It is also around this time of year, after the first few flurries of snow have hit, that people start talking about the possibility of a White Christmas.
Who better to cast his eye into his weather snowglobe to see if Britain will be toasting another festive season under a carpet of white, but Michael Fish.
Well unfortunately it is still far too early to tell for certain although Michael tells me he “has a hunch” the best we can hope for is a bit of morning frost.
He said: “Thoughts, especially those of bookmakers, will soon turn towards ‘will it be a white Christmas’.
“As far as the Met Office are concerned they can only really firm up on the answer about five days before, although there will have been hints seen a week or so before that.
“Will it be a white Christmas this year? The answer is I don’t know.
Will it be a white Christmas this year? The answer is I don’t know
Michael Fish
“In fact all qualified meteorologists will tell you that it is far to early to know.
“I do, however, have a hunch that’s it’s quite likely to be an average Christmas with the only ‘white’ being early morning frost. We will see.”
There is some confusion as to what constitutes a White Christmas, and anyone thinking about having a flutter should brush up as bookies are quite specific as to what counts.
Michael, being the expert, has a few facts and figures as to what happens before we can all start singing jingle bells in the snow.
He said: “What is a white Christmas?
“Simple enough in most countries – that the ground is covered with at least 2cm [0.7ins] of snow.
“But that is not so here as it is defined as snow being observed to fall, however little, in the 24 hours of 25th December at a specific location.
“It doesn’t matter if it melts before it reaches the ground.”
He said White Christmases were more common in the UK from the 1550s to the 1850s, and even more so before a change of calendar in 1752 which made Christmas day 12 days earlier.
He said: “Climate change has brought higher average temperatures which have further reduced the chances which range from around six per cent in London to as high as 75 per cent in Shetland.
“There have only been four occasions in the last 52 years when there has been a widespread covering of snow (2010 the last) but 38 times when a snowflake was observed.
“In this country there is often a fine line between rain and snow at a particular location.
“Factors include sea temperatures, height and the air mass. Sometimes it can be snowing at one location but just 20 miles away it’s raining.”
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