Storm Eva to follow Santa in festive washout

Storm Eva will follow Santa on the big day, bringing with her a sack full of problems for motorists and already flood-hit communities.

Forecasters are predicting festive walks could be a wash out, with weather warnings in place for rain on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Experts at the Met Office have issued a yellow - be aware - warning for rain across Lancashire, with up to 40mm expected to fall in 24 hours.

A spokesman said: “Warnings are out for 6pm on Christmas Day until just before midnight on Saturday night.
“It’s a band of rain expected to spread into the area.”

The spokesman said the rain was part of Storm Eva, but Lancashire wouldn’t see the wind impact in the same way as other areas.

He said: “It’s falling on saturated ground making it worse than it would have been, so look out for transport disruption and localised flooding.

“20 to 40mm of rain are possible over 24 hours, it shouldn’t fall too heavily in one go.”

On Christmas Day morning, Lancashire is expected to have some of the best of the country’s weather, with temperatures between five and seven degrees and a brighter start.

But the weather warning comes into force later in the day and into Boxing Day, and wintery showers may fall on higher ground.

The spokesman said: “The rain is pushing in overnight and we’ve got rain Christmas morning.

“It will clear with sunny spells and not be too bad, then later the warning is coming into effect on Friday to stay into Boxing Day, and that’s really where the problems will be.

“For maximum temperatures on Christmas Day, we are looking about 10 degrees.”

But, despite the mild temperatures, tomorrow isn’t expected to break any records in Lancashire.

Met Office figures show the warmest Christmas Day for the area was in 1988, recorded in West Lancashire where it reached more than 13 degrees.

The maximum average temperature for December is 6.9 degrees for Lancashire.

It is in stark contrast to the winter of 2010 when snow began falling in November, with the worst from December 17 and 10 inches dropping on Chorley.

Temperatures hit -16 degrees in Preston on the same day, but the minimum temperature recorded in the North West in December 2010 was -17.9 degrees on the morning of the 19th, in the coldest December for more than 100 years.