YORK and North Yorkshire are facing 30 hours of non-stop rain, sleet and snow today and tomorrow - and forecasters say it's possible that the 'Beast from the East' could return next week, bringing even colder and snowier weather.

A Met Office yellow warning is in place for heavy snow in parts of North Yorkshire - particularly the hills - from 8am today until 9pm tomorrow.

It says there could be significant travel disruption, with a possibility of vehicles being stranded on higher routes and roads blocked.

The warning does not extend to York, which is expected to see more rain and sleet, but forecasters say snow could even fall and settle in the city at times, particularly tomorrow morning. Freezing rain is another risk.

But Alex Burkill,of the Met Office, has warned that things could get a lot worse next week with a possible return of the bitterly cold and snowy weather seen in the UK in February 2018, dubbed the 'Beast from the East,' which happened when a sudden stratospheric warming event sent freezing winds from Siberia.

The Guardian said he claimed there was “very much a possibility” of a Beast from the East 2 in the “middle of next week."

He said that for such weather to occur next week, a blocking area of high pressure would be needed, particularly to the north of the UK, which would then drag in that cold easterly wind.

He said: “There are some signs that we could get something similar to that during the middle part of next week so that’s what we’re looking out for."