Scotland Christmas weather forecast: Met Office predictions for Christmas Day 2020 - including Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen

Could there still be a white Christmas in 2020?

The Met Office has published its weather predictions for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for Scotland.

Scots already had a taste of the cold weather this year, as heavy snow fell across the country at the beginning of December, causing widespread travel disruption and closed schools across the country.

And the seasonal weather is set to continue, with the forecaster saying it will be a generally cold and frosty start to Christmas Day for most areas - but conditions will be dry with sunny periods.

Edinburgh was covered in a dusting of snow earlier in December (PA Media)

This means snowfall for a lot of areas across the country is unlikely, although the Met Office predicts “snow over higher ground in the north”, meaning it could be a white Christmas over Scotland’s hills and mountains.

For different areas in Scotland, the weather on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day will vary, so we’ve broken it down for you:

What is the Christmas weather forecast for Scotland?

Dumfries, Galloway, Lothian & Borders

Christmas Eve: “A few wintry showers across the Borders to start the day. Otherwise dry cold and sunny. Patchy cloud and the odd shower possible along the Borders coast.”

Christmas Day: “Showery rain crossing from west during Christmas day.”

Boxing Day: “Gales, showers and longer periods of rain and summit snow for Boxing day, heaviest in west.”

Central, Tayside & Fife

Christmas Eve: “A mostly cold dry and sunny day. A few isolated wintery showers are possible, these mainly across Angus. Fresh northerly winds gradually easing.”

Christmas Day: “Fair start to Christmas day, showery rain crossing from west later.”

Boxing Day: “Showers and longer periods of rain and summit snow Boxing day, heaviest in west.”

Strathclyde

Christmas Eve: “A cold dry and sunny day. Fresh northerly winds will gradually ease and turn northwesterly.”

Christmas Day: “Showery rain crossing from west during Christmas day.”

Boxing Day: “Gales, showers and longer periods of rain and summit snow for Boxing day, heaviest in west.”

Highlands & Eilean Siar

Christmas Eve: “Cold, dry, sunny across Lochaber. Cloudier elsewhere to start with a few wintry showers, but largely dry by the afternoon with an increasing chance of sunny spells. Northerly winds easing.”

Christmas Day: “Showery rain crossing from west during Christmas day.”

Boxing Day: “Gales, showers and longer periods of rain and summit snow for Boxing day, often heavy.”

Grampian

Christmas Eve: “Cold with fresh northerly winds, easing in the afternoon. Cloudy northern Aberdeenshire and Moray with occasional showers, wintery at times away from the coast. Drier with sunny spells southern Aberdeenshire.”

Christmas Day: “Fair start to Christmas day, showery rain crossing from west later.”

Boxing Day: “Showers and longer periods of rain and summit snow Boxing day, heaviest in west. Wintry showers Sunday, focused in west.”

When was the last time Scotland had snow at Christmas?

The Met Office’s definition of a white Christmas is a single snowflake falling within 24 hours of 25 December in a certain location in the UK.

That means areas could experience a white Christmas without seeing widespread, heavy snowfall.

By this definition, the last time Scotland experienced a proper white Christmas was a decade ago in 2010, which was the second in a row after snow fell on the big day in 2009.

A festive white out in Scotland’s main cities, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee, currently has odds of 3/1 according to betting firm Paddy Power.

Scotland also holds the accolade of having the whitest Christmas in the UK's recorded history.

The deepest snowfall ever recorded on Christmas Day was in Perthshire in 1981, when the area witnessed 47cm of snow.

According to the Met Office, there has only been widespread, blanket coverings of snow four times across the UK in the last 51 years.