Official white Christmas but more snow to come

The Met Office has said Scotland officially recorded a achromatic Christmas.

The forecaster confirmed sleet oregon snowfall fell astatine 5 of its upwind stations crossed the UK connected 25 December.

Edinburgh was 1 of 3 locations wherever astatine slightest 1 flake of snowfall fell successful Scotland and different 2 recorded snowfall successful Northern Ireland. However, astir areas were excessively mild to spot snow.

More snowfall fell connected Boxing Day arsenic the Christmas Day warnings that began astatine 21:00 continued until 18:00 and caller yellowish warnings were issued from 18:00 to 15:00 connected Tuesday.

Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said: "Officially it was a achromatic Christmas but, of course, a batch of radical deliberation of those cleanable deep-snow Christmas paper scenes and really we didn't truly spot immoderate snowfall settee astatine little levels yesterday.

"What we specify a achromatic Christmas arsenic is conscionable a fewer snowflakes falling, adjacent if it's mixed with rain, truthful it's a method achromatic Christmas but, for astir places, peculiarly successful England and Wales, it was excessively mild."

In Scotland, the forecaster recorded snowfall astatine Edinburgh's Gogarbank upwind station, Loch Glascarnoch successful Ross and Cromarty, and Altnaharra successful Sutherland.

Across the Irish Sea, snowfall fell successful Glennane, County Armagh, and astatine Lough Fea successful Londonderry.

"Most of the time was excessively mild for snowfall and the showers were falling for rain, but successful the evening it got colder and we started to spot those showers crook to sleet and past to snow," said the meteorologist.

But for astir places, the snowfall came excessively precocious to state a achromatic Christmas.

"We've got snowfall connected the crushed rather wide crossed Scotland this morning, adjacent astatine little levels," Mr Morgan added.

"If the colder aerial had been a small spot earlier to get past it would person been a achromatic Christmas, but it's surely a achromatic Boxing Day for immoderate of us."

Last Christmas 6% of Met Office stations recorded snowfall fall, but conscionable 1% had snowfall lying connected the ground. In 2017 immoderate 11% of sites recorded snowfall falling.

However, forecasters person to spell backmost to 2010 to find a 25 December wherever radical would retrieve waking up to snowfall connected the ground.

On Christmas Day, the Met Office recorded a precocious of 12.7C successful Chertsey, Surrey, portion Loch Glascarnoch recorded the lowest somesthesia of 2.7C.