MET Office forecasters have put a dampener on talks of a white Christmas this year.

The weather looks set to be wet and mild this year, with strong winds in the run-up to the festive season.

Low pressure will dominate the weather in the UK through this week.

Much of the south will see a spell of rain through Tuesday while frequent showers move into the north of the UK combined with sunny spells. These showers could fall as snow over the hills of Scotland.

Through Wednesday, brisk westerlies will bring further rain to most areas, and over the higher hills in Scotland the likelihood of a short spell of snow before it turns mild for most.

A notably deep area of low pressure will track to the north of the UK over the Norwegian Sea through Wednesday night and into Thursday.

This will bring very strong winds and heavy showers to a large portion of the UK, with a Yellow National Severe Weather Warning covering Scotland, Northern Ireland, Northern England and the north of Wales.

Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist, Helen Caughey, said: “Wind speeds will increase from the northwest through Wednesday evening and overnight, so that by Thursday there is a risk of gusts of 50-60mph for a large swathe of central and northern parts of the UK. Coastal locations, higher ground, and areas to the east of high ground could see gusts of 70-80mph. Due to the scale of the low pressure to the north of the UK, it is possible this event could persist across some areas into Friday, so we recommend keeping up to date with the Met Office forecast.”

It will remain windy as the area of low pressure moves away to the east across Scandinavia, with frequent showers continuing in western areas with the southeast of the UK remaining mostly dry.

Through the weekend a band of rain sinks south, initially with colder, showery conditions to the north and milder, wetter conditions to the south.

As this clears south, a ridge of high pressure is likely to briefly build from the south-west. Wintry showers continue to feed in across the north and here colder conditions also mean rural areas will likely see a frost on Christmas morning.

This colder interlude is likely to be short lived, as milder, more unsettled Atlantic conditions look to return from the west later on Christmas Day or early on Boxing Day.

Helen continued: “As we begin Christmas Day wintry showers initially feeding in across the north in the colder air mass would technically make it a white Christmas, as we only need to see a single flake falling.

"Elsewhere, while it is likely at first to be mostly dry there is the potential for rain approaching from the west later on.

"As this moves east, we may see rain turning to snow, at least over high ground. It’s unlikely that we will see widespread or settling snow giving any proper accumulations.

"Although technically it might be a white Christmas, don’t get your hopes up for a picture-perfect white landscape.”

Looking towards the New Year, the weather looks to remain unsettled with low pressure bringing breezy and wet conditions for many.