Weather conditions improve across UK
Weather conditions are improving across the UK ahead of the final Christmas travel rush and last-minute shopping spree.
All weather warnings in place have now been cancelled, after strong winds caused flight cancellations and widespread rail delays over the weekend.
Interrupts include A plane suffers an emergency at Belfast City Airport Its front wheel appeared to crack while landing in stormy conditions Sunday night. The track reopened Monday morning.
The Met Office has predicted a “grey Christmas” for most areas over the coming days, with “extremely mild” temperatures – ruling out a white Christmas for much of the country.
It comes after parts of the UK were hit by frigid temperatures and gusty winds of 50-60mph on Saturday and Sunday, with the strongest gust of 82mph recorded in South Uist in the Western Isles.
But for those traveling today or Tuesday, the travel picture looks much simpler.
Although Heathrow Airport was forced to cancel around 100 flights on Sunday due to the weather, a spokesman said it was “business as usual” on Monday.
National Rail did not report any widespread problems on Monday morning, although there were some isolated issues around Inverness, Portsmouth and Southsea.
Ferry customers are still warned of ongoing disruption on some routes from Scotland and Northern Ireland.
While driving conditions have improved, congestion is still possible. Last week, the RAC predicted a record 29 million unique road trips would be taken in the run-up to Christmas, with nearly 7 million taking place in the next two days alone.
Retail analyst Catherine Shuttleworth said this would include motorists heading to supermarkets on Monday, which is expected to be the biggest food shopping day of the year so far.
She said high street retailers were preparing for a “busy day”, while supermarkets were hoping to cash in on people becoming more “cautious” about eating out in the run-up to Christmas due to demands on household budgets.
Temperatures are expected to improve in the run-up to Christmas, with sunshine expected in some areas, according to BBC Weather forecasts.
Scattered rain will fall across Northern Ireland and western Scotland, moving into western England and Wales on Monday afternoon. Snow is possible in the Scottish Hills and Pennines.
Christmas Eve will see mainly cloudy skies, but will also be one of the mildest on record. Average temperatures are expected to reach 12C or 13C, while Christmas Day is expected to be 11C or 12C.
