White Christmas declared for parts of the UK as snow falls

It follows the Met Office provisionally recording the highest daily minimum temperature for Christmas Day on record

Forecasters have officially declared a white Christmas with snow falling across parts of the UK after the record for the highest daily minimum temperature for Christmas Day was broken further south.

Snow, sleet and rain moved across parts of Scotland, with Tulloch Bridge and Aviemore recording flakes falling, the Met Office announced on X, formerly Twitter.

The forecasting body said this made Monday an “official white Christmas” – defined by them as a single snowflake falling on 25 December.

It follows the Met Office provisionally recording the highest daily minimum temperature for Christmas Day on record.

Temperatures at Exeter airport and in East Malling, Kent, stayed above 12.4C, beating the previous record of 11.5C measured at Waddon in Croydon in 1983.

In terms of maximum temperatures, the mercury has so far hit 13.2C at Exeter airport and in Merryfield in Somerset, which makes Monday the warmest 25 December since 2018, when meteorologists recorded a high of 13.3C.

Forecasters had thought this year could be the warmest Christmas Day since 2016, with predicted highs of 14C, and maximum temperatures could still change.

The Met Office announced the minimum temperature record on X on Monday morning, posting: “It has been a very mild 24 hours across parts of the UK.

“Provisionally this Christmas we have recorded the highest daily minimum temperature for Christmas Day on record, with both Exeter Airport and East Malling not falling below 12.4C.”

The new record further shattered dreams of a white Christmas for most of the UK, with milder temperatures continuing after the country saw its warmest Christmas Eve for more than 20 years.

However, parts of Scotland saw some snow as expected.

Predicted maximum temperatures of 14C in London and the southeast of England would make it the mildest Christmas Day since 2016, when temperatures reached 15.1C. The average maximum temperature for December is 7C.

Forecaster Dan Stroud said: “We’re drawing our weather from the mid-Atlantic, which is typically a very warm direction for us.”

Monday was forecast to be “damp and miserable” for much of England and Wales, while northern areas, Scotland and Northern Ireland were expected to have a mix of sunny spells and showers.

It comes after temperatures in Heathrow, in southwest London, and Cippenham, in Berkshire, hit 15.3C on Sunday, making it the warmest Christmas Eve since 1997.

Wind speeds of up to 70mph were recorded in Scotland, reaching 60mph in the northeast of England.

The warmest 25 December on record was in 1925, at 15.6C, while the highest Christmas Eve temperatures of 15.5C were set in Aberdeen and Banff in Scotland in 1931.