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The UK has seen its warmest Christmas Eve ^[1] in over 20 years after Heathrow hit 15.3C, making it the warmest Christmas Eve since 1997.

Met Office ^[2] forecaster Liam Eslick said: “It’s been an exceptionally mild couple of days across all of the UK, temperatures have been well above average for the time of year, the maximum for December ^[3]being 7C.

“Temperatures today have reached 15C in quite a few locations across the UK, the highest being 15.3C in two locations – one in Heathrow and one in Cippenham, Berkshire.”

Christmas Day ^[4] is also set to be the hottest in years, with parts of the UK expected to hit 14C today.

A White Christmas has been ruled out for most of the country, apart from the mountains of northern Scotland.

Met Office forecaster Dan Stroud said: “The temperatures will peak today, there is a slight downward trend in temperatures for Christmas Day, but we’re still expecting them to be comfortably above average.

“We’re looking at 13C and 14C tomorrow, we’re probably looking at the warmest Christmas Day since 2016, when we actually hit 15.1C.”

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References

^{^} When is the right time to take down your Christmas tree and decorations? Join The Independent Debate (www.independent.co.uk)
^{^} Met Office (www.independent.co.uk)
^{^} Simon Calder’s travel year in review: chaos from beginning to end, plus five great destinations for 2024 (www.independent.co.uk)
^{^} Scandals, sensation and super-sized stars: in culture, 2023 has been a year of crisis and catharsis (www.independent.co.uk)
^{^} 1703361641 (www.independent.co.uk)