What is a white Christmas according to the Met Office? When was the snowiest winter in Yorkshire? Everything you need to know

The last time Yorkshire saw a white Christmas was in 2010 when the entire country was blanketed with snow on Christmas Day.

Most people dream of a white Christmas, but it’s not very common in Yorkshire.

What is a white Christmas?

A Met Office spokesperson has explained what the phrase means according to the weather service.

“The definition that the Met Office uses to define a white Christmas is for one snowflake to be observed falling in the twenty-four hours of December 25 somewhere in the UK,” the Met Office said.

“It’s still too early to say if there will be a white Christmas this year. Since 1960, around half of the years have seen at least five per cent of the network record snow falling on Christmas Day.

“This means we can probably expect more than half of all Christmas Days to be a ‘white Christmas’.”

When was the snowiest winter in Yorkshire?

The deepest snow on record in Yorkshire was in 2009 in Malham Tarn, where the snow depth was 43cm.

According to the Met Office, the ever changing weather brought about by climate change is making white Christmases like that of 2010 more and more unlikely.