THE so-called 'beast from the east' will NOT make a third appearance across Scotland this weekend, the Met Office has confirmed.

Following the two recent spells of extreme cold weather there had been speculation that a cold and snowy Easter was on the way.

However, the forecaster has said for the majority of the country and for the majority of the time, this is not so.

According to the Met Office, the weather will become generally more unsettled with many of us seeing showers or longer spells of rain at times as well as some sunny spells as we head through this week.

It will be windy at times for many, as well as colder than average with some parts of the UK seeing overnight frosts.

There is still a risk that we could see some snow in places as we head through the week, but this most likely to be in the north of England and Scotland, and particularly over the hills. 

Met Office chief meteorologist Frank Saunders said: “It is important to point out that we are not expecting anything on the scale of the last two spells of unusually cold weather which brought significant and disruptive snowfall.

“Throughout the Easter weekend it will stay unsettled with showers or longer outbreaks of rain for most.

“There will be some sunshine at times as well though, with the best of any drier and brighter weather expected across the northwest”.

The Met Office added that given the time of year, the sun is much stronger than it was even a month ago and the daylight hours longer, meaning any snow is less likely to settle by day, so even if we do see some snow to low levels it is more unlikely to cause disruption.

After the easter weekend the weather may become more settled across northern parts for a time, but southern parts are still likely to see showers or longer spells of rain at times.