LONDON (Reuters) Eastern parts of Britain are suffering fuel shortages due to adverse weather, and the situation is likely to get worse heading into the weekend.

RMI Petrol, which represents two-thirds of the 9,000 petol forecourt sites in the UK, said up to 500 independent petrol retailers risked running out of petrol and diesel by the weekend.

“Acute problems of supply, particularly of diesel, are being reported by our rural members in the northeast of England and eastern Scotland,” said RMI Petrol chairman Brian Madderson.