Anticyclone Hartmut (dubbed the Beast from the East (Irish: An Torathar ón Oirthear)[5][6][7]) was a storm that began on 22 February 2018, and brought a cold wave to Great Britain and Ireland.

[8] The cold wave combined with Storm Emma, part of the 2017–18 European windstorm season, which made landfall in southwest England and the south of Ireland on 2 March.

The anticyclone brought cold easterly winds into Europe and the British Isles leading to snowfall and sub-zero temperatures as a result of freezing air from Siberia.

Sixteen weather-related deaths include that of a seven-year-old girl on Thursday 1 March in Looe, Cornwall, when she was hit by a car that slid on ice into a bungalow.

[3] Following a brief spell of warmer weather, a fresh cold snap nicknamed the "Mini Beast from the East" was forecast to bring another covering of snow on the weekend of 17 and 18 March.

However, due to the onset of spring, and a higher sun position, it was forecast that the effect would be less severe than on the previous occasion, for the ground was warmer than before, and thus the snow would melt more quickly.

The snow was accompanied by strong winds, forecast to be as high as 110 km/h (70 mph), and the Met Office issued an amber weather warning effective from the afternoon of 17 March.