Top ten: Coldest Christmas days

Merry Christmas from the Met Office.

The coldest Christmas day on record was in 2010 (and it was also the snowiest) with a minimum temperature of – 18.2 °C recorded at Altnaharra. The chart below shows the top ten minimum temperatures recorded on Christmas day (excluding high level sites).

	Location	Minimum temperature	Date
1	Altnaharra	- 18.2 °C	25/12/2010
2	West Linton	- 15.6 °C	25/12/1981
3	Altnaharra	- 15.5 °C	25/12/2009
4	Altnaharra	- 12.8 °C	25/12/1996
5	Lagganlia	- 9.5 °C	25/12/1973
6	Dalwhinnie	- 9.4 °C	25/12/1995
7	Aboyne	- 9.4 °C	25/12/2006
8	Kindrogan	- 8.8 °C	25/12/1972
9	Glenlivet	- 8.5 °C	25/12/2000
10	Lower Kingcombe	- 8 °C	25/12/1994
10	Tulloch Bridge	- 8 °C	25/12/2005
10	Aboyne	- 8 °C	25/12/2007

Read more top tens.

Top ten: Snowiest Christmas days

Snow at Christmas is recorded in two ways – the number of stations that reported snow falling, and the number of stations that recorded snow on the ground at 9 am. The two charts show the snowiest Christmases for both measures since 1959.

The snowiest Christmas in terms of snow on the ground was in 2010, when 83% of stations recorded snow.

	Year	Percentage of stations reporting snow lying
1	2010	83%
2	2009	57%
3	1981	52%
4	1995	40%
5	2004	34%
6	1999	30%
7	1964	22%
8	1993	21%
9	1970	20%
10	1968	14%

The year when the highest number of stations reported snow falling was 2004, when 61% of stations reported snowfall.

	Year	Percentage of stations reporting snowfall
1	2004	61%
2	1970	57%
3	1993	51%
4	1995	49%
5	1964	47%
6	1968	43%
7	1999	42%
8	2001	40%
9	2000	35%
10	1966	31%

Visit our website to see the full history of snow at Christmas or find out how much snow we get in the UK each year.

Related articles

• Will it snow this Christmas? (metofficenews.wordpress.com)

Will it snow this Christmas?

With just over a week to go to Christmas Day we are being asked whether the cold weather will return to give us a white Christmas.

Unfortunately it’s still a little too early to say exactly what the weather will bring to the UK on the big day, but it does look as though the early predictions quoted in the press of snow falling in many places on Christmas Day and more recent white Christmas is “a dead cert” could end up being somewhat wide of the mark.

The current Met Office UK Outlook for Sunday 23 Dec 2012 to Tuesday 1 Jan 2013 suggests that the unsettled conditions we have at the moment are expected to continue until the New Year:

“The rather changeable weather is likely to persist into the beginning of January with low pressure expected to be dominant near the British Isles. The north of the UK is most likely to see colder than average conditions, with relatively typical amounts of rainfall. During the same period, temperatures over the south are likely to be closer to average whilst rainfall amounts may be a little above average. Uncertainty then increases significantly into the final week of the period, with no clear weather type favoured, perhaps indicating less unsettled conditions.”

Of course we will continue to update the forecast as Christmas approaches, with the first forecast for the day itself published on our website later this week.

So if you are in search of a white Christmas signs are that many of us may be a little disappointed again this year, but you can find out more about white Christmases in the UK in the following video:

The forecast for the run up to Christmas

The very cold weather will continue for the rest of the week, but the risk of snow decreases for most of the UK.

Met Office forecasters said: “There will be further outbreaks of snow over parts of Wales and some central regions of England tonight and into Wednesday.”

Met Office forecasters continued:  “On the run up to Christmas and on the big day itself we will have a respite from the snow. However, there will some severe frosts  and freezing fog patches at night. So, while there will still be snow lying on Christmas Day, the day itself is expected to be dry and fine in most parts of the UK”.

Below is a media forecast for use in print publications. All temperatures are in degrees Celsius and represent those likely to be seen in urban areas. Rural areas are likely to be significantly colder at night. For the latest weather forecasts and warnings you should refer to the Met Office website where regional and location based forecasts are available for the next 5 days.

	Southern England	Northern England	Scotland
Wednesday	Bright spells, some snow. Max:  2 Min:  minus 2	Bright spells, snow showers in east. Max: Zero Min: minus 7	Bright spells, a few snow showers mainly in east. Feeling very cold Max: minus 2 Min: minus 9
Thursday	Bright. Further snow showers in east. Windy and feeling very cold. Max:  2 Min:  minus 5	Bright spells, some snow showers. Feeling very cold. Max: 1 Min: minus  7	Sunny spells, snow showers in east. Feeling very cold. Max: Zero Min: minus 7
Christmas Eve	Bright. Very cold. Possible snow showers Max: Zero Min:  minus 5	Bright and very cold. Possible snow showers Max: Zero Min:  minus 10	Bright and very cold. A few coastal showers. Max: Zero Min:  minus 8
Christmas Day	Dry and bright. Sunny spells. Very cold Max:  minus 2 Min:  minus 8	Bright, risk of sleet or snow showers in east. Very cold Max: minus 3 Min:  minus 10	Dry, bright and very cold. Max:  minus 1 Min:  minus 8
Boxing Day	Bright, risk of further sleet or snow in west. Max: 1 Min:  minus 5	Bright, risk of further sleet or snow in west. Max:  minus 1 Min:  minus 10	Dry, bright and very cold. Max:  Zero Min:  minus 6
Source: Met Office