Long range snow forecast: Met Office issues hope for White Christmas with 'unsettled' conditions incoming
There was widespread snow, including in Winnats Pass, Castleton, Derbyshire
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The Met Office has said the UK is facing a fresh wave of snow and ice ahead of the festive period.
It comes after much of the country was hit by snow showers last week, with particularly heavy downfall in Scotland and the north west of England.
Temperatures are expected to hit as high as 13C this weekend, before a colder spell next week.
Now, the Met Office has warned of a possibility of more snow and ice over the Christmas and New Year period.
Snow at Seaton Sluice in Northumberland
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The Met Office's latest long-range forecast, which runs from December 20 to January 3, says the weather is likely to be more "unsettled" in this period.
A spokesperson from the Met Office said: "The wettest and windiest conditions are most likely in the west and northwest.
"The chance of a colder spell of weather, with hazard such as snow and ice, does increase later in December and into the New Year period.
"However, conditions are more likely to remain generally mild and wet."
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There could be more snow over the festive period
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It comes as a major incident was declared in Cumbria last week as temperatures plummeted to as low as -12.5C in northern Scotland.
Cumbria saw up to 30cm of snow falling in places over the weekend.
The last White Christmas was officially recorded in 2022, though no snow was actually recorded on the ground.
in 2022, nine percent of Met Office weather stations recorded snow falling.
According to the Met Office's definition, it is a White Christmas if one snowflake falls in the 24 hours of 25 December somewhere in the UK.
There was no snow recorded in 2018 or 2019, according to the Met Office.
The last widespread White Christmas came in 2010, when there was snow at 83 percent of stations in the UK.
This was the highest ever amount recorded.