Christmas could be the warmest on record

Festive surfers made the most of the warm weather on the Isle of Wight this week. Photo: PA

Weather forecasters are predicting one of the warmest Christmases since 1896 - and have ruled out any chance of snow.

Temperatures are expected to be around 14C, which will be the warmest since 1997, when temperatures reached 14.8C.

The record for December 25 was 15.6 degrees at Leith near Edinburgh in 1896, but forecasters do not think that high will be trumped.

This year's warm weather is in stark contrast to December 2010, which was the coldest Christmas for nearly a century.

Following a blast of snow and Arctic-like storms at the beginning of the month, some Brits had got their hopes up for a white Christmas.

But Chris Burton, a forecaster at MeteoGroup, said there would be no snow on December 25.

He said: 'We're expecting no snow at all. The only chance of snow is tonight and tomorrow morning in the mountains of Scotland but as it warms up and rain increases, that snow will disappear.'

England will instead see a dry Christmas with mild temperatures but, Scotland and Northern Ireland will experience downfalls.

According to the Daily Mail, he said mild temperatures between 7C and 10C are expected across the UK on Christmas Eve with warmer temperatures ranging from 10C to 14C on Christmas Day.

While temperatures of 11C or 12C are expected in London, Aberdeen and Edinburgh will, surprisingly, be the warmest with temps reaching up to 14C.

Meanwhile, airports are expecting their busiest time of the year as more people than ever are jetting off on Christmas breaks.

A huge 4.25 million people will be heading overseas this year compared with just under four million last year.

And, according to the Metro, 18 million cars are expected to hit the road over the holidays, with Christmas Eve likely to be the busiest day.


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