LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - European equities fell across-the-board on Monday and closed at their lowest in three weeks as inflation concerns whacked global markets and soured expectations of further rate cuts in the United States.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> lost 1.5 percent to an unofficial close of 1,493.3, its weakest finish since Nov. 27 and trimming this year's gains to 0.7 percent.

Banks took pole position, with UBS <UBSN.VX>, HSBC <HSBA.L>, Santander <SAN.MC> and HBOS <HBOS.L> all down between 1.4 and 3.2 percent. Miners also fell on economic growth concerns.

Banks have been the worst performers this year in a sector littered with losses linked to a credit crunch.

"The intensity of this crisis will remain with us through a good part of 2008 and not until each and every bank and mortgage lender has cleared the decks and fully written down high risk assets can any form of confidence resume," Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at broker BGC Partners said in a note.

The FTSEurofirst earlier fell as much as 1.8 percent. U.S. stock indexes were down between 0.4 and 0.8 percent. The European index is set for its worst yearly performance since 2002 when it tumbled more than 30 percent.

(Reporting by Anshuman Daga)

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