The Met Office has officially released its forecast for Christmas Day and those hoping for are white Christmas are set to be disappointed. In the lead up to the big day, the weather is likely to be unsettled and wet, before things get milder for December 25.
Following the weather warnings for wind on Wednesday, December 18, Thursday is set to be chilly with outbreaks of showers likely in Wales. Over hills and mountains, these blustery showers could turn into sleet and snow.
A widespread frost is possible as people wake up on Friday (December 20) morning. Temperatures are then set to get milder with further rain expected across the weekend.
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Another frontal system is set to move through the UK from the West on Monday (December 23), bringing further wind and outbreaks of rain across all parts through the day. Join our WhatsApp news community here for the latest breaking news
However, the forecasters say that high pressure will build from Christmas Eve, bringing in a period of more settled weather for Christmas Day. The milder temperatures mean that the chances of a white Christmas are very slim.
This is the first official, detailed weather forecast that the Met Office has issued for Christmas Day. Until now, it has only issued its vague long-range forecasts covering the Christmas period which are heavily guarded and have warnings about uncertainty.
The Met Office’s Dan Harris said: “With Christmas still seven days away, we cannot yet be confident about the regional scale details, however the broad trends in the forecast come with higher than usual confidence for this lead time. Current indications are that more settled conditions are likely to develop from Christmas Eve onwards, with the majority of the UK coming under the influence of high pressure. The exception however may be northwest Scotland where there is a reasonable chance of further wind and rain.
“Christmas Day itself is likely to be settled, often cloudy, and dry with light winds for the majority. Once again, the far north may be windier, with a small chance of further rain across northwest Scotland. Temperatures are expected to be widely mild, so if you are hoping for a blanket of snow across the country on Christmas Day, I’m sorry to say you will be disappointed. We’ll be giving more details as we get closer to the day, so do keep up-to-date with the latest Met Office forecast.” For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter
For the Met Office to declare a ‘white Christmas’, a single snowflake has to be observed falling on the 24 hours of 25 December by either an official Met Office observer or by a Met Office automated weather station. The last official white Christmas in the UK was 2023, when 11% of stations recorded snow falling, although none reported any snow lying on the ground.
The last widespread white Christmas in the UK was in 2020, where snow was on the ground at 83% of stations (the highest amount ever recorded).