The Cairngorm mountain showing little snow cover earlier this week (Picture: Ken Jack/Getty Images)
It’s officially a White Christmas…if you live in the Scottish Highlands.
Residents in Aviemore – a town of 3,000 people in the Cairngorms – have enjoyed a dusting of the white stuff.
The snow mingled with sleet as it fell across the day.
Nevertheless, it was enough to result in the Met Office declaring an official ‘White Christmas’ for the UK.
Snow, sleet and rain moved across parts of Scotland, with Tulloch Bridge and Aviemore recording flakes falling, the Met Office announced on X, formerly Twitter.
The forecasting body said it made Monday an ‘official white Christmas’ – defined by them as a single snowflake falling on December 25.
It may seem a surprise to the rest of the country, which has experienced balmy temperatures.
It was nearly the hottest Christmas on record as climate change continues to alter the forecast.
Temperatures at Exeter Airport and East Malling, Kent, have not fallen below 12.4C, beating the previous record of 11.5C measured at Waddon in Croydon in 1983.
Hundreds took part in a ‘no wetsuit’ Christmas day swim at Bude today (Picture: Alamy Live News.)
In terms of maximum temperatures, the mercury has so far hit 13.2C at Exeter Airport and Merryfield in Somerset, which makes Monday the warmest December 25 since 2018, when meteorologists recorded 13.3C.
Forecasters had thought this year could be the warmest Christmas Day since 2016, with predicted highs of 14C, and maximum temperatures could still change.
The Met Office announced the minimum temperature record on X on Monday morning, posting: ‘It has been a very mild 24 hours across parts of the UK.
‘Provisionally this Christmas we have recorded the highest daily minimum temperature for Christmas Day on record, with both Exeter Airport and East Malling not falling below 12.4C.’
Forecaster Dan Stroud said: ‘We’re drawing our weather from the mid-Atlantic, which is typically a very warm direction for us.’
Monday was forecast to be ‘damp and miserable’ for much of England and Wales, while northern areas, Scotland and Northern Ireland were expected to have a mix of sunny spells and showers.
It comes after temperatures in Heathrow, south-west London and Cippenham, Berkshire, hit 15.3C on Sunday, making it the warmest Christmas Eve since 1997.
Wind speeds of up to 70mph were recorded in Scotland, reaching 60mph in the north-east of England.
The warmest December 25 on record was 15.6C in 1920, while the highest Christmas Eve temperatures of 15.5C were set in Aberdeen and Banff in Scotland in 1931.
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Residents in Aviemore – a town of 3,000 people in the Cairngorms – have enjoyed a dusting of the white stuff.
