UK weather – Britain has first white Christmas in three years as snow falls in Suffolk and Humberside

BRITAIN has today woken up to its first white Christmas in three years as temperatures plunge across the country.

The snowfall in Leconfield in Humberside and Wattisham in Suffolk is the first in the UK on December 25 since 2017.

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The Met Office confirmed it was a white Christmas in a tweet this morning, saying: "Morning everyone, we've just had official confirmation that this #Christmas is a white one!

"Leconfield in Humberside reported #snow falling at 5am, and Wattisham in Suffolk also reported recent snow at this time.

"Further updates will be issued as they become available #UKSnow."

Families were spotted playing in the Christmas Day snow on hills near Hexham, Northumberland.

And Brits in Hessle, East Yorkshire, took pictures of the snowfall on their streets early this morning.

The rest of today is likely to be clear and dry for most but showers in the East of England could bring more sleet or snow.

Severe ice warnings have been issued for the east of Scotland and east of England today - stretching from Newcastle to Essex.

And temperatures were expected to plunge overnight, with lows of -4C in northern England and Scotland and -2C and -3C further south.

Met Office forecaster Marco Petagna told The Sun Online: "There is a potential [for snow] during the early hours - certainly between midnight we could get a few wintry showers falling which could contain a bit of snow."

However, some people have had their Christmas ruined by awful flooding in Norfolk and Suffolk.

Families grabbed unopened Christmas presents when they were evacuated from their homes last night after firefighters and cops declared a major emergency.

Water levels on the River Waveney in Bungay are still being monitored this morning as people were allowed to return to their damp and flooded homes.

Emergency services worked through the night to rescue more than 1,000 people from the flooding at Billing Aquadrome holiday park in Northamptonshire.

It comes after many parts of the Anglia region saw up to a month's worth of rain in 12 hours overnight into Christmas Eve with the threat of more severe weather to come on Boxing Day.

Across England, a total of 111 flood warnings and 137 flood alerts, as well as the two severe flood warnings, remained in force at 5am on Christmas Day as huge amounts of water flowed through river catchments.

SEVERE FLOODS

Edinburgh and Newcastle were yesterday tipped among the cities most likely to see the white stuff on Christmas Day, with bookies placing their odds for snowfall at 2-1.

The odds for snow in Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool, stood at 3-1, suggesting they are more likely to have a white Christmas than cities further south.

The white stuff fell across parts of the UK yesterday, with a blanket of snow covering Tynemouth Beach in the North East and parts of County Durham.

Amid the temperature drop people were pictured getting in the spirit of a somewhat different Christmas this year.

Brave souls ran into the chilly waves near Edinburgh and Swansea today for a festive swim, while others took on the snowy roads in County Durham.

Any snow will be mainly confined to higher ground, but forecasters predictions of more snow today have rung true already.

Temperatures have been plunging this week and are set to get colder over the next 24 hours.

This is the first White Christmas since 2017 when only a smattering of weather stations recorded snowfall at 10.42pm.

The last big blitz was in 2010 during the coldest December for 100 years.

The snow warning came as heavy downpours swept the country yesterday, with up to 3in of rain falling in places.

Storm Bella is due to batter the UK on Boxing Day - bringing further showers and 70mph winds.

Brits were yesterday forced to evacuate their homes as more than 100 flood warnings were issued across England the day before Christmas.

An  - indicating a threat to life - will be in force from 3pm on December 26.

It will apply to parts of south Wales and across southern England, with gusts expected to reach up to 70mph in coastal areas.

It is the second named storm of the season.

The Environment Agency also announced 10 flood warnings and nearly 100 flood alerts, with Gloucestershire set to be hardest hit.

Shocking photographs showed towns submerged as the flood waters seeped into homes and businesses in Norfolk - with emergency services declaring a major incident.

The BBC reported the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service received 500 calls for help on Wednesday with 300 just in six hours.

Pictures showed the aftermath of a landslide that began on a steep slope above a car park in Penarth, south Wales at around 6pm on Wednesday.

Cars were seen surrounded by branches, mud, and other debris, but there were no reports of any injuries.

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service said they had handled more than 250 flood calls, with several properties inundated and multiple people rescued from their stranded vehicles.

In Nottingham, police said emergency services had been called to a report of a landslide near some homes near a former quarry at 11.40pm on Wednesday.