The Met Office has forecast a “mild Christmas” with “notably high temperatures” over the festive period. The weather service said conditions “should not play a factor” in any disruption to roads over the next few days as people travel home for Christmas.
Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon said it would be a “mild Christmas” for many with “notably high temperatures” over the festive period, adding that this “doesn’t necessarily bring sunny skies unfortunately”. Mr Claydon told the PA news agency: “The key notable factor of the weather through this week really is the mild conditions and higher temperatures.
“The risk of ice and any snow that we had over the weekend has diminished, and no notable heavy rain should bring any impacts to the transport network.”. He added that Christmas Eve on Tuesday was expected to be the mildest day with 14C and “potentially even up to 15C in some places”.
Mr Claydon said a mild Christmas Eve could be “quite widespread” from Torbay in Devon to the north east of Scotland, adding that temperatures in Scotland and Northern Ireland were “markedly above average for the time of year”. The Met Office spokesman said Christmas Day on Wednesday would be a “little bit less mild” with “highs of 13C and maybe 14C”.
He added that temperatures would “tail off slowly” towards the end of the week. The prediction comes after high winds caused disruption over the weekend during the Christmas getaway period. Belfast City Airport was forced to enact emergency procedures on Sunday after a plane’s nose wheel collapsed as it landed.
