Home
Weather London
WeatherRadar
RainfallRadar
TemperatureRadar
WindRadar
LightningRadar
Weather News
Editor's Pick
Discover the app
Weather widget
Contact us
Apps
Career
    Home / Editor's Pick /

    Unlikely this year - Defining a White Christmas

09:00
24 December 2025

Unlikely this year
Defining a White Christmas

Group of adults and children walking and playing on a snowy field, one child riding a red sled being pulled, others walking with a small dog, with winter hills and trees in the background.
2020 saw a white Christmas, however, only 4% of stations reported any snow lying on the ground. - © picture alliance

It's almost Christmas Day, and there's always talk of whether snow will fall or not, but what defines a true White Christmas?

In the UK, the definition of a White Christmas was 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.

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. The last Irish white Christmas was in 2010, with a spectacular 27 cm of snow.

This year, the outlook is not positive, at least not if you were hoping for snow. Instead, skies clear for a sunny, if chilly, Christmas.

Some small light showers in Scotland could turn snowy, but in terms of a real, widespread White Christmas, there's no good news.

Ryan Hathaway
More on the topic
Your moments from the solar eclipse. A unique sight. . . Wednesday, 12 August 2026
Split image showing a bright green crescent Sun through a solar filter on the left and the same partial solar eclipse visible through gray cloud above silhouetted leaves on the right.
Wednesday, 12 August 2026

A unique sight

Your moments from the solar eclipse
Poor harvest expected after drought. Rain remains scarce. . . Thursday, 6 August 2026
Split image showing an aerial view of drought-stricken parkland with dry yellow-brown grass surrounding a church on the left, and a temperature map of England and Wales on the right with temperatures reaching 30°C in southeast England.
Thursday, 6 August 2026

Rain remains scarce

Poor harvest expected after drought
Cooler nights on the horizon. For parts of Europe. . . Thursday, 6 August 2026
Temperature Radar showing the night-time lows in Central Europe. Cooler air is reaching the west and north in particular, whilst the south-east remains significantly warmer.
Thursday, 6 August 2026

For parts of Europe

Cooler nights on the horizon
All weather news
This might also interest you
A frozen start to the weekend. Icy conditions. . . Friday, 13 February 2026
UK temperature map dated 14.02 showing widespread subzero values in blue shading, with readings such as −4 in Glasgow, −3 in Dublin, and −2 in London, alongside a blue thermometer icon.
Friday, 13 February 2026

Icy conditions

A frozen start to the weekend
Storm Chandra makes impact. Severe gales & heavy rain. . . Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Split image showing strong winds over the UK on a forecast map and widespread rain and snow on a weather radar map.
Tuesday, 27 January 2026

Severe gales & heavy rain

Storm Chandra makes impact
New records for England and Wales. Broken again tomorrow?. . . Thursday, 25 June 2026
Temperature map of southwest Britain on 25.06 showing extreme heat across southern Wales and southwest England, with Bute Park in Cardiff highlighted at 34.2°C and Yeovilton at 36.4°C amid widespread deep red heat zones.
Thursday, 25 June 2026

Broken again tomorrow?

New records for England and Wales
All articles
Weather & Radar

Weather & Radar is also available on

Google Play StoreApp Store

Company

Contact us Privacy Policy Legal info Accessibility statement

Services

Uploader

Socials

facebooktwittertikToklinkList