The warmest Christmas Day on record in the UK is 15.6°C, recorded at Killerton, Devon, in 1920. This record has stood for over a century, although 2015 and 2016 saw very mild temperatures of 15.2°C and 15.1°C respectively.
What is the warmest Christmas on record in the UK?
Christmas Day is often the focus of festive weather hopes, and it has delivered a wide range of conditions. The warmest Christmas Day on record was 15.6°C at Killerton (Devon) in 1920, with more recent warmth including 15.2°C at Hawarden (Clwyd) in 2015.
ummary — Christmas Day 2025 was by far the warmest Christmas Day for the contiguous United States on record. He calculated the average national high temperature (shown above) as 57.9F and the average national low temperature as 36.6F.
Looking back at the list of the UK's highest calendar month temperatures for the winter months, both the December (18.7C) and January (19.9C) records are from Achfary in the northwest Scottish Highlands.
Has there ever been a heatwave in December in the UK?
However, the record December temperature of 18.3C was recorded as far north as Achnashellach (Wester Ross, Scotland) on the 2nd December 1948, as a result of an unusually warm southerly airmass and was due to the foehn effect.
Don't Miss These 15 Warmest Places to Visit in Europe This Winter!
Are UK winters getting warmer or colder?
UK winters are generally getting warmer and wetter, with average temperatures rising and cold extremes becoming less frequent, but severe cold snaps can still occur due to shifts in atmospheric patterns. Data shows a consistent warming trend since the 1980s, with many of the UK's warmest winters on record happening in the 21st century, and precipitation increasingly falling as rain rather than snow.
The winter of 1963 - the coldest for more than 200 years
With temperatures so cold the sea froze in places, 1963 is one of the coldest winters on record. Bringing blizzards, snow drifts, blocks of ice, and temperatures lower than -20 °C, it was colder than the winter of 1947, and the coldest since 1740.
The topmost places for hot holidays in December for sun with temperatures in the 20s include Miami (25°C), Cape Verde (24°C), Dubai (26°C), Barbados (29°C), Madeira (20°C), Phuket (28°C), Cape Town (27°C), Mexico (24°C), Cuba (24°C), Marrakech (20°C), and the Canary Islands (22°C).
The last "technically" white Christmas in the UK was in 2023, with 11% of weather stations recording snow falling, though not settling, with some isolated snowfall in Scotland and Northern England; however, the last widespread white Christmas with significant snow on the ground across the UK was in 2010, a truly exceptional event, according to Met Office.
The Big Freeze of 1963—also known as the Winter of 1962–63—was one of the coldest winters on record in the United Kingdom and much of Europe. It lasted from December 1962 to March 1963, and it brought widespread disruption, hardship, and historic levels of snow and ice.
The 1963 winter event has thus been a very rare event with a return period of 119 years in 1963 (95 % confidence interval from 46 to 1102 years) and would be even less likely today due to the warming (371 years in 2021, with uncertainty of 97 up to 7680 years).
Across England you will have most likely experienced a white Christmas in the North West where nearly 40% of years recorded snow on Christmas Day since 1960. Quite a contrast to the South East where since 1960, London has only seen five Christmas Days where snow fell, the last one more than two decades ago in 2001.
Where is the warmest place to live in the UK in winter?
The Isles of Scilly, located off the southwestern coast of Cornwall, have arguably the mildest winter weather in the UK. Thanks to their maritime location, temperatures on these islands rarely dip below freezing, and snow is a rare occurrence.
TUI primarily stands for Touristik Union International, a major German multinational travel and tourism company that offers airlines, hotels, cruises, and tour operators, though its logo also cleverly forms a winking smiley face with the letters T, U, and I. The company began as Touristik Union International in Germany in 1968 and grew to become the world's largest tourism group.
Andalucia is the hottest part of Spain in winter. It's an ideal warm honeymoon destination in Europe for couples who choose to marry in winter. Between November and February, most of the places we mention here maintain a sunny outlook. Making it perfect for a beach holiday.
The summer of 1976 remains iconic, with 16 days exceeding 32°C, compared to nine days in 2025. The persistence of the 1976 heatwave means that 1976 still holds the record for the highest average summer maximum temperature, while the persistent warmth of 2025 means it holds the record for mean temperature.
A heatwave lasts a minimum of three consecutive days, though it can be much longer. The longest official heatwave in the UK was in 1976 when the heatwave threshold was met for 15 consecutive days. A heatwave can feel much longer because it usually comes within a period of dry and hot weather.
