Met Office issues long term weather forecast for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in South Tyneside

The countdown to Christmas is continuing with plans being made across the North East and the Met Office has now announced its weather predictions across the key dates over the Christmas period.

The weather service is able to predict weather up to one month in advance, with predictions becoming more likely as Christmas Day edges closer.

What is the Met Office forecast in December for South Tyneside?

In the build up to the big day, the month is expected to start wet and potentially wintry with the Met Office saying the first week or so of December may see "a mixture of sunny spells and showers, with these showers most frequent near coasts. They are likely to be wintry in places, particularly further north where some snow could fall to low levels."

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What is the Met Office forecast for Christmas Day 2023?

With the big day now being less than one month away, the weather service can predict Christmas day weather as part of its long term forecast.

The forecast for South Tyneside seems to be more mild than early in the month, with the Met Office saying: "wetter and windier than average conditions are slightly more likely than normal, especially in the west and northwest. Temperatures are most likely to be near or above average overall, although this doesn't rule out some spells of cold weather and associated wintry hazards."

Why is the Met Office Christmas forecast so vague initially?

Despite these predictions, the Met Office says that longer-range forecasts are not wholly accurate and as the day gets closer the more accurately the weather service believe it can predict what the weather will be like on any given date.

It is only within five days that the Met Office truly believes it is able to give an accurate representation of a weather forecast at the local level.