Christmas weather outlook unsettled as normal winter temperatures return

Updated

The weather could be unsettled for many over Christmas with temperatures set to return to "normal" winter levels by the end of the week, the Met Office said.

There could also be heavy rainfall in some northern areas, after the Met Office issued a severe weather warning for rain in Cumbria, Lancashire, West Yorkshire and parts of Wales.

The yellow warning, which is in place until 6pm on Tuesday, indicates that between 25-50ml of rain will fall across most of those areas, with up to 80ml expected on higher ground.

Grahame Madge, spokesman for the Met Office, said some of this weather could continue into the Christmas weekend.

He said: "From Wednesday to Saturday, the forecast remains unsettled and there will be showers for many and some bands of persistent rain coming through."

He added that some of the rain will come with severe gales in the north west during Wednesday and Thursday.

Commenting on the lower temperatures, he said: "Temperatures will drop towards the end of the week to around three to four degrees, which is more normal for this time of the year. We are only really likely to see double-figure temperatures on Christmas Day in the south coast."

Following an unseasonably warm winter so far, many have given up hope of a white Christmas this year.

However, Mr Madge said: "Snow is possible in areas of northern Britain, so we cannot rule it out on some higher grounds and in the highlands of Scotland."

But high winds could still continue to pose some weather problems, after the week started with wind speeds of up to 30mph in the south. This is set to reach highs of up to 36 in Kent and around 18 in the north of England on Monday to Tuesday.

Mr Madge said: "It will remain quite windy throughout the week. It will die off a little bit on Wednesday, but it will stay in the 30s in Stornoway and the Western Isles."

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