Weather and climate change

Headline:

Largely dry and cold through Christmas week.

This Evening and Tonight:

Outbreaks of rain across Scotland fading, otherwise mostly dry. Cloudy for many with a few breaks developing to the west of any hills. Breezy away from the north.

Wednesday:

Mostly dry with variable amounts of cloud. Some sunny spells, these typically in the south and west. Windy across much of England and Wales. Feeling colder than Tuesday.

Outlook for Thursday to Saturday:

Cloud breaking through the Christmas period with more sunny spells emerging. Largely dry, but also feeling cold with a notable wind chill across England and Wales. Frosty by night.

Updated: 16:00 (UTC) on Tue 23 Dec 2025

High pressure is likely to dominate across the UK at the start of this period and through to the end of the year. This means that weather conditions will be largely settled and for many places it will remain dry. It may often be rather cloudy, but any rainfall that does develop is expected to be light with overall accumulations small. Winds will mostly be light with temperatures close to or slightly below normal. Into 2026, little change is anticipated through the first week of January, with settled and mainly dry conditions continuing for many parts of the UK. However, there is a small chance that more unsettled, wetter and milder weather could develop at times, particularly in the north.

Updated: 14:00 (UTC) on Tue 23 Dec 2025

High pressure will probably lie close to the UK through much of this period and bring a large amount of dry and settled weather, especially in the south, with rainfall most likely in the north. Temperatures are expected to be close to or slightly below normal. Toward the end of this period there is potential for more changeable or unsettled conditions to develop more widely.

Updated: 15:00 (UTC) on Tue 23 Dec 2025