White Christmas
Odds of a white Christmas even higher as bookies predict low chance of snow after unseasonably warm weather
The chances of a white Christmas seem slim as recent bouts of warm weather across the country make the odds of snow higher.Though it is too early for the Met Office to predict the weather for December 25, bookies are forecasting a balmy Christmas day with the odds of snowfall as high as 10-1 in some parts of the country.
The last white Christmas was in 2010 when temperatures plunged to -17C and snow blanketed more than 80 per cent of the UK's weather stations.
The chances of a white Christmas seem less
likely with bookies predicting 10-1 odds in some parts of the country.
Snow fell on December 25 in 2010 and 2009 (pictured)
Wet, stormy and windy conditions are expected
this year unlike in 2004 when around 60 per cent of the country recorded
snowfall (pictured)
Scots' hopes for a white Christmas remain in tact however, with Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen more likely to be blanketed with odds of 4-1.
With temperatures as high as 13C in some parts of the country, the weather is unseasonably warm for this time of the year when temperatures are expected to stay between 7C and 9C.
Though warnings of high winds and gales covered Scotland and Northern Ireland, a Met Office guide revealed there was little to anticipate in most parts of England.
Meteorologist Leon Brown, of the Weather Channel, said: 'It's not going to be a white Christmas, but it will be wet, windy and stormy.
'We'll be in the firing line next week, and over Christmas, for anything developing from the Atlantic.'
Pressure from the jet stream — air currents that act as a barrier between warm and cold weather — will fall south of the UK this weekend, bringing rain and high winds with gusts of up to 80 mph in the north. Heavy rain is then likely to drift south.
The chance of snow on Christmas day is slim in
most parts of England while Scots' hopes of a white Christmas remain
relatively in tact
A Met Office spokesman said: 'We are
moving into unsettled weather, with deepening low pressure and gale
force winds. Most of the country will see winds over the next five days,
with the worst over northern parts of the UK and high ground.'We can only predict from five days before Christmas but the indications are that it could be mild. It won't be anything remarkable, not wildly unseasonable, just milder.'
Less rain and fluctuating temperatures have, it seems, confused not only humans but the natural world.
Gardeners north of the Border say plants are flowering beyond their expected season and the shoots of bulbs, which should not be visible until next month, have emerged.
Temperatures as high as 13C have been recorded
in some parts of the country this year. 2001 was another year in which
snow fell on Christmas day (pictured)
Parts of the UK woke up to an unexpected snow fall in November with temperatures plummeting to -4C
Teesdale in Cumbria was blanketed by heavy snow
in November but is less likely to see a white Christmas like the rest of
the country
There have been 38 snowy Christmas days in the past 52 years,with 1961 seeing the most snow on ground after 2010 and 2009.
According to the Met Office, snow only falls on average five days in December, compared to 7.6 days in January, 6.8 days in February and six days in March.
White Christmases were more frequent in the 18th and 19th centuries, even more so before the change of calendar in 1752 which effectively brought Christmas day back by 12 days.
Climate change has also brought higher average temperatures over land and sea and this generally reduces the chances of snow during the festive period.
Parts of the country were blanketed by unexpected snowfall in early November, when Arctic blasts plummeted temperatures down to as low as -4C.
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