UK weather: Met Office says it's too early to tell if Britain will get a white Christmas

Publishing advanced forecasts is 'beyond the limits of current science'

Alexandra Sims
Tuesday 20 October 2015 10:20 BST
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Bookies have slashed odds of the country experiencing a white Christmas and its coldest winter for five years
Bookies have slashed odds of the country experiencing a white Christmas and its coldest winter for five years

The Met Office has said it is “too early to tell” what sort of weather the UK will experience this winter, amid claims that “36 days of snow” may be on the cards.

Weather experts have claimed severely "low Atlantic temperatures" will result in over a month of snow, in addition to “full-on cold spells” in Scotland and Northern England, according to the Mirror.

Bookies have responded by slashing odds of the country experiencing a white Christmas and its coldest winter for five years.

Odds on temperatures dropping as low as -16C, the lowest since 2010, have dropped from 5/1 to 2/1 at Ladbrookes, with a company spokesman telling the Mirror: “The mercury looks like dropping as fast as the odds in a brutal winter."

The Met Office has said it is impossible to predict with any certainty claims that temperatures could go as low as “-21C” in the coming months.

A spokeswoman from the Met Office said: “We can’t possibly know what the weather will be like two months from now.”

“The Met Office do not publish seasonal forecasts as it is beyond the limits of current science."

“We can give trends or guidelines as a form of contingency planning, however we are unable to predict anything with accuracy at this point in time.”

It predicts on its website “spells of windy or stormy weather are more likely that usual” between October to December, however the Met Office stresses this forecast is only a contingency.

Anyone who is planning to travel over the Christmas period is advised to wait until more detailed and accurate forecasts are available nearer the time.

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