Is it really more likely to snow at Easter than Christmas? Everything you need to know about White Easter

Yorkshire has been gripped by the freezing cold claws of the Beast from the East and the Mini Beast, and now we are being warned about the Beaster of Easter.
What is White Easter?What is White Easter?
What is White Easter?

READ: What do the changes to the Met Office weather warnings mean for us?The previous snowstorms, both in the space of a few weeks, caused mass disruption to travel networks and plunged cities into chaos, while rural communities became cut off from major routes.

And now, residents are preparing to go through it all again as the possibility of blizzards in our region rises.

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If we do see snow over the holiday, then we will have a White Easter, and here’s everything you need to know about them:

What are the chances?

We’ve all seen the pretty Christmas cards with snow-lined streets and blanketed trees, haven’t we?

But the fact is we are statistically more likely to see the white stuff at Easter than over the festive period.

According to some experts, March is classes as a transitional month, where snow over the early part of spring is unsurprising.

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In fact, it has snowed on more days in March than it has in December historically, according to the Met Office.

The average number of days for snowfall in December is 3.9, while March has the higher figure of 4.2.

Because the sun is hotter in spring (thanks to the vernal equinox), the days are longer, which means this storm’s snow dump should melt quicker than the last lot we encountered.

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However, it is likely to be very cold as temperatures drop heading into the holiday weekend, with the mercury set to settle at a below average spot.

History lesson

READ: Which roads will be closed when thousands gather to anti-Brexit march in Leeds?The Met Office have issued a history lesson based around snow at Easter - which is very interesting.

It says: “Perhaps the most outstanding April snow event occurred in 1981 when there was significant snowfall widely from the 24th to the 28th. On 25 April over 30cm of snow was recorded over the high ground of the Pennines, with 29cm in Sheffield and 26cm in Buxton.

“The following day 25cm of snow was recorded at Okehampton, Devon, with 20cm at Blaisdon, Gloucestershire and 14cm at Corsham, Wiltshire. The heavy snowfall with blizzard conditions led to disruption to power supplies and travel.

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“In 1989 there were late-April snow showers across parts of southern England, and even last year there was snow at the end of April in Aberdeenshire.

“We have also seen some snow events in May. In 1979, it snowed every day somewhere in the UK between 1 and 6 May, including parts of the south and southeast.

“On 6 May 1997 over 200 stations across the UK recorded falling snow.”