They say that the deep freeze and bitterly cold winters could become more frequent during the next decade, giving Britons a taste of what it was like in snowy Dickensian times.
This winter is expected to be one of the coldest in the last 100 years after weeks of sub-zero temperatures.
Arctic conditions led to some areas having their first white Christmas in living memory, a hark back to the days between medieval times and 1850 when Britain was in the grip of a Little Ice Age.
The winter of 1813-14 featured the last “frost fair” on the Thames in London.
Climate analyst Peter Taylor said: “The Jet Stream, which usually brings milder weather to the UK, has been pushed further south this year because of colder water temperatures in the north Atlantic.
“This has led to a cold block of air sitting over the UK, drawing in winds from Scandinavia and Siberia. All of the milder weather systems are now hitting Spain and southern France.”
Mr Taylor, author of Chill: A Reassessment of Global Warming Theory, added that Britain should be braced for harsh winters.
Joe Bastardi, senior meteorologist at Accuweather, said this winter will “remind us of what Dickens would write about”.