What year had the best Christmas in the UK? From the 1970s to 2010s

As well as time for family and presents, Christmas is most defintely a time for nostalgia too. Whether you're looking at old pictures, listening to Christmas hits from the past, or watching some of your favourite old TV shows and films, we're all looking back one way or another during the festive season.

But what about Christmases from previous years? Is there a specific year that holds a special place in your heart when it comes to the end-of-year festivities?

Perhaps it's one of the years that have recently been deemed among the best Christmases the UK has seen - based on music releases, the performance of Christmas films, and the all-important average snowfall in December. Thanks to bestbettingsites.com, this data is now on hand to reveal the best year for Christmas in the UK.

According to the data, in 2017 Christmas reached its peak with an outstanding festive score of 8.28/10, making it the ultimate year for festive celebrations. The release of 48 new Christmas movies, including Netflix's hits "Christmas Inheritance" and the trilogy-spawning "A Christmas Prince," contributed to the festive fervour. Additionally, Ed Sheeran clinched his first Christmas No.1, wrapping up a "Perfect" year for the singer-songwriter.

The runner-up spot goes to 1995, where Michael Jackson's "Earth Song" dominated the official Christmas No. 1 for six weeks. Christmas movies in 1995 earned a noteworthy IMDb rating of 7.08/10, contributing to an overall Christmassy score of 8.12/10.

Securing the third and fourth positions are 1981 (7.73/10) and 1983 (7.72/10), with 1981 experiencing the second-highest days of average snowfall (13), following only behind 2010. IMDb engagement soared for 1983 festive films, amassing 88,416 votes after the release of the seasonal classic "A Christmas Story."

Rounding off the top five is 1992 (7.50/10), highlighted by Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You," which claimed the coveted chart accolade, reigning for an impressive ten weeks in the UK.

In terms of decades, the best 10 years for celebrating Christmas with six entries in the top 20 was the 1970s. A decade when the famous “Morecambe and Wise” Christmas specials brought the nation together, 1973 even saw festive tunes like Slade’s “Merry Christmas Everybody”, The Wizzard’s “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday” and Elton John’s “Stepping into Christmas” fiercely battling it out for the Christmas number one spot!

Following behind in second, Christmas in the 1990s was evidently memorable, gifting us timeless classics like “Home Alone” and “The Muppet Christmas Carol”, while Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” made its unforgettable debut.

Securing the third position is the 2000s, a decade when Christmas rom-coms graced our big screens. Cult favourites like “Love Actually” and “The Holiday” became the talk of the town, joined by classics like “Elf”, “The Polar Express” and “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” which have since become Christmas staples, ranking highly on the list of the most rewatched festive films.

See the top ten years of best Christmases below: