -10C.

The UK Health Security Agency has issued amber cold health alerts in five regions North East and Yorkshire and the Humber, the East Midlands, West Midlands, North West until December 5.

Warnings for ice are also in force across parts of Northern Ireland and southwest England until 10am.

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