LATEST: Concern over Portsmouth’s Accrington trip going ahead with Arctic blast and freezing conditions hitting UK

An Arctic blast is set to hit in the coming days, with the north west among the areas due to be impacted.

Lows of -8C are expected across the country, with the long-range forecast for Accrington showing temperatures dropping below freezing from tomorrow.

The Met Office are anticipating lows of -4C on Wednesday, -5C on both Thursday and Friday and -3C on Saturday at the Crown Ground.

That is certain to place doubt over the game taking place, though the pitch is currently in good condition with Accrington investing in making improvements to their playing surface.

Even with covers it looks like it will be a severe test to stop it becoming frozen in the coming day, however, if the forecasted conditions materialise.

BBC forecaster, Darren Bett, explained he expects a marked drop in temperatures after a mild autumn.

He said: ‘There is colder weather still to come.

‘And this is where the weather is going to be coming from by Tuesday onwards, a different area of high pressure dominating, this one is over Greenland and we are going to find a northerly wind coming around that.

‘That’s going to drop the temperatures, we’ve got that northerly wind setting in across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England and those showers are starting to turn wintry, a sign it really is starting to get a bit colder.

‘Arctic wind will dominate with Scotland in the firing line for most of the snow.’

An Accrington postponement would be the fourth since 2014, when a January waterlogged pitch saw the game called off.

Covers failed to stop the pitch freezing at the start of last year, while a home clash with John Coleman’s side was postponed in March 2020 at the beginning of the first Covid pandemic.