A white Boxing Day?

Don’t put away the sledge – the snow’s back again!

IF your dreams of a white Christmas were dashed yesterday, cheer up... today could see a fresh flurry of flakes. Up to four inches of snow could fall on English hills and Welsh mountains tonight and tomorrow.

However, other areas are likely to see heavy rain, which could cause flooding and disruption to families returning from festive getaways.

Mild air, which brought temperatures similar to those in the western Mediterranean last week, is being swept away with a return to biting cold.

Temperatures reached a maximum of 13C (55F) in South East England yesterday, the same as in Nice and Rome. This was warmer than Madrid, which only reached 9C (48F).

Rain hit the far North West of England and Scotland yesterday, with up to two inches in Cumbria – equivalent to a third of the normal amount for December.

Not everywhere missed out on a white Christmas however, with light snow seen in East Scotland and the North Pennines. Snow and rain is expected to cause trouble this evening – the Met Office has issued a weather warning in England and Wales from 6pm until 11am tomorrow.

This means that poor weather is unlikely to disrupt Boxing Day plans or sports matches during the day – but could cause chaos later on. The warning covers much of Wales as well as England from the Thames Valley to Leeds and Manchester. The Met Office said: ‘Some roads and railways are likely to be affected by longer journey times due to standing water or snow. There is also a smaller chance that individual homes and businesses could be flooded.’

The weather system will bring rain when it first hits, but this will ‘increasingly turn to snow’ as temperatures fall through the night, the Met Office added. Wales is likely to see the most snow, while East Anglia and Lincolnshire see little to none.

Temperatures are set to remain low, with widespread overnight frosts and wintry showers by day.

Met Office forecaster Marco Petagna said: ‘Mild weather on Christmas Day is not that unusual. We had temperatures of 15C (59F) last year, and the record is 15.6C (60F), recorded in Killerton, Devon, in 1920. But as we went through Christmas Day the colder air was moving in. On Boxing Day, the best weather is likely early on, with sunny spells and showers in the West, and temperatures in single figures, before the rain and snow arrives in the evening.

‘Daytime temperatures will feel chillier than Christmas Day, at 6 to 9C (43 to 48F) in the South, and 3 to 5C (37 to 41F) in the North.’