Christmas forecast – Met Office

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Christmas will be cloudy and wet across much of the UK, with any winter showers confined to the far northwest.

Christmas Eve will be mostly dry in many southern and eastern parts of the United Kingdom. To the north and west, strong southwesterly winds will bring rain or longer spells of rain, sometimes torrential and falling as snow over the highlands of Scotland.

Christmas Day will see continued unstable weather with strong winds and bouts of rain in many northern and western parts of the UK. A National Yellow Warning for severe weather for snow and ice has been issued for parts of the north and west of Scotland valid from 9pm on Christmas Day until 6pm on Boxing Day. While those further south will not be immune to the occasional shower, drier weather conditions are expected in the central and eastern parts of England.

White Christmas, defined as a single snowflake that falls anywhere in the UK on Christmas Day, is most likely to be in northwest Scotland later on Sunday. Some snow can be seen here at low levels overnight and on Boxing Day.

Met Office deputy chief meteorologist David Oliver said: “An uneasy Christmas weekend is on the way for many, with those in the north and west seeing more frequent and heavier showers. Strong winds will affect some coasts during the weekend, accompanied by storms in some places, especially in the north and west.

“Christmas Day will be an uneasy one for many, with more frequent rain in the northern half of the UK and some sporadic and muted rain in the south. There is some uncertainty about the timing of cold air from the northwest, but it looks like this will introduce some showers of snow to Northwest Scotland late on Christmas Day.

How will the North American cold affect the weather in the UK?

A large area of ​​North America experiences very low temperatures with very cold northerly winds.

Although the event itself will not directly affect the weather in the United Kingdom, it does affect the medium-term forecast for the United Kingdom.

David Oliver explained: “As is often the case, conditions across the Atlantic play a significant role in determining our weather in the UK. We will not see any direct impacts from the event currently occurring across North America. Instead, it is the temperature variance that is developing across the North Atlantic as a result will help to strengthen the jet stream, which plays a huge role in the weather we get in the UK.

The jet stream will help develop low pressure systems that are likely to affect the UK between Christmas and New Years. These will bring some rainy weather, the occasional wind and a chance of some snow in the north of the UK, as is often the case at this time of year.”

Stephen Pasterfield, national network director at National Highways, said: “Even light or moderate rain can have an impact on visibility and vehicle performance, so it’s important to adjust your driving behavior and use extra caution.

“So it is always important to plan ahead for your trip. This tip is especially important during the winter when weather conditions are traditionally more unfavorable.

“We have a section of our website dedicated to traveling in the rain, as part of our guide to traveling in severe weather. It’s also a good idea for people to check their cars, such as tires, coolant and oil levels, before heading out to reduce the risk of breakdowns.”

Stay up to date with the latest forecasts on our website, by following us on Twitter and Facebook, as well as on our mobile app which is available for iPhone from the App store and Android from the Google Play store. Keep track of current weather warnings on the Weather Warning page.

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