Forget a white Christmas – weather experts are predicting a “reasonably mild” day for festive revellers in the region this year.

Phil Garner, forecaster at Weatherquest, said temperatures could hit highs of 12C (53.6F) next Monday across Suffolk and Essex.

“All of Christmas Day should be dry with southerly winds, but it will be reasonably mild,” Mr Garner said.

The weekend before Christmas is set to be mostly dry, with temperatures reaching 11C (51.8F) on Sunday.

Mr Garner said Boxing Day in the East of England was set to get off to a wet and windy start.

Aidan McGivern, meteorologist for the Met Office, has provided a similarly disappointing forecast for snow dreamers across the UK.

He said: “Rather than a white Christmas, for many it will just be a windy Christmas and Boxing Day.”

However, Mr McGivern didn’t rule out the chance of some snow flakes falling in the north of the nation on Monday.

According to the Met Office, the last official white Christmas was in 2010, when snow was widespread across Northern Ireland, Scotland, parts of Wales, the Midlands, north-east and far south-west England.