Beast From the East 2.0 to Keep Europe Shivering Into This Week

A second "beast from the east" cold snap has overspread much of Europe and will linger into the first week of spring.

The instigator for this latest cold blast is a familiar one.

Blocking high pressure aloft between Iceland, Scotland and Scandinavia has helped pull cold air from Scandinavia and western Russia westward and southward into Europe.

The phrase "beast from the east" refers to the fact this cold air arrives on strong winds blowing east-to-west from Scandinavia over the North Sea and into the British Isles and western Europe.

Interestingly, this atmospheric blocking can still be traced back to a strange split of the polar vortex over a month ago.

"We're still seeing the effects of the sudden stratospheric warming event that commenced Feb. 11," said Katie Greening, meteorologist with The Weather Company, an IBM Business, based in the U.K.

(MORE: Massive Marine Die-Off in U.K. From Cold)

With cold air blowing over the North Sea and an upper-level pocket of cold air, areas of snow showers and squalls have once again affected the U.K, Ireland, northern France and southern Scandinavia. 

The wintry weather significantly affected travel in the United Kingdom over the weekend.

Up to 35 vehicles were stranded by the snow near Edlington Saturday night, the BBC reported.

(FORECAST: London | Amsterdam | Paris | Berlin)

Difference From "Beast Version 1.0"

Southern Europe is where the cold will persist the longest well into the week ahead.

(FORECAST: Madrid | Rome | Budapest)

This pattern will generate areas of snow that will persist through much of the week in southern, central and eastern Europe.

Some of that snow will be moderate to heavy, not simply in the Alps, but also from parts of Germany and Poland to the Ukraine.

Fortunately, in northern Europe, including the U.K., the cold won't be nearly as sharp or long-lived as "beast 1.0."

"Temperatures will begin to recover Monday as the center of the high drifts to the British Isles and warmer air is entrained in the flow," Greening said.

(FLASHBACK: Waves of Winter Storms Turn Deadly in Europe in Late Feb./Early Mar.)

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been an incurable weather geek since a tornado narrowly missed his childhood home in Wisconsin at age 7. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.