Will we have a White Christmas this year?

As we are now officially in the first of the ‘winter months’ the weather becomes increasingly talked about … in particular many wonder whether we will have a white Christmas this year…

 

For many of us snow is synonymous with Christmas.

Christmas cards, songs and movies all portray a white Christmas.

But, what makes a white Christmas?

For many people, a White Christmas means a complete covering of snow falling between midnight and midday on 25^th December
 

However, the definition used most widely – notably by those placing and taking bets, is for a single snowflake (perhaps among a mixed shower of rain and snow) to be observed falling on the 24 hours of 25 December at a specific location.

White Christmases were more frequent in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, even more so before the change of calendar in 1752 which effectively brought Christmas day back by 12 days. However, despite climate change, the natural variability of the weather will not stop cold, snowy winters happening this year or indeed in the future!

 When did we last have a white Christmas?

Surprisingly, the last white Christmas was as recent as Christmas 2010.

It was extremely unusual, as mot only was there snow on the ground at 83% of Met Office stations (the highest number ever recorded) but snow or sleet also fell at 19% of the stations.

As for this year, who knows?

And many of our customers will probably be more pre-occupied with whether to have ‘White’ or ‘Red’ this Christmas?!