High winds are expected on New Year’s Eve (Image: Getty, WXCharts )
New Year’s Eves celebrations could quite literally be a blow out as high 60mph winds look set to be heading for the UK to welcome in 2025.
show a storm system covering the country from December 31 into January 1, potentially putting some party plans on hold.
Weather expert Jim Dale, founder and Senior Meteorological Consultant at British Weather Services, said New Year was still a long way off, but early indications were.
He told : “This New Year’s Eve, a low pressure looks likely to be crossing the UK, and it looks like it could be a “double-barrelled” one with two areas of low pressure, but we’ll see.
“If it comes across it would pull in the north-west northerly winds after the event, but also quite strong southerly winds ahead of it as well, so it’s a proper Atlantic storm potentially.
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Wind gusts could reach 60mph in places according to new maps (Image: WXCharts )
“New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day could not just be wind, but also snow… into Scotland and the north of England, and maybe even a bit further south.
“I maintain the caveat, this is a maybe not a definite, but nonetheless with people travelling around over New Year it is worth keeping your fingers on the pulse, because it could well be quite severe in terms of the wind and snow side of things.
“It’s an early warning that we could well be in for some hazardous weather to bring in 2025.”
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Temperature map of UK on New Year’s Eve (Image: WXCharts )
Mr Dale added that the stormy conditions in 2024 are likely to be repeated next year and into the future because of the changes caused by climate change.
He said: “Partly this is just the weather, and you do get storms, but also this is partly because of climate change.
“Molecules in the ocean and the atmosphere are dancing around more than they were previously, because there is more energy being put into the atmosphere because of climate change.
“This makes things more chaotic, more unexpected and also more extreme.”
Met Office five-day forecast
Today:
Early cloud clearing the southeast through the morning leaving sunny spells for many parts. Frequent wintry showers continuing in the north and west with some strong gusts around the coasts. Feeling cold in the brisk northwesterly wind.
Tonight:
Showers and winds easing during the evening with clear spells developing. Cloud and wind increasing in the northwest with rain later. Short lived frost forming under the clear skies.
Friday:
Band of rain moving eastwards through the day. Turning showery behind in the west but easing through the evening. Fresh winds with temperature turning milder once again.
Outlook for Saturday to Monday:
Increasingly windy through the weekend with gale force winds in the north with some wintry showers. Temperatures staying mild for December but settling down by Monday.