Festive films and TV reveals typically present pleasant snowfall on Christmas Day — however that’s not not often the fact within the UK.
So when did this final occur within the UK and London? And what are the probabilities this 12 months?
Right here’s what you’ll want to know.
When was the final official white Christmas within the UK?
The UK Met Workplace defines a white Christmas as when a minimum of one snowflake is noticed at a number of of its 11 reporting stations on Christmas Day.
Historically, the organisation used a single location to outline a white Christmas: the Met Workplace constructing in London.
Nevertheless, as curiosity in white Christmases grew, the variety of reporting areas expanded to incorporate websites throughout the UK, equivalent to Buckingham Palace, Belfast’s Aldergrove Airport, Pittodrie Stadium in Aberdeen, Edinburgh Fort, Manchester’s Coronation Avenue, and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
Earlier than that, 9 per cent of climate stations recorded falling snow in 2022, however none with snow settling.
Folks within the snow in Gateshead, north-east England, in December 2023
PA
Each 2021 and 2020 have been technically white Christmases, with six per cent of climate stations recording snow falling. Nevertheless, fewer than one per cent of stations reported snow mendacity on the bottom in 2021 and solely 4 per cent in 2020.
There was no file of snow falling at any station within the UK in 2018 or 2019.
The final widespread white Christmas within the UK was in 2010. The Met Workplace stated this was extraordinarily uncommon as a result of not solely was there snow on the bottom at 83 per cent of stations (the best quantity ever recorded), however snow or sleet additionally fell at 19 per cent.
We additionally had a white Christmas in 2009, when 13 per cent of stations recorded snow or sleet falling, and 57 per cent reported snow mendacity on the bottom.
When did it final snow in London on Christmas Day?
A white Christmas in London, the place temperatures are usually larger than within the countryside, is even rarer.
The capital has formally skilled six white Christmases since 1960: 1964, 1968, 1970, 1976, 1996, and 1999.
This implies it has been 25 years since London final had a white Christmas.
What are the percentages of London having a white Christmas in 2024?
Bookmakers yearly compile lists of the locations almost definitely to see a white Christmas.
The Online Betting Guide (OLBG) claims Newcastle and Edinburgh are the almost definitely locations to see snowfall this 12 months — with 36.4 per cent odds.
These are adopted by Belfast (22.2 per cent), Dublin (16.7 per cent) and Cardiff (14.3 per cent). London is ninth on this listing, with solely 10 per cent odds.
You possibly can maybe take that with a pinch of salt for now, although. As MyLondon reviews, the Met Workplace had stated it’s not possible to foretell a white Christmas precisely a month earlier than the massive day.
“Regardless of what some headlines recommend, it’s not attainable to precisely pick a precise date for snow to hit the UK weeks upfront, however we do have some long-range outputs that may assist us to know the probabilities,” Mark Sidaway, deputy chief meteorologist, instructed the publication.
“Completely different projections of the longer term are run a number of occasions by way of climate forecasting fashions. Typically these will probably be fairly related at quick ranges, however by the point you get weeks forward, these can have a major vary of attainable climate circumstances sooner or later. It’s our job as meteorologists to take a look at all these projections and perceive what it’s telling us in regards to the chance of circumstances.”
