The Met Office says the UK has a strong chance of seeing a white Christmas this year – but will people in Blackburn and other parts of East Lancashire see any of the white stuff?

The Lancashire Telegraph asked the Met Office about the chance of snow falling on Christmas Day and a spokesperson said snow is likely to fall across parts of the UK.

There are weather warnings in place, across Scotland, for snow, ice and wind, from now until 3am on Christmas Day.

A Met Office spokesperson said parts of Scotland could see snow over high ground – but said it is likely to be wet elsewhere in the UK.

A spokesperson said: “There are two active snow and ice warnings in Northern Scotland and Shetland.

“For Christmas Day, we’re looking likely to see some snow over high ground in northern Scotland, which would make it an official White Christmas, though it’s expected to be rather wet elsewhere.”

In East Lancashire, Christmas weekend is set to be cloudy and rainy with highs of 12°C and lows of 8°C expected.

It is also set to be windy, with wind speeds set to reach 40mph.

The definition that the Met Office uses to define a white Christmas is for one snowflake to be observed falling in the 24 hours of December 25, somewhere in the UK.

Technically, 2022 was the last white Christmas in the UK with nine per cent of stations recording snow falling, although none reported any snow lying on the ground.

Before that 2021 and 2020 were also white Christmases, with six per cent of weather stations recording snow falling in both years, but less than one per cent of stations reported any snow lying on the ground in 2021 and only four per cent in 2020.

There was no record of snow falling at any station in the UK in 2018, or in 2019.

The last widespread white Christmas in the UK was in 2010. It was extremely unusual, as not only was there snow on the ground at 83 per cent of stations (the highest amount ever recorded) but snow or sleet also fell at 19 per cent of stations.

There was also a white Christmas in 2009, when 13 per cent of stations recorded snow or sleet falling, and 57 per cent reported snow lying on the ground.

Christmas weekend forecast in Blackburn

  • December 23: Overcast changing to light rain by lunch. Highs of 10°C and lows of 9°C. Wind speeds of 38mph.
  • Christmas Eve: Heavy rain changing to cloudy by night. Highs of 12°C and lows of 8°C. Wind speeds of 40mph.
  • Christmas Day: Light showers changing to cloudy by late morning. Highs of 9°C and lows of 5°C. Wind speeds of 32mph.