WEATHER forecasters have said there is still a chance we will get snow this Christmas Day.

At the time of writing this, the bookies were giving short odds on a white Christmas too.

Coral offered 3-1 in Edinburgh, 5-1 in Liverpool, and 8-1 in Cardiff.

The company said: “We thought the dream of a white Christmas was over but with temperatures set to nosedive again, the gamble is back on.”

If you are considering a flutter (on the fluttering of snowflakes), then take note.

There are strict conditions that must be met.

For many of us here in the UK, a white Christmas means simply a complete covering of snow on Christmas Day.

Not so, says the Met Office and, more importantly, the bookmakers who have to pay out.

The official definition is that snow must be observed falling, however little, in the 24 hours of December 25.

It is still allowed if the snow melts before it touches the ground.

So if we get heavy snowfall in the run up to Christmas Day and everywhere is blanketed under inches of white stuff, it’s considered null and void if no fresh flakes fall on December 25.

White Christmases were much more common in Britain from the 1550s until the 1850s, during what is known as the Little Ice Age.

You hear about the traditional frost fairs. They sound wonderfully festive events.

Perhaps the most famous ones were those held on the Thames in London between the 17th century and the early 19th century. People would congregate on the ice and buy and sell food and drink.

In many ways it was like the modern Christmas markets.

Although I suspect you could pick up a ye olde burger and beer for a lot cheaper than you pay in Manchester.

It was common at this time for the river to completely freeze over. There are tales of coaches and horses being driven across the surface of the frozen Thames.

The notorious Great Frost of 1683- 84 is said to be the worst ever recorded in England. The Thames was frozen solid for two months and the ice is said to have been 11 inches thick. At Manchester the ground was frozen to 27 inches thick with ice.

When the UK changed from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian one in 1752, this cut the chances of a white Christmas.

There were seven official white Christmases in Britain in the 20th century. I recall one Christmas Day as a child where there was snow outside and going into the back garden to make a snowman with my Dad and brother. I was fairly young, so it must have been the 70s.

I wish you all a very merry Christmas.