A WHITE Christmas is on the cards after snow fell in the north of England on December 23. The bookies think it could be a holiday miracle, with odds of 1-2 for it to be a White Christmas. Will it snow at Christmas in 2020? The Met Office has a yellow weather warning for snow […]
A WHITE Christmas is on the cards after snow fell in the north of England on December 23.
The bookies think it could be a holiday miracle, with odds of 1-2 for it to be a White Christmas.
Follow our Santa tracker live blog for the very latest updates on his location.
The Met Office has a yellow weather warning for snow and ice in Scotland on Christmas Eve – but no such warning for Christmas Day itself.
Snow has already fallen in northern parts of England – on December 23 – hitting Lanehead, County Durham, and causing chaos on the A686 Hartside to Alston route in Cumbria.
However, the forecast for Friday, December 25, states it will be fine and dry with some sunshine for many.
Showers can be expected over parts of Cornwall, west Wales and the far east of England early on with rain later in Scotland.
On Christmas Eve, the Met Office tweeted: “Rain, sleet and #snow showers are running down the east and west of the UK at the moment, have you seen any snow?”
The Met Office defines a white Christmas as at least one snowflake to be observed falling in the 24 hours of 25 December somewhere in the UK.
The Met Office said: “A snowflake has fallen somewhere in the UK on Christmas Day 38 times in the last 54 years, so we can probably expect more than half of all Christmas Days to be a ‘white Christmas’.
“However, there has only been a widespread covering of snow on the ground (where more than 40% of stations in the UK reported snow on the ground at 9 am) four times in the last 51 years.”
Bookmakers are never ones to shy away from white Christmas, with Paddy Power stating that Aberdeen is the most likely place to see snow fall with odds of 1/1.
Leeds is just behind on 2/1, ahead of Norwich and Edinburgh airports on 11/4.
The odds for snow at London Heathrow Airport stands at 4/1.
Odds of 3/1 are offered for Glasgow, Birmingham, and Dundee airports.
Coral is offering odds-on at 1-2 for there to be a White Christmas (snow in any major city in the UK on Christmas Day) this year.
Coral’s white Christmas odds are 2-1 Edinburgh, 3-1 Newcastle, 4-1 Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham, 5-1 London, and 6-1 Bristol
Odds correct as of December 23, 2020
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Technically, 2017 was the last white Christmas in the UK, but no snow settled on the ground. This also happened in 2016 and 2015.
The last “proper” white Christmas was in 2010, when the highest ever recorded amount of weather stations reported snow settling – 83%!
Another 19% of weather stations reported sleet, so it truly was a miracle for almost all of the nation.
Bing Crosby’s holiday classic from 1942 describes the scene many are wishing for:
“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
“Just like the ones I used to know
“Where the treetops glisten
“And children listen
“To hear sleigh bells in the snow
“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
“With every Christmas card I write
“May your days be merry and bright
“And may all your Christmases be white
“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
“Just like the ones I used to know
“Where the treetops glisten
“And children listen
“To hear sleigh bells in the snow
“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
“With every Christmas card I write
“May your days be merry and bright
“And may all your Christmases be white”
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