The UK's weather agency has provisionally recorded the highest-ever daily minimum temperature for Christmas Day.
It comes amid predictions that Monday will be Britain's warmest December 25th in almost a decade, with forecasters predicting highs of 14 degrees Celsius.
Christmas Day is also set to be mild in Ireland, with Met Éireann forecasting temperatures up to 11 degrees.
Forecast for #ChristmasDay🎄🤶
Breezy & mostly cloudy🍃☁️
Rain or drizzle in the south during the morning and afternoon with scattered showers elsewhere🌧️☔️
Highs of 7 to 11C pic.twitter.com/9Vauy7ozRH— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) December 24, 2023
The UK Met Office said: “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 has further shattered dreams of a White Christmas, with warmer temperatures continuing after the UK saw its warmest Christmas Eve for more than 20 years.
However, some areas in northern Scotland may still see some snow, technically making it a White Christmas, which is defined by the Met Office as a single snowflake falling on December 25th.
Predicted highs of 13 to 14 degrees in London and the southeast of England would make it the mildest Christmas Day since 2016 when temperatures reached 15.1 degrees.
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 12.4 °C pic.twitter.com/K3SvkSCLkZ— Met Office (@metoffice) December 25, 2023
Advertisement
The average maximum temperature for December is 7 degrees.
Forecaster Dan Stroud said: “We’re drawing our weather from the mid-Atlantic, which is typically a very warm direction for us.”
Monday was forecasted 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.
