UK set to have warmest December in 70 years

The UK could be set for the warmest December in almost 70 years as temperatures of 16C, around 10C above the average for this time of year, left Britons sweltering.

Daffodils in bloom in front of the ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, east London as the UK could be set for the warmest December in almost 70 years as temperatures of 16C left Britons sweltering. Image by Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

The weather has been so mild that daffodils have been begun flowering as far north as Chester and Northern Ireland. Temperatures in the London area are expected to reach 16C today – above the average for May in central England of 11.2C and far higher than the December average of 6C to 8C for the UK. A band of tropical air coming off the Atlantic from the South West is behind the unseasonable weather, and temperatures are edging towards the all-time December high of 18.3C, set on December 2 in 1948 in Highland, Scotland.

Helen Rossington, a forecaster for MeteoGroup, said: “Yesterday we got up to 14C or 15C across the South West, but today just about everywhere is in double figures. In south east England, East Anglia and the London area highs are going to be around 16C. The average is around 9C at this time of year for that part of England.” The hottest December 16 in the UK was recorded in 1972 at Aber in Gwynedd, north west Wales, when it reached 17C, and Ms Rossington suggested records for December 17 and 18, at 17.8C and 18C respectively, could be under threat.

London unlikely to see snow this Christmas. Image by Mike_fleming / CC BY-SA 2.0

The warm weather has brought about some bizarre sights in gardens and parks across the UK, including daffodils blooming, despite their usual season for flowering being between February and May. With such warm weather, a white Christmas seems a long way off at the moment – although forecasters warned it was too early for an accurate prediction. Ms Rossington said: “At this stage I would say it is fairly unlikely. There is a chance that maybe Scotland might get some colder air, and a slight chance in the North they might get some snow, but in the South it is more likely to be unsettled. “But it is very early days yet.”

Bookmakers have shortened the odds on Christmas being the warmest in history in the light of recent forecasts. Coral has slashed the odds from 5/1 to 2/1 on over the past 24 hours, and also believe the chance of a white Christmas is now a long shot. Spokesman John Hill said: “We have pushed the odds out to evens from 1/2 in light of the recent forecasts, however, we will be sweating on Christmas Day because if there is now snow in the UK, we will be forced to pay out our biggest liability to date on a white Christmas.”

(Press Association)