Latest forecast: A green or white Christmas?

Following the severe cold and snow we just experienced, milder weather has now taken over, but will the cold return in time for Christmas?

Unfortunately, it's not beginning to look a lot like Christmas through this week. Temperatures are 8-10C higher than normal across parts of the UK and Ireland, and we've also just seen temperatures rise over 20 degrees in the space of this weekend alone.

The next few days will continue to see temperatures reaching into the double figures for some, mainly in the south, with spells of rain frequenting from the Atlantic.

On Friday, December 23rd, there is the chance of some forward edge snow across north-west England and Scotland as rain advances, meeting colder air attempting to dig in from the north.

However that seems pretty short-lived, and with most of the UK and Ireland just seeing rain over the coming days. As for Christmas Day itself, with low pressure overhead it looks fairly unsettled with showers or longer spells of rain, especially to start the day.

Colder air then tries to make a comeback Christmas Day, especially for Ireland and western fringes of the UK, so snow cannot be ruled out entirely for these places just yet! After all, a white Christmas is for just one snowflake to be falling somewhere in the UK.

As for Boxing Day it looks to turn more widely cold, perhaps with a few snow showers drifting into Northern Scotland and the north-west of Ireland. We'll keep updating the forecast through the week if anything changes, so stay tuned!