Climate change could make a White Christmas a thing of the past

Met Office analysis suggests snowy winters could become a thing of the past in the UK due to climate change.

It is one of the predictions about how the UK's climate could change which was shared with BBC Panorama, which are based on global emissions accelerating.

It suggests that by the:

• 2040s: most of southern England could no longer see sub-zero days; and
• 2060s: only high ground and northern Scotland are still likely to experience such cold days.

Dr Lizzie Kendon, a senior Met Office scientist who worked on the projections, said this could mean the end of sledging, snowmen and snowball fights.

"We're saying by the end of the century much of the lying snow will have disappeared entirely except over the highest ground".

The Met Office confirmed if the world reduces emissions significantly the changes will be less dramatic. The average coldest day in the UK over the past three decades was -4.3 Celsius.

If emissions continue to accelerate, leading to a global temperate rise of 4C, then the average coldest day in the UK would remain above 0 Celsius across most of the country throughout winter.

Even if global emissions are reduced dramatically and world temperatures rise by 2C, the average coldest day in the UK is likely to be 0 Celsius. The Met Office says these temperatures are subject to variation and some years may see colder days than the average.

Dr Kendon concludes: "The overarching picture is warmer, wetter winters; hotter, drier summers".

"But within that, we get this shift towards more extreme events, so more frequent and intense extremes, so heavier rainfall when it occurs".