The Met Office has ruled out a white Christmas this year for Greater Manchester, saying the festive weekend should be a mixture of cloudy conditions, rain and some sun.
A forecaster told the Manchester Evening News the 'only chance' of a snowy Christmas Day is expected to be the North West of Scotland.
However, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day are all expected to be middling, with temperatures reaching highs of 9C and no overnight frost predicted.
Temperatures have become a lot more mild in recent days, following the cold snap which brought with it freezing lows of -8C in some areas last week. But double figures have been reached again this week, bringing with it sunshine and rain instead of frost and snow.
Heavy rain is expected for much of today - Friday - although that should ease into the evening. Temperatures are expected to reach no higher than 8C, far milder than the recent period of freezing weather.
Christmas Eve should start clear but change to cloudy in the afternoon, according to the Met Office.
Families and friends out for Christmas Eve walks can expect some sunshine from around 9am into the late afternoon, with welcome highs of 9C and just a predicted five per cent chance of rain. Heavy rain and overcast conditions, however, are expected from around 8pm onwards and continue into Christmas Eve evening.
A Met Office spokesman said: "Christmas Eve in Manchester will be a mostly dry day with some good sunny spells before rain arrives later in the evening from the west. It will be mild with a high of 9C during the day and a low of 8C overnight."
Christmas Day itself should be much of the same - a clear and dry start with light showers interspersed with some sunshine into the afternoon.
Christmas Day night will come to a close with rain, although temperatures should reach around 9C on the day.
"Christmas Day will be cloudy with showers before a more persistent band of rain moves through overnight. Again it will feel mild with a high of 10C during the day, overnight temperatures are expected to get down to 4C," added the spokesman.
Temperatures should fall on Boxing Day, with highs of 5C. The Met Office forecast is 'cloudy changing to light showers by lunchtime'.
"Through the early hours of Monday colder air will move across the whole of the UK, bringing temperatures down to around 6C in Manchester. There will be further showers through the day though with some drier interludes. Milder air will move in again through Tuesday.
"The only chance of a white Christmas is expected to be the North West of Scotland."
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