UK set for a warm Christmas with temperatures well over average

23 December 2024, 08:49 | Updated: 23 December 2024, 10:45

The UK will bask in unseasonably warm temperatures this Christmas.

The Met Office has forecast a "grey" Christmas rather than a white one, with sunny spells and "extremely mild" temperatures.

The mercury is expected to hover at around 12-13C across much of the UK over Tuesday and into Christmas Day, roughly 5C warmer than usual for this time of year.

Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said there will be outbreaks of sunshine to go with the balmy winter conditions.

"We're expecting to see some sunny spells further east and a lot of cloud from the west," he said.

"Temperatures should rise considerably and it will be extremely mild over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

"In England and Wales, temperatures will be well above average with some grey in the mix."

It comes after a "perfect storm" of adverse weather and road congestion caused widespread disruption, with yellow warnings for wind in place until Sunday night.

The warnings covered Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and many parts of England.

Heathrow Airport cancelled around 100 flights on Sunday and passengers were advised to check with their airline before travelling.

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Belfast City Airport was forced to enact emergency procedures on Sunday after a plane's nose wheel collapsed during a hard landing in bad weather.

No passengers were on board, but the incident forced the runway to close for the rest of the day, with disruption continuing on Monday morning.

Meanwhile, a yellow warning for ice for northern parts of Scotland was in place from Sunday night until 10am on Monday.

(c) Sky News 2024: UK set for a warm Christmas with temperatures well over average