The UK is days away from entering a “battleground” which will determine whether parts of the country will get snow on Christmas Day. That’s according to a meteorologist who says a mild and wet period will freeze over next week, setting a new trend just before the big day.
Current bookie odds from William Hill suggest people living in Glasgow in Scotland will most likely wake up to a layering of snow – giving odds of 2/1. Scottish counterpart Edinburgh follows a close second with odds of 9/4.
In England chances slip a little more, with those living in the vicinity of Newcastle seeing 3/1 odds of a white Christmas, with Leeds hot on the heels at 7/2. Birmingham falls at 7/1, with Bristol and London at 8/1.
While the bookmakers are hedging their bets, Jim Dale, a senior meteorologist from British Weather Services says urban areas are not guaranteed a covering in time for December 25 – and that the current picture remains unclear.
Acknowledging a cold period creeping across northern England and Scotland from December 21, he told Express.co.uk: “It is turning colder from around December 21 but it is a battle between the mild and polar air.
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“Scotland and parts of the north are currently in the frame, however it remains a wait and see. It could well be an interesting one.”
The Met Office has refused to give a statement on any snow predictions, but its long-range forecast from December 17 to Boxing Day alludes to a “probable” and “short-lived” colder interlude next week.
It says in full: “For most locations more settled weather continues into Sunday with high pressure close to the southwest of the UK. Though northern and western Scotland likely remaining in a more wet and windy, but exceptionally mild regime.
“Settled conditions in the south with well above average temperatures here too, but cloudy at times with some patchy light rain, mainly near western coasts and over hills.
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“From next week high pressure will likely move further west into the central Atlantic, allowing a return to unsettled conditions and typically nearer average temperatures nationwide.
“It now looks probable that there will be at least one short-lived colder interlude next week, with a period of north or northwesterly winds that could bring some snow and ice, especially in the north.”
Weather maps show mammoth snow showers blitzing much of Britain overnight on Wednesday, December 20 – with up to 2cm falling over rural parts of the north east. Areas as far south as Manchester may also get a light dusting.
An easterly blast will continue parallel to the UK on December 21 with risk of snow showers becoming more widespread due to a sudden dip in temperatures. Central London will straddle 0C, while the Scottish Highlands will endure a bitter -4C mercury.
Maps show December 22 marking an even sharper downward turn for thermometers with parts of central Wales falling to -6C at midday, while southern coastal counties see up to -3C.
Another easterly blast looks set to make its was west across Britain during the afternoon, leaving rural Welsh high ground under a hazardous 16cm of snow. Unsurprisingly the Scottish Highlands will top this with up to 34cm.
The sub-zero picture will continue to rage on into the early hours of Christmas Eve, with a vertical pillar of freezing rain pushing across off the Atlantic.
Christmas Day appears to be the mildest of them all at the moment, with rainfall falling as snow over higher northern ground. It appears much of Britain will actually recover by this point, with the south east seeing highs of 2C, with central counties seeing up to 5C during the day.
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