Will there be a white Christmas in the UK this year?
With Christmas around the corner, thoughts have turned to what the weather will be like over the festive period - and if there is a possibility it could snow.
Thursday 18 December 2025 14:30, UK
Drawing back the curtains to reveal a surprise blanket of snow on Christmas Day is something many long for - but how often does it occur and could it happen this year?
A plane ticket to Lapland would obviously boost your chances, but the Met Office bar for a UK "white Christmas" could not really be any lower.
The forecaster requires only one snowflake to be officially observed falling in the 24 hours of 25 December, at one of its 200-plus automated weather stations, or by one of its official observers.
This definition is also used by betting firms to decide whether to pay out on Christmas snow wagers.
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Lying snow on the ground on Christmas Day does not count, although many would probably class that as a white Christmas.
When was the last white Christmas?
It's little surprise that 80% of Christmases over the last 60 years have technically been white - mainly due to mountainous areas of Scotland such as the Highlands and Cairngorms.
Looking at statistics back to 1959, the UK is more likely to have one than not.
However, not one snowflake was recorded anywhere in the UK on Christmas Day 2024. In fact, temperatures were above zero everywhere.
Optimistic Londoners prepping the sledge for some post-turkey fun this year should probably stand down: the capital has only registered a white Christmas 10% of the time, and the last was in 1999.
What about a "proper" White Christmas, something vaguely resembling the front of a traditional Christmas card?
The last time all four UK nations had a white Christmas was back in 2010, the year snow lay most widely across the UK since 1959.
Snow fell at 19% of Met Office weather stations and lying snow was recorded at 83% (the highest ever recorded).
Cae Poeth, in Gwynedd, had a foot and half (45cm) on the ground in 2010, a record for Wales - and not far off the all-time record for the deepest snow on 25 December, which was 47cm in Kindrogan (Perthshire) in 1981.
Christmas Day in 2010 was also the coldest ever recorded in Northern Ireland (-17.5C (0.5F) at Katesbridge), Scotland (-18.2C (-0.8F) at Altnaharra) and Wales (-16.5C (2.3F) at Llysdinum).
White Christmases where at least 40% of weather stations had lying snow at 9am have only been recorded in three other years in recent decades: 1981, 1995 and 2009.
So, what about this year?
Forecasting snow can be a big challenge in the UK just a few days ahead.
It's still too early to tell whether this year will bring a technical white Christmas or not, but anything deep, crisp and even can be ruled out, Paste BN weather producer Jo Robinson says.
There is an increased chance of a blocked pattern over north-west Europe for Christmas Day, with high pressure likely to dominate.
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That would bring drier and colder conditions to the UK, with an increased chance of frost and fog.
Computer models currently suggest some fairly strong easterly winds in the south, which may bring showers to the east or south-east of England.
If cold enough, those showers would bring flurries of snow, but we're not expecting anything widespread, either exciting or disruptive, at this point.