People waking up on December 25 may see a ‘white Christmas’ as low temperatures bring frost.

Many parts of the UK have seen unsettled conditions in the days leading up to the festive period, with heavy rain falling across large swathes of the country on Wednesday.

This rain will largely stop on Christmas Eve, paving the way for cooler temperatures and frost on the morning of December 25.

Alex Burkill, a meteorologist at the Met Office, told the PA news agency: “Christmas Eve night into Christmas Day is going to be very cold, with harsh widespread frost first thing Christmas morning.

“So it could be a ‘white’ Christmas in as much as lots of people are going to wake up to a frost.”

Christmas Day will be dry and settled for most of the UK, however, there may be showers in the eastern parts of England that bring the possibility of sleet or snow in the morning.

Mr Burkill said: “So in the Lincolnshire, Yorkshire area, maybe even East Anglia, there could be a few showers during the early hours and with the cold weather it’s not out of the question that there could be a wintery element to those, so a few showers could be falling as sleet or snow.

“They’ll be very light, scattered, not everywhere will see them by any means, and for most areas it’s going to be a pretty dry day just cold.

“But there is a chance we could see a few showers of snow across eastern parts of England, particularly early on Christmas day.”

Mr Burkill said a band of rain will push across northwestern parts during the day, particularly in Scotland, which could lead to sleet or snow on the higher ground.

The meteorologist later suggested small amounts of snow may settle on the hills and mountains in Scotland.

He added: “It could technically be a white Christmas there but what we can be pretty confident about is that there’s not going to be widespread snow, people aren’t going to wake up to those picturesque sheets of snow that many people will be hoping for.”

The Met Office has said Boxing Day will bring a return to the unsettled weather, with outbreaks of rain in the north moving southwards along with strong winds.

These conditions are likely to continue into the lead-up to the New Year, with outbreaks of rain likely.