A strange wave of warm weather has left Britons sweltering in their winter coats and switching off the heating.
As temperatures climb to 12°C (53.6°F) in London, baffled Brits have flocked to social media to question the strangely balmy December weather.
On X, one confused commenter asked: ‘Is nobody concerned with how WARM it is in the middle of December for London?’
Hundreds of Brits have raised a similar point, with one complaining: ‘I hate the cold but it’s so concerning that it’s not actually been that cold this autumn/winter.’
‘I’m literally walking around with no coat on bc im so hot lol,’ added another.
While one Brit chimed in: ‘It does seem like Decembers have got noticeably milder in the last few years, and the really severe cold snaps are not seen until January and February. White Christmases seem like a distant memory now.’
Now, meteorologists have revealed the real reason why the build–up to Christmas has been unseasonably warm.
And the good news is that things may cool down just in time for you to break out the Christmas jumpers.
Average temperatures for December in the UK are typically anywhere between 2°C and 8°C (35–46°F), depending on your location in the country.
However, the first two weeks of December have already seen temperatures climbing well above their normal limits.
In some parts of the country, temperatures have risen as high as 15°C (59°F), while conditions have rarely fallen below freezing.
These warm conditions have caused a great deal of confusion on social media over the last few days.
In one post on TikTok, a user complained: ‘It’s currently the middle of December in London, and I am walking to work in just my shirt because it’s so warm.
‘There’s no hope of a white Christmas this year people. I am just sick of this mild weather.’
Another posted: ‘Guys why is it so warm in England rn? Its 12 12°C (54°F) and I don’t even have a jacket. Normally its like 0°C around this time.’
Meanwhile another complained that they were ‘overheating entering any building atm’.
Is Britain’s unusually warm December a wake-up call about climate change, or just a seasonal blip?
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According to meteorologists, Britain’s warm weather has its origins all the way across the Atlantic.
Jim Dale, senior meteorologist at British Weather Services and co–author of ‘Surviving Extreme Weather’, told Daily Mail that the UK is currently facing an unusually energetic jet stream.
This is the system of fast–moving air flowing about five to seven miles above the ground that steers weather fronts and low–pressure systems towards the UK.
Since November, Mr Dale says that the jet stream has been ‘more or less over us’, causing a wave of warm, wet, and windy weather.
‘One of the reasons we’re getting that is because of the cold weather in the northeastern United States and Canada,’ says Mr Dale.
‘When that cold air sits in situ, it blows out into the Atlantic where it meets mild air and energises the jet stream, and that produces these low–pressure systems.’
That is also part of the reason the UK has been facing a barrage of heavy rainfall and stormy weather, including Storm Bram, over the last few weeks.
The good news is that current forecasts suggest that these low–pressure systems should abate in the coming weeks.
The Met Office forecast says: ‘A large area of high pressure is expected to build closer to the UK from around the 22nd of December.
‘With high pressure in charge, the weather is likely to settle down, bringing clearer skies at night and the potential for frost and fog patches.
‘This means that Christmas Day itself is looking drier and perhaps a little colder compared to the first half of December.’
However, although the Met Office says that an active jet stream is to blame for our recent spell of warm weather, seasons like this are going to be more likely in the future.
A Met Office spokesperson told Daily Mail: ‘It’s not possible to attribute the current mild period to climate change without a formal attribution study. However, we know that as a result of human–induced climate change, we see more frequent warmer weather, and that remains true in winter.’
Six of the ten warmest winters on record, dating back to 1884, have occurred since the start of the 21st century.
Likewise, 2025 is already firmly on track to be one of the three hottest years on record.
The spokesperson adds: ‘This obviously doesn’t mean that we won’t see colder periods, but that the background influence of global warming means we generally see warmer winters than we used to.’
