A white Christmas could be on the cards for some parts of the UK with other parts of the country set to enjoy bright weather and cold temperatures.

In the run-up to the big day, unsettled weather is forecast.

This should give way to colder, clearer conditions on December 25, the Met Office has said.

Met Office meteorologist Annie Shuttleworth told the PA news agency that the "most likely" place to see snow is hilly areas in northern parts of the UK.

She added: “You couldn’t rule out some sleety snow further south than that, but there’s a really big question mark on it.”

The foggy, murky weather of today will clear for a cloudy but brighter Monday.

After a frosty start, Tuesday will be bright and sunny – Ms Shuttleworth said it's “likely to be the best day of the week” – while Wednesday will bring increasingly mild and unsettled weather.

The forecast for Thursday and Friday remains somewhat uncertain, but there is likely to be a contrast in weather for the north and south, the Met Office said.

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Areas to the south of Wales could see milder temperatures, cloud and rain, while anywhere north from there could have colder and brighter weather.

Ms Shuttleworth said: “It’s that boundary between the cold and the warm air which is where the uncertainty is, and that’s where the greatest risk of seeing any snow or sleet is.

“We’re expecting to see some snow in the lead-up to Christmas, but it is likely to be over high ground and if anything did fall at lower levels, we anticipate that to largely be quite sleety and to not last very long.”

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That is most likely across the Midlands, northern England and Scotland, the forecaster said.

The weather could become more consistent across the country by Saturday.

She said: “We could see that colder weather push further south, so more areas seeing that colder, clearer weather by Christmas Day”.

In the days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the Met Office expects more settled, dry, calm and cold weather.

Bookmaker Coral said that odds for a white Christmas have been slashed for all major UK cities, with Edinburgh topping the betting for the most likely to see snow and Newcastle just behind.

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