As the days grow shorter and the autumn chill deepens, one of the most common questions we are asked is whether a White Christmas is on the way.
Unfortunately forecasting more than a few days ahead in the UK is prone to error because of the changeable nature of our maritime climate. Therefore making a forecast for Christmas Day with any degree of confidence isn't possible until December is well underway.
By Nandaro (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Despite that there are some things to go on even though they may be tenuous. Seasonal computer models exist which are designed to give pointers to the weather trends. Other factors, for example the state of El Nino and long term persistence, may have a bearing on the prospects.
On the rest of the site you'll find some of the best and most detailed weather forecast charts and data freely available on the internet. Nonetheless there should be some fun too and with this in mind TWO begins updating its legendary Countdown to Christmas forecast on September 1st every year.
Hopefully you'll enjoy reading the Christmas Countdown, but always remember the above.
This year we're adding a number of new features:
Sleeps until Christmas day
Christmas day weather charts for every year from 1979
Christmas day average temperatures
Christmas weather forecast videos (Available from later in the autumn)
Long range forecast charts (Available from later in the autumn)
In addition the formatting of the page has been improved.
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