21/12/2011 BBC Weather

This time last year it was all that frost, snow and ice, but this year

it looks a bit more benign and more friendly to travellers, thanks

chiefly to the temperatures been higher. Tonight, it is free of

frost, quite cloudy, rain across the north-west of England and North

West Scotland. Foremost, a dry day and we will keep the mild weather

going and perhaps a bit more in the way of sunshine compared to today.

We should get some breaks developing the cloud as parts of

central and eastern England cease and sunshine. North East and West

and Scotland will see outbreaks of rain. It will stay Craig across the

west of Wales with drizzly rain at times -- grey. Along Devon and

Cornwall, things might cheer up. Certainly across parts of south-

east England and East Anglia we will get breaks in the cloud and

temperatures could get up to 12 or 13 or even 14. Some breaks in the

cloud, quite grey across Cumbria and may be brightness in the east

of Northern Ireland. North-east Scotland should feel warm but it

will state rate in western Scotland. The rain will pep up tomorrow and

it will spread widely across Scotland and Northern Ireland

tomorrow and then the band of rain will continue to push south through

Friday and as it sweeps across England and Wales, some of the rain

could be on the heavy side. As skies brightened further north it

will be a few scattered showers, but most notably the temperatures

will start to drop off once more, back to single figures. That is

because the cold front provided the rain is sweeping away the mild air

so temporarily, a cold air fixed returns. They could be a frost on

Christmas Eve but through the Christmas weekend the yellow and

orange colours return as the milder air spreads in from the Atlantic.

So by Christmas Day, quite widely, temperatures at double figures. A

bright and breezy weekend across the southern half of the UK.

Further north, turning windy and for some it could get wet on

Christmas Day, particularly in parts of western Scotland. With