WINTER is set to make a spectacular return to Bromsgrove at the end of the week as health and highways chiefs prepare for the worst weather for more than a decade.

Forecasters are preparing for an Arctic blast and warn that the cold snap will set in for up to ten days.

Temperatures are set to plummet this Friday with bitter winds and snow making it the coldest for 15 years.

Weather experts from the University of Birmingham say the need to wrap up warm will be caused by a change in the flow of the westerly jet stream which will take the warmer air over North Africa and leave Europe shivering in its wake.

This change in the atmospheric flow was last seen in February 1991.

John Kings, a meteorologist at the university, said that a spell of the coldest weather for a long time was not inconsistent with global warming.

"Although on average, temperatures are predicted to rise substantially as a result of global warming over the next fifty years, we will also experience more extremes in weather," he said.

The weather forecaster says people should not be too surprised by a big freeze because on average the second week in February is the coldest of the year.

Janet-Marie Clark, from the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust, said the elderly were particularly vulnerable in the winter.

She said a cold snap usually resulted in an increase in fractures and sprains with more people falling on the ice and snow.

"We have contingency plans if there is a reason to take more people into hospital," added Mrs Clark.

Highway chiefs say they are geared up for whatever will be thrown at them.

"We will fit snow ploughs 48 hours beforehand to make sure everything works. There is plenty of salt and grit and we will make sure that roadside bins are full," said maintenance manager Terry Godwin.

Bromsgrove gardeners and growers are also be waiting to see how plants coming into flower early because of the mild winter are affected by a more traditional February.