Issued: 0530hrs Thursday 24th December 2020
Duty forecaster: Simon Keeling

A chilly night for reindeer over much of Europe, snow in central areas


Christmas Eve
Father Christmas should have a reasonable trip across the skies of Europelater. Showers in northern Spain. A few affecting Portugal too. Drier in central and eastern Spain. Fair through the Balearics, Corsica and Sardinia. Italy should be dry overall with some sunny spells. Greece and Turkey will be dry too with more sunshine here.
Unsettled in much of central Europe. Rain across western and northern France, this heavy at times. Further ain through the Low Countries as well as in northern Germany and northern Poland. Heavy showers for southern Poland, these affecting Hungary and Austria too. Mostly dry for Switzerland with some sunny spells.
Cold for Denmark with a risk of some sleet and snow to the south. Mainly fair in the Baltic States. Chilly with a few snow showers in Finland. Maily dry in Sweden. Snow showers affeting the coasts of Norway, but fair inland.

Christmas Day
A colder day in Spain and Portugal. Showers in northern Spain. fair for other areas with lots of sunshine. Chilly in the Balearics and through Corsica and Sardinia with showers, some of them heavy. Rain and showers in Italy, these heavy and thundery in places. Greece and Turkey will be mostly dry with sunny spells.
Chilly in France with sunny spells and a few showers, mostly east and south. Windy across southern France. Sunny spells and scattered showers for the Low Countries, cold in Germany with some rain and showers to the south. Poland will be cold and bright with sunny spells, some showers and rain in the south. Austria and Hungary as well as Switzerland will be cold with sleet and snow.
Cold for Denmark, but bright and dry. Sweden should be cold and dry too. Some snow showers for the Baltic States. Windy in Finland, a scattering of snow showers here too. Norway will be windy in the west with some sleet, drier in the east.