Since 1960, around half of the years have seen at least 5% of the network record snow falling on Christmas Day. This means we can probably expect more than half of all Christmas Days to be a 'white Christmas'. However, the Dickensian scene of widespread snow lying on the ground on Christmas Day is much rarer.
A white Christmas in London, where temperatures are typically higher than in the countryside, is even rarer. The capital has officially experienced six white Christmases since 1960: 1964, 1968, 1970, 1976, 1996, and 1999. This means it has been 25 years since London last had a white Christmas.
For many, the holiday season is synonymous with a fresh blanket of snow, but such occurrences are quite rare in many cities across the country. A white Christmas is officially defined by the National Weather Service as a community having at least one inch of snow on the ground during the morning hours of Dec. 25.
According to the Met Office, a white Christmas is officially defined by the observation of a single snowflake falling anywhere in the UK within the 24 hours of 25 December. Widespread snow on Christmas Day remains a rarity. The last significant event was in 2010, when snow blanketed Kent, Sussex, and Surrey.
As any UK meteorologist will tell you, snow is more likely to fall at Easter than it is at Christmas, although this is more accurate when Easter falls earlier on in the calendar.
Since 1960, around half of the years have seen at least 5% of the network record snow falling on Christmas Day. This means we can probably expect more than half of all Christmas Days to be a 'white Christmas'.
In conclusion, the winter of 2024/2025 is shaping up to be one of the most challenging in recent years for the UK. With the likelihood of colder temperatures, increased snowfall, and heightened storm activity, it's advisable to prepare for a more severe winter season than usual.
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 reduced the chances of a white Christmas.
Christmas 1983 Blizzard and Record Cold. Christmas of 1983 was the coldest Christmas ever with blizzard conditions across northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania. The combination of the arctic cold temperatures and the wide open Great Lakes set the stage for the development of a Lake Effect blizzard.
Snow in London is a rare occurrence because of the city's milder climate, but it is a possibility! During the winter months, London may experience light snowfall or flurries, but these usually melt away quickly.
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In Europe the rule of thumb for snow at Christmas is: That the higher up the mountains you are in the Alps or the further North you are in Scandinavia the more certain you can be of a guaranteed white Christmas.
Some U.S. cities, like Jackson Hole and Marquette, almost always have snow on Christmas. Cities like Duluth and International Falls stay cold enough in December to keep snow on the ground. Crested Butte offers a near 100% chance of a white Christmas with very cold December temperatures.
so when the Victorians read the books, they thought of snow and Christmas together! One of the other reasons that Snow and Ice became popular in Victorian times is because Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, came from Germany where it was colder and he was used to lots of snow and ice being around at Christmas.
There is evidence of decreasing trends in observations of snowfall and lying snow in Britain, and climate model projections suggest a continuation of this trend.
When was the last time it snowed on Christmas Day in the UK?
The last widespread white Christmas in the UK was back in 2010. It was extremely unusual, as not only was there snow on the ground at 83 per cent of stations (the highest amount ever recorded) but snow or sleet also fell at 19 per cent of stations.
A white Christmas is defined as having 1 inch or more of snow on the ground Christmas morning. The graphics provide a general sense of the likelihood of a white Christmas over the entire country and the Midwest.
The Met Office predicts that 2025 is likely to be among the top three warmest years on record, following 2023 and 2024. Meteorologists anticipate the next significant heatwave in the UK to occur as early as late June or July 2025, aligning with the onset of meteorological summer.
On average in the UK, July is the warmest month and June is the sunniest while the rainfall totals throughout the UK in summer can be rather variable. The highest temperatures in summer tend to be seen around London and the southeast, with the coolest temperatures experienced throughout Scotland and Northern England.
What is La Nina? La Nina refers to the periodic cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific. Typically, La Nina events occur every 3 to 5 years or so, but on occasion can occur over successive years.
