For the last few weeks, like most forecasting websites, we have been reporting that a white Christmas is unlikely, and that it is much more likely to be wet and windy on Christmas day. Well it now seems that in the wake of a low pressure system on the 23rd of December and Christmas eve is some very cold air and possible showers. These showers could possibly turn to snow and give us a White Christmas after all.
Snow on Hadrian's wall, after the recent low pressure system brought cold air and showers to the North on Wednesday and Thursday.
We have seen exactly this happen in the last couple of days. On Wednesday and Thursday as a low pressure system that passed the North West of the UK causing gale force winds moved away, cold air followed and brought a dusting of snow to parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Cumbria.
Just one flake of snow has to be registered between midnight on Christmas Eve and Midnight Christmas day for it to be declared a White Christmas. If we get a repeat of Wednesday (18th) and Thursday (19th) we could see a lot more than just one flake, we could see a few Millimetres, or even more, especially on high ground.
This all sounds lovely, if you like snow, but the low pressure system that comes before the possible snow is likely to bring some quite severe disruption to large parts of the country. Currently there is a Yellow weather warning of severe gale force winds on the 23rd of December and Christmas eve in Scotland, Northern Ireland, North west coastal areas , Wales coastal areas, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, Surrey and London, and currently it looks as though this storm could be significant and bring severe disruptions to Christmas travel plans, and even cause damage to tress and property. Local flooding is also possible as heavy rain falls on already saturated ground.
We'll be keeping a close eye on the possible storm just before Christmas day, and the possibility of a White Christmas. For regular updates visit our Facebook page, click the 'Like' button and then click the 'Follow' button. Updates will then appear in your Facebook news feed.