Dreaming Of A White Christmas? Britain Set For Ice And Snow This Winter

Every year Brits hope for a bit of snow on Christmas Day to make the festive season complete, but we’re usually left with a bit of drizzle and grey skies.

However, it looks like we may be able to play in the snow after opening our presents as the odds of a White Christmas have just been slashed.

Bookies have now cut the odds from 5/1 to 2/1 that an ice cold wintry festive season will happen - and it’s all thanks to the strongest EVER El Nino.

With temperatures rising in the Pacific Ocean, the knock-on effect in Britain and the rest of Europe is months of sub-zero temperatures and snow.

The last time El Nino hit six years ago saw the country suffer three months of ice and snow on the roads, closing school and making travelling perilous.

And this December we could see lows of around -16C, which could put an ice cold dampener on festive getaways.

Met Office weather forecaster Tomasz Schafernaker told The Express: “This time round El Nino could be the strongest in decades.

“In Europe sometimes winters end up much colder and drier and last much into spring. In 2010 the El Nino played a part in bringing huge amounts of snow to the UK.”

As well as the El Nino effect, the melting of Greenland’s ice sheet will further add to the big freeze, slowing down the Gulf Stream that pushes in warm currents from America.

James Madden from Exacta Weather said that there will be “some snow to much lower levels of the country” before December as a result of the “non-existent Gulf Stream”.

AccuWeather meteorologist Tyler Roys added: “We’ll see full-on cold spells.

“Northern England faces colder-than-normal periods, some of which could affect southern England, and Scotland is forecast a colder than normal winter.

“Given recent past winters’ minimum temperatures of -8C to -21C, lows of that level are possible this winter.”

Pics: Rex