AS IRELAND BRACES itself for very cold weather this week, other parts of Europe are already dealing with heavy snowfall.

Earlier, Met Éireann issued a status orange snow-ice warning for seven counties in the east of Ireland, as the country gears up for Storm Emma.

The warning has been issued for Dublin, Carlow, Kildare, Laois, Louth, Wicklow and Meath. It will be valid from 3pm tomorrow until 11am on Wednesday.

The wintry chill from Siberia – dubbed the ‘Beast from the East’ – has already started sweeping across Europe, affecting many countries including the UK, Italy, Germany and Kosovo.

An aerial shot of snow in Grünenplan, Germany Source: Julian Stratenschulte/DPA/PA Images

People skiing down the snow-covered streets of Pristina in Kosovo Source: Visar Kryeziu/AP/Press Association Images

Nuns under the snow at Via della Conciliazione near St Peter's Basilica in Rome, Italy Source: Matteo Nardone/Zuma Press/PA Images

The Seated Man sculpture surrounded by snow near Castleton on the North Yorkshire moors, England Source: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire/PA Images

Icicles photographed in the Baltic Sea harbour of Warnemuende, near Rostock, eastern Germany Source: Bernd Wuestneck/AP/Press Association Images

Snow at the Colosseum in Rome, Italy Source: Matteo Nardone/Zuma Press/PA Images

Read: Status Orange snow-ice warning issued for seven counties as temperatures set to plunge to -7

Read: What exactly is the ‘Beast from the East’? And why is it going to be absolutely freezing this week?