The beast's return is blessing and a curse as Portsmouth turns white

The so-called ‘Beast from the East 2’ returned to Portsmouth and the surrounding areas on Saturday and yesterday – bringing with it joy but in some cases disruption.

Young children, though, flocked to open spaces in their droves to walk dogs and go sledding in the snow.

A particular hotspot was Southsea Common and Castle Fields where families gathered to enjoy the day.

But the snow flurries was not all fun and games, as it led to a catalogue of travel warnings from emergency services and cancelled events and sporting fixtures.

On Saturday, Southsea Castle’s plans to screen the hotly-anticipated fifth round of Six Nations rugby were scuppered as light snow fell.

A spokesperson for the fort said: ‘Due to the weather conditions on-site the Natwest Six Nations will not be screened at Southsea Castle – head to nearby Meat and Barrell instead.

‘Massive thanks to everyone who came down to the rugby at the castle.’

The sporting disappointments continued a day later, as football matches across The News’ patch were called off.

Moneyfields FC Ladies and Gosport Borough Ladies Football Club were both postponed.

A Moneyfields spokesperson tweeted: ‘We have been beaten again by the weather, sorry guys GAME OFF.’

Further afield, a lorry jack-knifed on the M3 near Basingstoke, causing delays.

At the heart of the weekend weather forecasts were yellow warnings for snow and ice, issued by the Met Office.

They came as temperatures tumbled from spring-like midweek conditions to bitter lows of -2C – with strong easterly winds causing them to ‘feel’ as cold as -6C.

But with the service’s warning set to cease today, residents can expect snowfall to end and temperatures to rise to 9C by Friday.

Portsmouth skies are likely to stay grey, however, with rain likely to fall from Thursday until Sunday.