The Met Office has said temperatures are set to drop significantly on Christmas Day, with parts of England in with a chance of an official white Christmas.
The forecaster has predicted a colder Christmas than the UK has seen in recent years, with average temperatures expected to climb no higher than 7C. With a chance of 'winter flurries' forecast in some areas, the weather agency said the UK could see its first white Christmas in two years.
For the Met Office to declare a white Christmas, a single snowflake has to be observed falling on the 24 hours of 25 December, by either an official Met Office observer or by a Met Office automated weather station.
With wintry conditions on the horizon, Met Office meteorologist Marco Petagna has revealed which UK areas have the highest chance of seeing snowfall.
He said: "On Christmas Day, we need to keep an eye on the far south of the UK, particularly the south coast of England. There's just a chance we could see one or two wintry flurries developing.
"There's only a 10 per cent chance of anything significant developing there, but all we need, of course, is for a flake of snow to fall anywhere across the UK for it to technically be termed a 'white Christmas', so something to keep an eye on across the far south of England."
The UK's last white Christmas was declared in 2023 when 11 of weather stations recorded snow falling, but not settling. The last 'very cold' Christmas, according to Mr Petagna, was in 2010, when the last widespread white Christmas was declared as 83 per cent of weather stations recorded snow on the ground.
This year, however, the Met Office predicts that any snow is unlikely to settle. Mr Petagna said: "In terms of the showers that we're looking at, there's a chance of a bit of sleet or wet snow falling, rather than any significant accumulations.
"For most, [there will be] a lot of dry, chilly weather around, with the best of the brightness towards the west and the north west."
Beyond Christmas, the Met Office long range forecast, which runs from Boxing Day to January 4, states: "Continued mostly settled conditions expected, as high pressure builds to the north of the UK. This will bring a strengthening easterly then northeasterly wind over the period, with wind-chill making it feel colder.
"Whilst there will be a fair amount of dry weather, a few showers will still be possible, particularly across eastern and southern parts which may be wintry in places, more especially over high ground.
"High pressure will likely dominate the weather in the run up to the New Year, slowly drifting to the west. This will maintain largely settled conditions, although with an increasing chance of showery conditions later in the period.
"Temperatures will be below average much of the time, with frost likely where clear skies and light winds prevail."
Wintry conditions could then make a return in January, with the Met Office forecasting cold air close to the UK, bringing the chance of 'wintry hazards' in places towards the middle of the month.