Christmas Eve warm and sunny, temperatures to drop afterwards

Hong Kong enjoys largely fine and warm weather on Christmas Eve, ahead of a sharp drop in temperatures starting Christmas Day, the Observatory said on Wednesday (Dec 24).

Under the influence of the northeast monsoon, skies are mostly sunny today, with daytime highs of about 24°C in urban areas and a few degrees higher in the New Territories. Tonight, it is expected to turn partly cloudy, with moderate northeast winds.

Winds are expected to shift northerly on Christmas Day, bringing noticeably cooler conditions. Temperatures are forecast to fall sharply later in the day, with the minimum dropping to around 15°C, about nine degrees lower than today’s daytime high. The mercury is expected to dip further to around 14°C on Boxing Day.

The Observatory said a fresh surge of the northeast monsoon is expected to reach the south China coast on Christmas Day, bringing more clouds and progressively cooler weather over the holiday period.

The weather is expected to remain generally fine over the weekend, though mornings will be cool. Inland areas may see large day-to-night temperature differences.