With people across the United Kingdom ‘dreaming of a white Christmas,’ the Met Office’s weather forecast has revealed whether thousands will get their wish.
Brits have had to suffer significant travel disruption in the week leading up Christmas Day as gale-force winds hit our shores.
The Met Office even issued yellow wind warnings over the weekend affecting Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and various parts of England.
Yet, despite such winds creating a ‘perfect storm’ of travel chaos on trains and buses as thousands journeyed home for Christmas celebrations, temperatures have remained fairly warm.
December as a whole, in fact, has been ‘milder than average’ thanks to winds from the south-west, rather than the Atlantic, hitting Britain.
And those warmer conditions are set to continue through to Christmas Day.
Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud predicts: ‘We’re expecting to see some sunny spells further east and a lot of cloud from the west.
‘Temperatures should rise considerably and it will be extremely mild over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. In England and Wales, temperatures will be well above average with some grey in the mix.
‘We’re expecting an average of around 12°C or 13°C on Christmas Eve and 11°C or 12°C on Christmas Day. The usual average for this time of year is 7°C or 8°C so we’ll be around double where we usually are.
‘Overnight temperatures in Scotland for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will be extremely mild.’
The forecaster though, has put a dampener on Brits’ hopes of snow this Christmas.
The Met Office website reads: ‘The weather will remain rather cloudy but mild throughout Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
‘Some patchy rain at times, especially in the northwest. Slightly cooler by Friday, with a perhaps a little more brightness.’
The AA has forecasted a busy start to the week on Britain’s motorways – estimating a whopping 22.7 million driver will get behind the wheel on Monday and 21.6 million on Tuesday.
AA President Edmund King said the UK’s roads have coped ‘relatively well’ with the increased Christmas traffic.
He added: ‘With Christmas Day falling on a Wednesday, drivers have already had four different days to travel.
‘Most journeys have been relatively short, and the majority have been under 50 miles.
‘Strategic roads and motorways near shopping centres have suffered the brunt of the congestion alongside some of the roads affected by adverse weather in Scotland and the North.’
A white Christmas is officially recorded whenever a snowflake falls on Christmas Day, according to the Met Office.
So, you’ll be surprised to hear that, based on those conditions, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2017 were all white Christmases.
But a truly white Christmas, by most people’s reckoning, is when the UK is covered in blankets of snow.
Shockingly, London hasn’t seen an undeniable white Christmas in 25 years – 1999 was the last time the capital was covered in snow.
Even more surprising is that there has only been six recorded in London since 1960 – in 1964, 1968, 1970, 1976, 1996 and 1999.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
