Weather maps reveal UK braced for fresh wave of snow hitting days before Christmas

One snowflake falling in the 24 hours of December 25 somewhere in the UK is classed as a white Christmas

A blanket of snow could cover parts of the UK just days before Christmas. According to weather charts, some areas of the country could be in for a white Christmas.

Images from WXCharts show the probabilty for snow on the days leading up to Christmas Day. For parts of central Scotland, data suggests there will be a 35 per cent chance of snow falling on Thursday, December 17.

On Monday, December 18, the chance of snow increases to about 50 per cent the closer you get to the centre of Scotland. The rest of the UK could also see flurries, with about a 10 per cent to 15 per cent chance of snow falling that week.

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Parts of northern Scotland could have a 50 to 60 per cent chance of snow on Thursday, December 21. Areas in central Scotland and northern England, around Edinburgh and Newcastle, also look to have about a 20 to 30 per cent chance of snow.

Jim Dale, senior meteorologist at British Weather Services, said: "It’s too early to be any way sure. The run in does not look particularly wintry but it only takes the one day with a polar airstream - so it's far from cut and dried as yet."

The Met Office has explained what is officially classed as a white Christmas. It said: "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.

"Traditionally we used to use a single location in the country to define a white Christmas, which was the Met Office building in London. However, with the increase in betting on where will see a white Christmas, the number of locations have increased and can now include sites such as Buckingham Palace, Belfast (Aldergrove Airport), Aberdeen (Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen FC), Edinburgh (Castle), Coronation Street in Manchester and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff."

It added: "We also analyse the data from our observing stations around the UK to provide a complete picture of where snow has fallen or was lying on Christmas Day."