Beast From The East... Meet The Best From The West

Whilst most of us are taking shelter in warm offices or even enjoying a snow day at home, the Royal Marines have taken a typically different approach to Britain's extreme weather conditions.

The Royal Marines' Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron and 539 Assault Squadron are taking advantage of the blizzard conditions to practise their infiltration and extraction exercises.

They've taken offshore and inshore raiding craft out into the storm, along with the recce squad from 30 Commando IX Group, to practise cliff assaults just down the coast from their home in Plymouth.

The daring troops have been scaling the snow-covered rock face, using their specialist climbing equipment in order to get the most out of the unusual weather conditions.

Looks like not even the 'Beast From The East' can stop these commandos!

It's no wonder, considering the Royal Marines history when it comes to the cold.

For decades, they've have been the UK’s cold weather warfare specialists.

For this they train at Harstad, more than 150 miles inside the Arctic Circle, where temperatures can reach -30˚C.

As a key part of this training, they're taught to navigate their arctic surroundings on skis.

This means that they must ski across the mountains while carrying weapons and 70lb bergens.

Telemark skiers use skis with specially-designed bindings that fix only the toe of the boot to the ski, thereby creating the "free heel".

Crucially, this allows the skier to walk, making them a more practical method of transport when it comes to navigating Arctic terrain.

More: Military Called In As Britain Struggles To Cope With Heavy Snow