Met Office reveals signs we’re set for a white Christmas – but warns ‘don’t get your hopes up’ in snow forecast

THE Met Office has revealed signs we're set for a white Christmas - but warns "don't get your hopes up".

Forecasters are predicting snow could fall on the most festive day of the year.

Wintry showers and frost are set to creep in over the weekend bringing cold blasts from the Atlantic, say the weather service.

White flakes are expected to drop onto hill tops in the north with meteorologists warning light snowfall could then move further down the country.

But while the thought of a white Christmas sounds exciting, the snow is unlikely to set.

Met Office meteorologist Helen Caughey has said the predicted snowfall will be too widespread to blanket Britain.

She added: “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.”

However, snowfall could return for New Year's Eve.

The Met Office said: "This interlude likely to be short-lived, before a milder, westerly flow returns, which may lead to a risk of some transient snow to lower levels for a time.

"A continuation of this pattern most probable towards New Year's Eve."

It comes after a yellow warning for 80mph winds has been issued.

Britain has been told to brace for the "danger to life" warning just days before Christmas.

The yellow weather warning extends from Scotland to Northern Ireland, the north of England and parts of East and West Mids.

It will be in place from the early hours of Thursday morning until midnight.

We can expect roads, rail services, and ferries to be affected, a chance of damage to buildings, and power cuts, according to the Met Office.

While gales of 80mph are predicted in parts, 50 and 60mph winds will be felt elsewhere.