WHILE we may wake up to a little ‘white’ on Christmas morning, it will likely be more sparkly and slippery than fluffy and fun in Fermanagh, with no snow but a little frost in the forecast for the weekend.
According to Met Éireann, the weekend ahead looks set to be “relatively mild” with “wet and breezy conditions” and the “potential for heavy rain in the west and north.”
The meteorological service did add that “briefly colder conditions are possible around Christmas Eve”, however there was no sign of snow in the Met Éireann forecast.
Similarly, the Irish Weather Online site – which is run by climatologist Peter O’Donnell who has a good track record of predicting previous white Christmases – has said while there will be a short cold snap at the beginning of the weekend, December 25th this year “will likely be generally dry with rising temperatures, from a cold and possibly frosty start, towards 8C by late afternoon into evening.”
Those who had a flutter on the possibility may still be in for some luck, though. Belfast is one of the bookies’ favourites for a White Christmas this year, coming just behind the 2/1 favourite Edinburgh with odds of 5/2.
However, these betting odds are based on the chances of only a single flake of the white stuff to fall at Aldergrove Airport, which is one of several snow-measuring sites used by the Met Office, not on whether there will be snow on the ground or not.
By the measure of a single flake falling on any of the designated sites, the Met Office has noted what is officially classed as a white Christmas is really quite common.
However, as we all know, the actually likelihood of ‘proper snow’ lying on the ground at Christmas time is actually quite rare.
Indeed, since 1960 there have only been four years that could acceptably be called a white Christmas in the UK and Ireland – 1981, 1995, 2009, and 2010.
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