Millions of punters hoping for a white Christmas had their dreams of a seasonal windfall dashed as Britain suffered a festive washout.

Odds for a white Christmas in London were down to 8-1 with meteorologists predicting temperatures as high as 12C in the capital on Christmas day.

Only some of the most remote Scottish hills would receive wintery flurries, experts said.

According to forecasters, conditions on Boxing Day will deteriorate into storms with severe gale-force winds.

Gusts of up to 70mph are expected to blast south-west England, Wales, northwest England, southern Scotland and Nothern Ireland.

Wind warning: Gusts could hit 70mph

Ewen McCallum, head of forecasting in the Met Office, said: "Most people expect snow at Christmas, but it is quite rare to get it at this time of year.

"The rest of the country looks set to be windy and wet, followed by quite a storm on Boxing Day in the north west of England and southern Scotland."

On average, snow falls on Christmas Day in London only once every 12 years, while in Glasgow it happens once nine years.

Blow for skiiers

The last example of a classic White Christmas was in 1970 with snow falling during the night of 24th/25th with up to a couple of centimeters on the ground on Christmas morning in many parts of London.

Only one of Scotland's five ski resorts is certain to be open on Christmas Day.

The Lecht ski centre, near Tomintoul, will be open with three nursery slopes operating as well as one artificial slope available, said spokeswoman Pat Mathieson.

"There's just not enough natural snow just now to open the bigger runs but we're hoping more will fall and we'll supplement what we have with man-made snow," she said.

'Always hopeful'

However, Tania Adams of the Cairngorm Chairlift Company, based near Aviemore, was less optimistic.

"We've had quite a few snow showers but it's not looking likely that we'll have any runs open but we're always hopeful and next week might bring snow falls that will let us open for the New Year's Day or even before.

The story was the same at Glenshee where a spokesman said there were plenty snow showers but simply not enough snow to open any runs.

And at Glencoe, resort general manager Peter Weir, said: "Glencoe needs an awful lot of snow before we can get going.

Jan Marshall of Nevis Range, near Fort William, said snow had fallen but rain threatened to remove at least part of it.