Southern Estonia, as is often the case, will have colder weather and more leftover snow, though from Friday evening, temperatures will drop, at least halting any further snow-melt and contributing to nice, crisp Christmas conditions.

Appearing on ETV morning show "Terevisioon" Friday, meteorologist Ingrid Niklus said: "Colder air will start to reach us [on the mainland] from the islands on Friday night. The temperatures will then start to drop, and the weather will become more wintry and beautiful."

"Tomorrow, Saturday, we can expect sunny, bright Christmas weather, with pleasant cold temperatures," Niklus went on.

This will not bring any fresh snowfall, however.

What snow cover is left after the thaw of the past few days will be "less in western Estonia, perhaps not at all on the islands, but southern and eastern Estonia are still covered with snow in some places."

In terms of temperature, lows of around -3C on average can be expected, though again there will be regional variations, from around zero on the islands, to as low as -10C in southeastern Estonia on Sunday night, through to Monday, Niklus said.

As for the New Year, clearer forecasts will come early next week, but current prognoses suggest even milder conditions, ranging between -5C to as high as +5C.

"At the moment, it seems that the current type of weather will remain until the New Year: It does not look like particularly wintry weather," Niklus added.

Snow had been falling since mid-November, leading to deep snowdrifts and culminating in Storm Birgit, which brought blizzard conditions to the country earlier in the month.

Christmas in Estonia is, as in most northern European countries, marked primarily on the eve of December 24. While December 25 and 26 are national holidays, since Christmas falls on a weekend this year, only the Monday is a day off for most people. The same applies to New Year's eve and New Year's day, which this year fall on a Saturday and Sunday.

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