White Christmas 2018: Weather forecasters CHANGE requirements - what are new guidelines?
CHRISTMAS is now exactly one week away, with most people now prepared with presents and family traditions. One tradition which has changed recently is the parameters for a white Christmas according to the Met Office.
Weather: Freezing temperatures and SNOW set to sweep UK
White Christmas odds have been slashed recently, as the Met Office starts to predict snow, and the parameters for the event have been shifted. Normally, people will be hoping to peer out of the window on a cold Christmas day and see the ground laden with a thick layer of snow. To many people, this is what signifies a white Christmas, but there are official government guidelines for the phenomenon. These guidelines have been prepared by weather forecasters the Met Office.
What are the requirements for a White Christmas?
Traditionally, a white Christmas is accepted as a singular snowflake settling on the roof of the Weather Centre in London.
For it to be a white Christmas, this strictly must happen on Christmas Day.
Given there is often little snow in London, the requirements were only for a single snowflake, but with general lack of snow at the end of the year, this has changed.
The Met Office changed their parameters for a white Christmas according to traditional Christmas betting.
They said: “The definition that the Met Office uses to define a white Christmas is for one snowflake to be observed falling in the 24 hours of 25 December somewhere in the UK.
“With the increase in betting on where will see a white Christmas, the number of locations have increased and can now include sites such as Buckingham Palace, Belfast (Aldergrove Airport), Aberdeen (Pittodrie - Aberdeen FC), Edinburgh (Castle), Coronation Street in Manchester and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
“We also analyse the data from our observing stations around the UK to provide a complete picture of where snow has fallen or was lying on Christmas Day.”
Snow warnings from the Met Office have shown snow in the country is now completely possible over the next week.
Amber warnings for snow over the north of the country were extended by the forecasters last week, signalling the beginning of bitterly cold temperatures in the UK.
Bookmakers Ladbrokes have responded to the recent forecasts, slashing odds for snow in select locations.
Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: "We've slashed our White Christmas odds to record lows with snow set to batter the UK in the coming days."
What are the odds for a white Christmas in the UK and Ireland?
To see snow on Christmas Day, odds are:
Aberdeen 6/4
Edinburgh 7/4
Glasgow 7/4
Newcastle 2/1
Belfast 5/2
Liverpool 7/2
London 4/1
Manchester 4/1
Birmingham 5/1
Bristol 5/1
Cardiff 5/1
Dublin 5/1
Leeds 5/1