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Christmas Eve starts with rain in south western England but elsewhere it is dry and there has been a frost in parts of the north. Through the day it stays dry in most areas and the rain in the south west becomes increasingly patchy. Central and northern counties have sunny spells but the south will often be overcast.

Temperatures range from 4C (39F) in Scotland to 12C (54F) in the south west. See the rain radar for the latest view.

Meteo France Arpege, cloud cover, 15:00 GMT Mon 24th December

Tonight frost returns to the northeast. In other regions cloudier skies hold temperatures above freezing point and in the west drizzly conditions develop.

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Christmas 2018 countdown

Winter 2018/19 forecast [Issued 01/12/2018]

Buzz

Christmas Day will be dry in the east with variable amounts of cloud and there could be some patchy fog too. In the west thicker cloud brings the risk of some drizzle. Temperatures will be close to the average in the east but the west has a mild day. Needles to say, a White Christmas isn't on the way to the UK this year!

DWD ICON, temperatures, 15:00 GMT Tue 25th December

On Boxing Day patchy outbreaks of rain push across Scotland early on and they steadily fade away. The rest of the UK has a mainly dry and overcast day. It will be mild.

Settled into the New Year

High pressure remains centred close to the south of the UK in the run-up to the New Year. That means the southern half of the country has a good deal of dry weather. In the north there is a greater risk of rain, but even there it should often be dry. After a mild start temperatures probably dip back down towards the seasonal average.

GFS, pressure and 500hPa heights, 15:00 GMT Sun 30th December

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Settled conditions are shown for much of the period. During the first week of January an increasing risk of colder conditions is shown. View latest GEFS.