STORM Gerrit has been named as heavy wind and rain is set to batter Britain.
Yet Boxing Day swimmers still braved the cold today as they took to the UK's coastline to work off their festive feasts.
Storm Gerrit is set to bring gales, snow and two weeks' worth of rain to large parts of Britain over the coming days, forecasters said.
Met Office expert Frank Saunders said: "Storm Gerrit will run towards western UK on Wednesday and bring with it potential impacts for much of the UK.
"Winds across southern coastal areas of England will be strong, possibly peaking around 70 mph on exposed coastlines, but more widely around 50-60 mph within the warning area.
"Rain is an additional hazard from Storm Gerrit, with active weather fronts leading to a wet day for many.
"Snow is also likely to cause problems for some northern areas: only briefly for a few upland routes across the Pennines and southern Scotland overnight and early on Wednesday, but more widely to the north of the Central Lowlands later in the day.
"Here around 10 to possibly 20cm of snow may affect some of the highest routes, this combining with very strong winds to lead to some difficult travel conditions.
"At lower levels a combination of heavy rain and very strong winds will dominate."
It comes as snow is falling a day late for Christmas today- with festive families taking to their sledges and hardy swimmers going for a dip.
Most read in The Sun
Snaps taken this morning in the Scottish Highlands village of Carrbridge show families making the most of the snowfall.
The photos show kids sledding, couples walking and 4x4s trundling along iced-over roads.
Wintry showers will continue to soak the far north of Scotland today, with an ice warning earlier this morning.
Today most Brits will enjoy a fine day with some decent sunshine and temperatures around the annual average.
Swimmers were spotted going for a dip in Liverpool's Salthouse dock, at Aberdeen Beach and in Perranporth, Cornwall.
Wind and rain will start pushing across the southwest later today, with the sky clouding over tonight after a clear start.
By dawn tomorrow, the cloud and scattered rain will have spread to all parts of the country.
The Met Office has issued a string of different yellow weather warnings for the UK tomorrow.
Wind will buffet the south coast from 3am until 6pm, sparking travel chaos including for ferry passengers.
There is also a risk of flooding in the southwest until 3pm and in Wales and the north west until 6pm.
Most of Scotland will be covered by a yellow warning for rain and snow between 6am and midnight, with a chance of power cuts and flooding.
Up to 15cm could fall on high ground, scrambling transport routes over the glens.
In the past hour new warnings have been issued for the Shetlands, Northern Ireland, the Outer Hebrides and a large swathe of northern England.
It will be a bit brighter on Thursday, with the downpours easing into showers.
But there will still be yellow wind warnings in place for the Shetlands and for the west coast from south Wales up to the Scottish border.
Heading into the weekend there will still be some hill snow in the north and wind in the south.
Read more on The Sun
The run-up to the New Year is also likely to be unsettled - a fitting end to a year marred by a summer washout and a punishing winter.
The first week of 2024 will be much the same, with the mercury hovering around the average.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErKynZpOke7a3jqecsKtfZ4JygpJsamlnpaB6uLHArZ%2Beql2owq95waivoqaXYrGixY4%3D