Slough council has reassured the town that should the 'Beast from the East' hit, there is enough salt to cope with another cold snap. 

The Met Office has issued a major Sudden Stratospheric Warning (SSW) - a sudden rise in temperatures which can lead to a blocking of high pressure - which is predicted to occur later this month or in early March.

It was a major SSW that brought the Beast from the East in 2018, which saw parts of the UK covered in 22 inches of snow, and caused £1.2 billion of damage to the economy.

A spokesperson from Slough Borough Council said: “Highways are prepared and our usual up keeping of gritting will continue, our gritting season started in November 2022, and we still have enough salt. 

"Weather monitoring is carried out by the council, and we instruct our teams when to go out and grit our roads.

"This is monitored throughout the day, so we are well prepared beforehand any cold spells occur."

However, the Met Office has stressed that an SSW does not necessarily mean that the country will be hit with Beast of the East like weather conditions.

A Met Office spokesperson said: "Any impacts from the SSW on UK weather wouldn’t be felt until late February and early March.

"An SSW doesn’t mean there will be a ‘Beast from the East’.

"In 2019 we had an SSW which had no direct impact on the UK’s weather.

"In short, we don’t yet know how this SSW will influence our weather at this range.

"We’ll be watching how the SSW occurs in the coming days and the outlook will become clearer."