White Christmas: A thing of the past? UK sees its warmest Christmas eve in more than a decade

For the United Kingdom, this year's Christmas has been the hottest in more than a decade. Authorities have declared Christmas Eve 2023, the warmest one since 1997, with temperatures in some areas hitting 15.3C on Sunday.

Warmest ever?

The unlikely Christmas temperatures, as per the UK Meteorological Office (Met Office), were recorded in Heathrow, west London and Chippenham in Slough.

According to the BBC, there had been speculation that this year the UK witnessed its warmest 24 December ever, however, that record belongs to 1931. Back then, Aberdeen in Banff in Scotland recorded temperatures as high as 15.5C.

Toasty Christmas

As per the report, this unseasonably mild weather could mean that this year, Christmas Day will be the hottest in years.

Talking to the UK's PA news agency, Met Office forecaster Dan Stroud said that "the temperatures will peak today."

"There is a slight downward trend in temperatures for Christmas Day, but we're still expecting them to be comfortably above average."

"We're looking at 13 and 14C tomorrow, we're probably looking at the warmest Christmas Day since 2016, when we hit 15.1C," he added.

The warmest Christmas on record was in 1920 when in Devon, the temperature reached 15.6C.

White Christmas: A thing of the past?

For a Christmas to officially be classified as a "white" Christmas, only one snowflake is needed.

As per the forecasters, a white Christmas is still likely in parts of Northern Scotland — especially on higher ground in areas like Caithness and Sutherland. Most parts of Scotland are expected to see rain showers and relatively warm highs of 8C or 9C.

(With inputs from agencies)