The Met Office has indicated that while a full white Christmas is unlikely, some parts of the UK, particularly the south coast, may see an 'odd wintry flurry' on Christmas Day. High pressure building over the country will bring drier and more settled weather for many, but a strong easterly breeze will make it feel colder, with daytime highs around 7C and overnight lows of -3C or -4C.
Marco Petagna, a Met Office forecaster, said the greatest chance of snowflakes is along the south coast of England, from South Devon to Cornwall. 'Of course, for a white Christmas, technically now all we need is one flake of snow to fall anywhere in the UK,' he noted, adding that it is more unusual for snow to settle.
According to the Royal Meteorological Society, snow has fallen on Christmas Day at least once in the UK in 54 of the past 66 years, and every year since 2020 has technically been 'white'. However, significant lying snow has only occurred four times since 1960: in 1981, 1995, 2009 and 2010. The chance of noteworthy snowfall this year is only around 10%.
The rarity of festive snow cover is partly attributed to climate change, as Met Office data shows Decembers have become warmer in recent decades. However, most UK snow days occur between January and March, so snowball fights are not a thing of the past.
