It will be a wet Christmas rather than a white Christmas in the north of Scotland.
Met Office experts are “dubious” that anywhere other than mountain tops will see snow on Christmas Day.
And yellow weather warnings for rain are in place on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
The warning for Christmas Eve covers the north west of the country, with a large part of the north east being brought in for Christmas Day.
Met Office guidance advises that spray and flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions and some road closures. Where flooding occurs, there is a chance of delays or cancellations to train and bus services. There is a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded, with power cuts and loss of other services.
There is also a small chance of fast flowing or deep floodwater causing danger to life and causing some communities to be cut off by flooded roads.
Oli Claydon, spokesman for the Met Office, said: “We have some yellow weather warnings out for rain on Christmas Eve covering the north west of Scotland. That runs from just after midnight on Christmas Eve to just before midnight on Christmas Day.
“There is a slightly wider area covered by a rain warning for Christmas Day that goes further east towards Aberdeen, although the city itself is not included in the warning area. Parts of the north east are included.”
For any last minute Christmas shoppers, the north east will enjoy the best conditions today (Saturday).
Mr Claydon said: “North eastern Scotland will enjoy bright spells through the day on Saturday but there will be rain in the far north and the west ahead of the rain warnings.
“Rain coming in to the north west will be spreading further east by the time we get into the main part of Christmas Eve. It will be quite breezy, although we have no wind warnings out. Temperatures will be around 10oC.
“As we go into Christmas Day rain is still there in the north west, fairly persistent, with the north east starting to move into drier conditions.
“We are unlikely to see much snow, it will be confined to the tops of mountains. I am dubious that anyone will see any snow. The maximum temperature for Aberdeen on Christmas Day is 7oC. By Boxing Day we are looking at lows of 3oC.”