Scientists say heatwave in the North Pole is to blame for The Beast from the East – and claim it could get WORSE
The strange weather evoked memories of 2004 disaster film The Day after Tomorrow - where rising arctic temperatures led to a second ice age
SCIENTISTS fear rising arctic temperatures are behind the Beast from the East - raising fears of a Day After Tomorrow-style climate apocalypse.
A heatwave in the North Pole has pushed Siberian temperatures 35c higher than average, triggering a stream of relentless blizzards in northern Europe as the cold air is pushed away.
Temperatures in the Arctic even rose beyond freezing while they plunged to -24c in Lithuania - a scenario described by meteorologists as “crazy,” “weird,” and “simply shocking”.
The strange weather evoked memories of 2004 disaster film The Day after Tomorrow - where rising arctic temperatures led to a second ice age.
Arctic temperature is regulated by the polar vortex, a swirling band of freezing air that traps the cold around the North Pole.
Scientists say it has been "split" by rising temperatures - making it suck in warm air and expel more cold fronts.
The cold weather has already claimed four lives in Britain - while the Italian Army was drafted in to clear snow from the streets of Rome.
Climate expert Robert Rohde warned: “As we rapidly warm the Arctic, we can expect that future years will bring us even more examples of unprecedented weather.”
And University of Hamburg professor Lars Kaleschke added that the "warm Arctic, cold continent" weather pattern is set to continue "scary strength and persistence".
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