Warnings for cold and windy weather have been issued for parts of the UK but a white Christmas was “highly unlikely”, according to the Met Office.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued a yellow cold health alert from 6pm on Thursday to noon on 27 December for south-west England. The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for wind affecting a similar area and much of Wales, which lasts until 11.59pm on Christmas Day.
According to the UKHSA, low temperatures are likely to have minor impacts on health and social care services, including “increased use of healthcare services by vulnerable people” and a “greater risk to life of vulnerable people”.
East to north-easterly winds will become particularly strong during Christmas Day, with gusts expected to peak fairly widely at 45-55mph, but with 55-65mph possible along some exposed coasts and to the west of prominent hills, the Met Office said.
It added that this could lead to “some disruption to transport and power supplies” and that “large waves will be an additional hazard on some coasts”.
The Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon said Thursday would see “pretty decent” conditions with mainly dry weather.
“The other notable factor will be the wind, so with the positioning of the high pressure there is a quite strong easterly wind, particularly across the south coast of England, so it could be quite gusty there,” he said.
“High pressure is now firmly in control of the weather across the UK, bringing a much more settled spell, and also cooler temperatures than we’ve had of late.”
Claydon said it was “highly unlikely” that the UK would see a white Christmas this year, adding “we’ve got a very dry picture across the UK over the next few days”.
No snow had been confirmed by the Met Office by 8am on Thursday. It would need to be observed at one of the agency’s stations to be confirmed, the meteorologist Zoe Hutin said.
Jersey, which is not part of the UK, has seen some snowflakes, which makes it the third official white Christmas on the island since records began, the Jersey Met Section said. The snow was seen at Jersey Airport at about 4.45am, Hutin said.
Temperatures on Christmas Day were forecast to be about 7C (45F) in north-east England and 6C (43F) in south or south-east England.
Frost and freezing temperatures are likely in western rural areas overnight on Christmas Day into Boxing Day, with -6C (21F) possible in rural parts of Scotland and -4C (25F) in rural Wales, Claydon said.
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