Many people dream of a white Christmas from a young age, thanks to nostalgic childhood memories and their portrayal in traditional festive songs and stories, such as those by Irving Berlin or Charles Dickens. However, for those in the UK, most people have never witnessed one unless they have been abroad for the Christmas period.

In fact, while a few flakes occur on average every one to two years, widespread snow on the ground at 9am on Christmas Day is much rarer. This has happened only four times since 1960, the last instance being in 2010, when snow was present on the ground at 83% of weather stations. While snow fell across large parts of the country this week and temperatures plummeted , average November conditions are now expected to resume, stifling the threat of more wintry

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