RISING temperatures next week look to have ended any hopes for a White Christmas in Scotland.
Instead, a succession of low pressure systems are likely to result in further weather warnings for rain in the run-up to the big day.
We previously told how the country would be blanketed under ten days of snow at the end of this month, with 30cm predicted to fall in some areas.
The first flurries were set to give Moray a light dusting late on Saturday December 21.
And BBC weather forecasts showed light snow in Braemar on the big day.
In Glasgow, sleet showers were predicted to hit the city.
However, the chances of a white Christmas are looking slim, with the mercury now expected to soar to 13C in Edinburgh on Wednesday and could hit double digits again on December 25.
That is twice the average temperature you would normally expect towards the end of the year and more akin to something you would see in spring.
Even areas like Braemar in Aberdeenshire, which had appeared to be the most likely to see snow next week, can look forward to a Christmas Day of blue skies and sunshine.
Today, SEPA had five flood alerts in place and four, more serious, flood warnings for the north of Scotland.
A Met Office warning for heavy rain expired at 9pm tonight, having been curtailed by 15 hours.
Alex Burkill of the Met Office said: “It’s pretty mild out there.
“It doesn’t really feel much like mid-December. And there’s going to be sunny breaks for many of us, too.”
Some places in the north of Scotland had endured four inches of rain by lunch time today with a further one and a half inches by tonight.
The A832 was closed due to the risk of flooding at Moy Bridge, near Inverness, and many roads affected by heavy surface water.
Nearby, The River Conon burst its banks and there was flooding on the A835 near the village of Garve, in Ross-shire.
