It is that time of year again when many start to wonder whether we will see a white Christmas this year.

For many a white Christmas means a complete covering of snow, ideally falling on the 25th. However, the definition of an official white Christmas used most widely, notably by those placing and taking bets, is for a single snow flake (perhaps amongst a shower of rain and snow mixed) to be observed falling in the 24 hours of 25 December.

The last official white Christmas was in fact last year, when snow was widespread across Northern Ireland, Scotland, parts of Wales, the Midlands, north-east and far south-west England.

With the cold and snowy conditions already affecting many parts of the UK the question of a white Christmas is of course even more topical.  However it is just too early to say with any detail what the conditions will be in individual towns and cities across the UK.  Our 6 to  15 day forecast is available on our website and gives a general idea of the weather we can expect during the Christmas period, but we will really need to wait until the start of next week before we can provide more detail.