It’s just over a month to go until Christmas, and the usual frenzy over whether we can expect a white one has already begun.
Bookmaker Coral has started the race odds-on at 4-5 that snow will fall anywhere in the UK on Christmas day. The firm is evens that the winter will be the coldest ever and has slashed the odds on this month being the coldest November on record in the UK from 5-1 to 2-1.
Coral’s John Hill said: “This latest cold snap has prompted a gamble on this month being the coldest November on record in the UK and with snow forecast over the next few days, the odds have been slashed again.
“We continue to take a flood of bets on a White Christmas and unless temperatures stop falling, it is not going to be a happy Christmas for the bookmakers this year.”
- 4-5 White Christmas anywhere in the UK
- EVS Coldest winter on record in the UK
- 2-1 Coldest November on record in the UK
- 2-1 Snow in Aberdeen on Christmas Day
- 3-1 Snow in Glasgow on Christmas Day
- 4-1 Snow in Manchester on Christmas Day
- 5-1 Snow in London on Christmas Day
There was snow overnight in the Scottish mountains and there is likely to be more in the region over the next couple of days, but the Met Office warns it is too early to tell if a White Christmas is in the works. The last one was in 2015.
Predictions that November will be the coldest on record seem somewhat unfounded given that the average temperature for the month as a whole is 6.4C – some way off the 2.3C recorded in 1919.
Tuesday will see temperatures hit 14-15C in the south, but it will be a short-lived respite as the cold weather will be returning from Thursday, becoming wintry by the weekend.
By Wednesday, bands of heavy rain are expected across the north and northwest of England. Around 25-50mm of rain is expected in the area which has been signposted by the Met Office with a yellow weather warning, though around 100mm could be possible over higher ground.
Come Saturday, temperatures in the south will hover around the 10-11C mark, about average for the time of year.
Snow showers are due in the north, as is hail in the lower levels.