WATCH: Are we heading for a White Christmas? Met Office says it's 'looking likely'
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The chances of a White Christmas in the Highlands appear to be growing after advance forecasts heading into the festive period suggested cold temperatures and wintry weather could hit the north.
The Met Office's latest forecast for the week ahead is predicting that a cold front will push down from the north as the weekend progresses, bringing with it wintry showers before something milder pushes in from the south-west later – again bringing with it the chance of 'transient snow' on its leading edge.
Alex Burkill, a meteorologist with the Met Office, said that while Christmas Day is still "a wee way off" and this means there is still "some uncertainty" over the specifics, it is looking "quite likely" that some northern communities may well see a White Christmas.
Although the amount of snow that falls could be anything from a single snowflake to more traditional festive scenes.
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He explained: "We are starting to see something a little bit colder pushing it's way in as we go towards the end of the week.
He continued: "We have a waving frontal system running its way across the UK and this will gradually make its way southward.
"This is important because it forms a boundary between something milder towards the south and colder air towards the north.
"There is some uncertainty as to the timing of this system. Models have a 24-hour difference between the progress of this frontal system. So there is some uncertainty as to how quickly this is going to clear its way southwards. But it does look like we are going to have rain pushing its way southwards as we go through Saturday.
"That will allow for something colder and quieter as we go into Sunday but then what does that mean for Christmas Day itself?
"Well, I think we can expect some wintry showers in the north. Some sleet, some snow showers and also some brisk winds here. There will be some drier weather around, or likely to be some drier weather around for a time. Many of us, in fact, could wake up to a bit of a frost on Christmas morning. But then more wet and windy weather is set to push its way in from the south-west later on.
"[There's] a lot of uncertainty as to exactly what time this is going to arrive, so it could arrive before many of us wake up on Christmas morning in which case we won't really see the drier frosty weather, or it could take a little bit longer and not arrive until Boxing Day, as a result of which many of us may have a crisp, fine day on Christmas Day. So a lot to play for in the details.
"Whether or not it's going to be a White Christmas, well I think it pretty much is quite likely that it will be at least technically. From the Met Office's terms, we only need one flake of snow recorded officially somewhere in the UK and I think that's very likely that we will see that - either in the form of those wintry showers across northern parts, or a little bit of transient snow mixed in with that wetter weather that pushes its way in later on in the day.
"But it's not looking likely that it will be a [widespread] picturesque, wintry scene that many of us dream of in the build up to Christmas."
He added that there will be more information, and more accurate forecasts as we draw nearer to the weekend, but the forecast for snow showers in the north is sure to raise hopes that some Highland communities may enjoy a White Christmas, even if not all will do so.
