With the weather experts suggesting that parts of Wales could be hit by snow later this week what are the chances that we could be enjoying a white Christmas in Abergavenny this year?
According to Met Office all that is needed to make a white Christmas is for one snowflake to be observed falling in the 24 hours of 25 December somewhere in the UK.
Although traditionally a single location was used - the Met Office building in London - in the past few years the number of locations has increased and can now include sites such as Buckingham Palace, Coronation Street in Manchester and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
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Since 1960, around half of the years have seen at least five per cent of the network seeing snow falling on Christmas Day. This means we can probably expect more than half of all Christmas Days to be a 'white Christmas' but widespread snow is much rarer and there has only been a widespread covering of snow on the ground four times since 1960 —in 1981, 1995, 2009 and 2010.
Technically, 2023 was the last white Christmas in the UK with 11 per cent of monitoring stations recording snow falling, although none reported any snow lying on the ground so it's a bit of a push to call it a proper white Christmas.
For those hoping for a Dickensian look to the holiday season there could be disappointment on the (Christmas) cards as the Chronicle's resident weatherman Jonathan Powell is predicting just a ten per cent chance of a White Christmas this year.
Other experts however are more hopeful with website Willigetawhitechristmas suggesting there's a 25 per cent of a snowy Christmas Day although theweatheroutlook.com says it'll be 'too mild for snow' on December 25.
However for who who are still determined to hope for the best - or worst if you’re a sun worshipper - it is notoriously hard to predict if there will be a white Christmas this far in advance. The Met Office has said that it won’t be possible to give a finalised verdict on the odds of a white Christmas until closer to the time.
Meanwhile in case you fancy a festive flutter, website Oddschecker is suggesting that Cardiff is coming in at 8/1 for an implied 11 per cent chance of snow with Band Aid 40 the odds on favourites with the bookmakers to be Christmas Number One in 2024 at best odds of 4/7