While a covering of snow is possible for some ahead of the big day, temperatures are expected to rise on Christmas Eve, leaving those eager for a White Christmas “disappointed”, the Met Office has said.
Looking at the outlook for the festive period, rain is expected to arrive on Saturday, with frequent heavy showers, though a “covering of snow is possible for some hills and mountains as far south as the Peak District”.
On Sunday, we will see more rain, interspersed with some sunny intervals, with a mix of “sleet and snow for some.”
However, Monday will be largely wet across the country throughout the day.
Met Office Christmas Day forecast
From Christmas Eve, the Met Office is expecting to see high pressure build across the UK, bringing a period of more settled weather with it, and sadly dampening hopes of a White Christmas.
Deputy Chief Meteorologist Dan Harris explained: “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.”
Met Office White Christmas explanation
The definition that the Met Office uses to define a white Christmas is for one snowflake to be observed falling in the 24 hours of 25 December somewhere in the UK.
The forecasters explained: “Traditionally we used to use a single location in the country to define a white Christmas, which was the Met Office building in London.
“However, with the increase in betting on where will see a white Christmas, the number of locations have increased and can now include sites such as Buckingham Palace, Belfast (Aldergrove Airport), Aberdeen (Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen FC), Edinburgh (Castle), Coronation Street in Manchester and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
“We also analyse the data from our observing stations around the UK to provide a complete picture of where snow has fallen or was lying on Christmas Day.”
When was the last white Christmas?
The Met Office said: “Technically, 2023 was the last white Christmas in the UK with 11% of stations recording snow falling, although none reported any snow lying on the ground.
“Before that, 2022 saw 9% of weather stations recording falling snow, but none with any snow settling. 2021 and 2020 were also technically white Christmases, both with 6% of weather stations recording snow falling, but in these years, less than 1% of stations reported any snow lying on the ground in 2021 and only 4% in 2020.”
