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The bookies should make out rather well this coming Christmas Day as a record number of bets were taken on whether there would be a white Christmas.
Don't count on it now.
While Paddy Power has set odds of a white Christmas in London this year at 4/1, weather forecasts say it's just not happening.
From the Times Online:
A sustained dry spell is forecast over the next week because of high pressure. A strong high-pressure system blocks depressions, forcing the accompanying wet and windy weather to make a "detour", so there could be clear skies over much of Britain on Christmas Day. Temperatures will depend on where the centre of the anti-cyclone is anchored - indications are that it might drift northwards and sweep in cold, dry air from Europe.
With clear skies, it is possible that frost and fog may follow a freezing Christmas Eve night and, first thing in the morning on December 25, it could almost resemble snowfall.
This was the coldest start to December throughout England in over 30 years and snow was reported as early as October.
But all is not lost for those who bet the White Christmas in London, the Times reports.
The bookmakers' definition of a white Christmas is for a single snowflake to fall anytime within the 24-hour Christmas Day period at a specific location. This year, in London, it will be Buckingham Palace.
In rare circumstances, snow can fall from a clear blue sky. This is most likely to happen in the Arctic or Antarctic, where moisture in the air is frozen into fine crystals of ice that resemble tiny diamonds, or snowflakes, known as "diamond dust". The phenomenon occurred this February during bitterly cold weather in various parts of England.
Jordan Bach, Gambling911.com
