Jan 2 (Reuters) - Nordic front-quarter power prices slipped on Thursday, tracking lower rates in the German power market and forecasts for wetter and warmer weather towards the middle of the month.

* Nordic front-quarter baseload power contract fell 1.1 euros or 4.8% to 21.65 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) as of 1125 GMT. The contract logged around 43% decline in 2024.

* The weather forecast indicates that the cold, calm and dry period will end around Jan. 14 and will be replaced by wetter and warmer weather for the rest of the month, said Ole Tom Djupskaas, a power analyst at LSEG.

* The falling German power market could also be dragging prices down, Djupskaas said.

* German day-ahead baseload was last at 100 euros/MWh.

* "All models show a rather cold scenario with near or below normal temperatures and precipitation. Temperatures and precipitation will be near or below normal," Georg Muller, meteorologist at LSEG, said in a note.

* "Major cold spells or a transition to mild, wet and windy weather are both not hinted to emerge before mid-January."

* Nordic water reserves available 15 days ahead were seen at 15.1 terawatt hours (TWh) above normal, compared with 15.85 TWh above normal on Wednesday.

* The Nordic power price for next-day physical delivery

, or system price, rose 34.61 euros to 49.93 euros per MWh.

* Dutch and British wholesale gas prices rose as temperatures turned cooler, boosting gas demand for heating, and after a decades-long deal for Russia to supply gas to Europe via Ukraine expired on Tuesday.

* In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract

was up 0.65 euro at 73.65 euros a metric ton.

(Reporting by Anjana Anil in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)

((Anjana.Anil@thomsonreuters.com;))