The history of white Christmases in the UK & the chances of one this year

[Nick F]

Is there a chance of white Christmas this year? Also a look at the tradition of snowy Christmas scenes despite a green Christmas being much more likely than not.

View the full blog here

[Pixel]

A certain bookmaker has just relieved me of a small amount of cash for a snowflake in Edinburgh and / or Heathrow

I suspect that's two rusty nails in the coffin then  

[William Downie]

'White Christmas' traditionally meant snow on the ground on the day. If we use that definition, instead of the ridiculous meteorological one, then I can remember nine white Christmases in or near Broxburn, West Lothian (80m asl) since 1962, which was the first I can recall. Here they are

1962: we woke up to three inches of snow that lay all day.

1967 or 68: we had a white Christmas one of those years, the snow falling the day before.

1970: there was a couple of inches of snow on the ground.

1981: we had a thin covering of snow and a sub-zero day.

1993: we had another thin covering that lasted all day. 

1995: we had a couple of inches that had fallen the night of the 23rd and a sub-zero day.

2000: we had an inch of snow on the ground, a little falling and a sub-zero day.

2009: we had about eight inches of snow, which had been accumulating since the 17th. It was to keep building up for another fortnight.

2010: there was about three inches lying from a fall several days earlier. The thaw began that day.

 

That was Christmas days where there was at least a 50% covering. There were two Christmas days, 1980 and 1998, when it snowed and lay in the evening and a third day, 2008, when there were a few flakes of frozen snow on the ground. They may have been others, but from the white Christmases I can recall we have had between one white Christmas in five and one in seven in my lifetime, depending on your definition. 

[Summer of 95]

Never done this one before but its 2020.

Netweather forecast says northerly/northwesterly/northeasterly flow, mostly the north high ground but not sure about lower down, got 10 quid on Belfast at 4/1. More likely with that direction than Cardiff at the same price, and no less than Edinburgh which is 2/1.