Will it be a white Christmas in Shropshire? Odds revealed as winter sets in

As the weather starts to get colder ahead of the festive season, the talk among many has started about whether it will snow at Christmas.

Among many lovers of the festive season, there will be the hope that December 25 will be a white Christmas, with a Dickensian feeling of snow widespread across the ground.

In the UK, according to the Met Office, the last technical white Christmas in the UK was in 2023, when 11 per cent of weather stations recorded snow falling, while the last widespread white Christmas with snow lying on the ground was in 2010.

Indeed, the Met Office said there have only been four years where there was a widespread covering of snow on the ground since 1960, which were in 1981, 1995, 2009 and 2010.

A spokesman for the Met Office said: “For the Met Office to declare a ‘white Christmas’, a single snowflake has to be observed falling on the 24 hours of December 25, by either an official Met Office observer or by a Met Office automated weather station.

“This is because it needs to be officially verified both for our climate records, and also to provide consistency and certainty.

“Since 1960, around half of the years have seen at least 5% 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'.”

According to the White Christmas website, which tracks the odds across the main towns of the UK, the West Midlands is predicted to have a nine per cent chance of a white Christmas, with Kidsgrove in Stoke-on-Trent having the highest predicted percentage of 11 per cent.

In Shropshire, Telford, Wellington, Hadley, Bridgnorth, Oakengates and Shifnal all rated at six per cent, while Newport was rated at five per cent and Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Ludlow, Whitchurch and Wem all rated at four per cent.

In Staffordshire, Cannock, Burntwood, Chasetown and Norton Canes were all rated as having a nine per cent chance of a white Christmas, while Lichfield and Great Wyrley were rated at eight per cent and Stafford, Rugeley, Stone and Featherstone all rated at six per cent and Wombourne, Penkridge and Codsall all rated at five per cent.

In Walsall, Bloxwich, Aldridge and Streetly were the highest rated at nine per cent, while Brownhills and Pelsall were rated at eight per cent and the borough town Walsall was seen as having a five per cent chance of having a white Christmas.

In Dudley, the odds were slightly lower, with Dudley having a six per cent chance, while Halesowen and Kingswinford were rated as having a five per cent chance and Stourbridge and Brierley Hill just four per cent.

In Sandwell, West Bromwich topped the list in the borough with an eight per cent chance, while Oldbury was rated at five per cent and Smethwick, Tipton, Wednesbury and Cradley Heath.

Across Wolverhampton, the city was seen to have a five per cent chance, while Bilston and Wednesfield was viewed as having a four per cent chance, while in Wyre Forest, Kidderminster, Stourport and Bewdley were all rated as having a five per cent chance.