It won't be a white Christmas anywhere in the UK, forecasters have said.

Not even the peaks of Scottish mountains will see snowfall on Sunday, in a stark contrast to last year's festive period which saw record amounts of snow and sleet.

Chris Burton, a forecaster at MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "We're expecting no snow at all. The only chance of snow is tonight and tomorrow morning in the mountains of Scotland but as it warms up and rain increases, that snow will disappear."

Large parts of England will instead have a dry Christmas with mild temperatures but it will be a soggy one for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Mr Burton said it would become increasingly cloudy and rainy on Saturday in Scotland and Northern Ireland with the wettest weather expected in western Scotland.

Rain will persist in Northern Ireland and Scotland on Christmas Day. Central and eastern regions of England will have a largely dry and mild Christmas.

"There may be some drizzle in the morning for London but it should be largely dry," Mr Burton said.

He said mild temperatures between 7C (44.6F) and 10C (50F) are expected across the UK on Christmas Eve with warmer temperatures ranging from 10C (50F) to 14C (57.2) on Christmas Day. Temperatures of 11C (51.8F) or 12C (53.6F) are expected in London.

"Some parts will reach as high as 14C (57.2) in the north-eastern parts of Scotland such as Aberdeen and Edinburgh," Mr Burton said.
This falls short of the 1896 Christmas Day record of 15.6C (60F) but is a huge contrast to Christmas Day last year, when temperatures plummeted to below minus 17C (1.4F).