UK weather: Siberian wind set to lash Britain as tables turn on nation's hopes for a White Christmas

Met Office meteorologist Annie Shuttleworth said: “We are not expecting any widespread snow on Christmas Day, but what we are expecting is potentially a few wintry, snowy showers. We could see some snow showers over 200 metres across parts of the UK, most likely across eastern areas. The Met Office’s definition of a White Christmas is to see one flake of snow falling on the 24 hours of Christmas Day, and by that definition, on a technicality, it is possible that we are going to see a White Christmas. But a widespread blanket is very unlikely; better luck next year.”

The change from wet and windy to cold and wintry is being driven by a vigorous high-pressure anticyclone sliding over Britain. Its position over the coming days will determine if and where any snow falls, and how cold it turns, Ms Shuttleworth explained.

She said: “The most likely pattern for Christmas Day is for high pressure to the northeast of the UK, and that would bring an easterly wind to many southern areas on particular. These are coming from a colder direction, but we are not going to see widespread cold air, and this will bring a lot of cloud with it. We will also see some showers moving in from eastern areas, and overnight fog and frost, and with the easterly winds, the best of the sunshine will be across western parts.”

If the high moved further west, northern areas will turn wetter for Christmas Day, Ms Shuttleworth added. She said: “The second most likely scenario is for the high pressure to be slightly more centred on the UK, and it is still likely to be colder than at the moment, but there would be lighter winds. Across northern areas, we could see some fronts moving in from the Atlantic, and there could be some rain over northern areas. We could potentially see temperatures below zero, and we could see some overnight frosts.”

Meteorologists will be closely watching snow charts over the next three days as Christmas Day forecasts become more certain. While a ‘tick-box’ White Christmas is likely, Christmas sledging is likely out for another year.

Jim Dale, meteorologist for British Weather Services and co-author of ‘Surviving Extreme Weather’, said: “I think there is now around a 20- to 25-per cent chance of a literal White Christmas, but this is probably only going to be if we get something coming into the south coast and hitting the cold air that is going to now move over Britain. It is, however, going to turn colder over the next couple of days, so in that respect, we are going to get a more traditional Christmas compared to the milder ones of the past couple of years.”

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