One day to go! Defining a white Christmas

It's officially one day to Christmas, but what defines a proper white Christmas?

In the UK, the definition of a technical white Christmas is set by the Met Office. It used to be that a snowflake had to fall on the Met Office's building in London, but today it's if just one snowflake falls somewhere within the 24 hours of December 25th.

In Ireland, Met Éireann similarly state that a white Christmas is defined by the measure of any quantity of snow falling anytime over Christmas Day. Both are verified with weather station observation data too.

The last technical white Christmas was 2022, though zero weather stations reported any actual lying snow. The last widespread white Christmas with measurable snow in the UK and Ireland was in 2010.

Some parts of Ireland reported a spectacular 27 cm of snow on the ground! This year, for 2023, it looks as though the only part of the UK that will be seeing snow is northern Scotland.

So whether you'll be having a white Christmas, or just a regular green one, we hope you have a very merry one either way!