SCOTLAND has recorded a "technical" white Christmas, the Met Office has said, after weather stations across the country recorded snowfall on December 25.
The forecaster recorded either sleet or snow falling at five of its weather stations across the UK on December 25, with Edinburgh one of three in Scotland and another two in Northern Ireland.
Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said: “Officially it was a white Christmas but, of course, a lot of people think of those perfect deep-snow Christmas card scenes and actually we didn’t really see any snow settle at lower levels yesterday.
READ MORE: This Tory MP wants you to iron your Christmas wrapping paper
“What we define a white Christmas as is just a few snowflakes falling, even if it’s mixed with rain, so it’s a technical white Christmas but, for most places, particularly in England and Wales, it was too mild.”
In Scotland, the forecaster recorded snow at Edinburgh’s Gogarbank weather station, Loch Glascarnoch in Ross and Cromarty, and Altnaharra in Sutherland.
Loch Glascarnoch also recorded the lowest temperature of 2.7C.
Across the Irish Sea, snow fell in Glennane, County Armagh, and at Lough Fea in Londonderry.
“Most of the day was too mild for snow and the showers were falling for rain, but in the evening it got colder and we started to see those showers turn to sleet and then to snow,” said the meteorologist.
But for most places, the snow has come too late to declare a white Christmas.
“We’ve got snow on the ground across Cumbria, quite widely across Scotland this morning, even at lower levels,” Morgan added.
“If the colder air had been a little bit earlier to arrive then it would have been a white Christmas, but it’s certainly a white Boxing Day for some of us.”
Last Christmas 6% of Met Office stations recorded snow fall, but just 1% had snow lying on the ground. In 2017 some 11% of sites recorded snow falling.
However, forecasters have to go back to 2010 to find a December 25 where people would remember waking up to snow on the ground.
On Christmas Day, the Met Office recorded a high of 12.7C in Chertsey, Surrey.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel