The Met Office has unveiled its forecast for the festive period, indicating that Britons should brace for a cold and windy Christmas Day, with sunshine for many but little hope of a widespread white Christmas.
Chilly Festive Conditions Set to Bite
Forecasters state that brisk easterly winds developing from Christmas Eve will make temperatures, which are already slightly below average, feel close to freezing for much of the country. Many will wake up to a frosty start on Christmas morning.
Met Office meteorologist Becky Mitchell explained the conditions: "It will turn colder from Christmas Eve, with a strong wind across much of England and Wales. Temperatures on the thermometer will be a little bit below average: around 6C or 7C as a max, generally. And then when you add on that wind chill, it will probably feel more like freezing from Christmas Eve onwards."
Weather maps show most areas will see daytime highs of just 4C or 5C during the Christmas period, with overnight temperatures forecast to plummet below freezing widely. Northern Scotland could see lows of minus 5C.
Snow Hopes Fade for Most
The prospect of a traditional white Christmas looks unlikely for the vast majority of the UK. However, the Met Office notes a small chance of a smattering of snow on Dartmoor as afternoon rain showers push into parts of Devon and Cornwall on Christmas Day.
For most, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will be dry and sunny, though cloudier weather is expected in eastern regions. The strong easterly winds may also generate big waves, posing a challenge for traditional Christmas Day and Boxing Day swimmers in the south.
Looking ahead to Boxing Day, clouds may build in some southern counties, but elsewhere it should remain largely dry with sunny spells, albeit feeling very cold due to the persistent wind chill.
A Colder Christmas in a Record-Warm Year
This year's festive weather is notably colder than recent Christmases in the UK. Despite the seasonal chill, 2025 remains on track to potentially become the country's hottest year on record.
The mean temperature for the year up to 21 December is tracking well ahead of the previous record set in 2022. It is currently predicted to settle at 10.05C, just above 2022's record-breaking 10.03C. If confirmed, this would mark only the second time in UK observational records that the annual mean temperature has exceeded 10.0C.
Summarising the overall festive outlook, Ms Mitchell said: "The weather's all very similar really, out towards New Year's Eve. The Christmas period is quite a nice forecast... It's a bit colder than average, not unusual for the time of year, but in terms of averages it would be a bit below."
