When was the last White Christmas in Cambridge UK?
The year 1981 also provided a winter wonderland in December, with heavy snow blocking roads and forcing drivers to dig out their cars. The most recent White Christmas was actually in 2010.
Meanwhile in the UK, 2022 was the last white Christmas in the UK with 9% of stations recording snow falling, although none reported any snow lying on the ground. The last widespread white Christmas in the UK was also in 2010.
Snow, sleet and rain moved across parts of Scotland, with Tulloch Bridge and Aviemore recording snowflakes, the Met Office said. The forecaster said this made Christmas Day 2023 an “official white Christmas”, which is defined by at least one snowflake falling on 25 December.
Christmas 1981 showed that the term 'white Christmas' might not be quite what it seems. Following some deep falls of snow on the 8th and the 11th December there was a full scale blizzard on Sunday 13th. Even the Queen became a victim of deep snowdrifts and had to take refuge in a Cotswold pub.
When was the last time we had a white Christmas in the Midlands?
Nothing makes Christmas more magical than waking up a picturesque dusting of snow on the big day. But a proper White Christmas is something we haven't seen for over a decade now. The last time we saw a White Christmas in Birmingham was 2010. This was when snow was widespread across the UK.
How many times on record has it snowed on Christmas Day in the UK?
Snowflakes have fallen on Christmas Day in the UK 39 times in the last 53 years, according to the Met's records. By the above standards, the last white Christmas was technically 2021, when 6% of the country's stations recorded snowfall. However, less than 1% reported snow on the ground.
In 1981 Britain experienced the whitest Christmas of the 20th Century, with over half the country covered in snow. With unseen archive and celebrity anecdotes, this show recalls the spectacular weather event.
The winter of 1963 - the coldest for more than 200 years
The weeks before had been changeable and stormy, but then on 22 December a high pressure system moved to the north-east of the British Isles, dragging bitterly cold winds across the country. This situation was to last much of the winter.
The hottest Christmas Day on record was 15.6C in 1920, and there is a chance – albeit a small one – this could be matched or even beaten, the Met Office says. The Met Office said temperatures hit 15.3C in Heathrow, west London, and Cippenham in Slough.
Met Office forecasters confirmed "some snow falling across the Scottish high ground" just after midday on Monday. Christmas 2023 is officially a white one - despite parts of the country reaching the highest minimum daily temperature on record for 25 December.
“For widespread and substantial snow on the ground on Christmas Day, we have to go back to 2010,” said the Met Office spokesperson Nicola Maxey. Between 1960 and 2020, London had six white Christmases, Cardiff had four and Belfast and Edinburgh each had 11.
11-12 July 1888, snow was reported to have fallen over the Isle of Wight, Kent, East Midlands, East Yorkshire, Isle of Man, and the south Midlands. The snow may have been mistaken for soft hail in parts of southern England. 16 June 1889, snow occurred across the high ground of N England and Scotland.
The winter of 1962–1963, known as the Big Freeze of 1963, was one of the coldest winters (defined as the months of December, January and February) on record in the United Kingdom. Temperatures plummeted and lakes and rivers began to freeze over. Deep snow near Burrow-with-Burrow, Lancashire, England, January 1963.
Snow in June is incredibly rare in the Midlands. But ten years later Mother Nature defied the odds again. On June 7, 1985, a sleet shower fell on Birmingham Airport. There were a few flurries in June 2009 as well – but nothing like the scenes 40 years back.
The last “White Christmas” was in 1987 when there was an inch of snow throughout the day, along with an inch of snow on the ground in the morning. Before that, the next previous “White Christmas” was in 1976 when there was an inch of snow during the day and an inch of snow on the ground in the morning.
The outright ban came in June 1647, when Parliament passed an ordinance banning Christmas, Easter and Whitsun festivities, services and celebrations, including festivities in the home, with fines for non-compliance - although they also introduced a monthly secular public holiday (the equivalent of a modern bank holiday ...
There have been six white Christmases [MetO 'one snowflake' definition] recorded in the capital since 1960. But, if you consider what most people perceive to be a white Christmas, a widespread covering of snow on the ground, that's only happened four times in the UK [since 1960] - in 1981, 1995, 2009 and 2010. I.
Gainford in Durham holds the record for the coldest ever temperature recorded on Christmas Day in the UK at a freezing -18.3°C in 1878. This is even lower than the Scottish record of -18.2°C, recorded in Altnaharra, Sutherland, much more recently in 2010.
What are the chances of a white Christmas in the UK?
Will there be a white Christmas in 2023? According to betting.com, the chances of a white Christmas somewhere in the UK are 7/4, with London being an outside bet at 9/1. The latest odds were given on December 14. White Christmases were more frequent in the 18th and 19th centuries.
