What is the coldest Christmas on record in the UK? Christmas days that have varied from -18.3C to 15.6C

With Christmas fast approaching, people across the UK are preparing their festivities. Every year people hope this will be the year of a movie set white Christmas. 

A white Christmas is defined as a minimum of one snowflake observed falling in the 24 hours of Christmas day. But what is the coldest Christmas on record? Here is what you need to know. 

What is the coldest Christmas on record in the UK?

Due to climate change and global warming, the UK's winter is getting warmer. The coldest Christmas day for England was in 1878, when Gainford in Durham dropped to -18.3 °C. However, this is not the case for the rest of the UK as the coldest Christmas days were in living history for the other three nations.

 In Northern Ireland temperature dropped to -17.5°C at Katesbridge, Down in 2010. In the same year, Scotland also recorded its coldest Christmas at -18.2°C in Altnaharra, Sutherland in 2010. For Wales, the coldest Christmas day was -16.5°C at Llysdinum, Powys in 2010. 

When was the deepest snow on Christmas day UK?

However, the coldest day did not mean the deepest snow recorded. For the majority of the four nations, the deepest snow on Christmas day is again, in living history. These were: 

• England: 43cm at Buxton, Derbyshire and Malham Tarn, N. Yorkshire in 1981 and 2009
• Northern Ireland:  17cm at Hillsborough, Down in 2010
• Scotland:  47cm at Kindrogan, Perthshire in 1981
• Wales: 45cm at Cae Poeth, Gwynedd in 2010

When was the warmest Christmas day UK?

Although the deepest snow recorded in the UK was recorded in 2010, just six years later two out of four nations would record their warmest Christmas day. These were: 

• England: 15.6 °C at Killerton, Devon in 1920
• Northern Ireland: 14.8 °C at Belfast Newforge in 2016
• Scotland: 15.1 °C at Dyce, Aberdeenshire in 2011 and 2016 and Urquhart, Ross & Cromarty in 2016
• Wales: 15.2 °C at Hawarden, Clywd in 2015

When was the wettest Christmas day UK? 

Unfortunately, sometimes dreams of a white Christmas turn to sludge as winter in the UK is accompanied by a lot of rain. The wettest Christmas day on record was in the last ten years, with Northern Ireland recording theirs just two years ago. 

The wettest Christmas days on record are:

• England: 103mm at Ennerdale, Cumbria in 2003
• Northern Ireland: 82.5mm at Trassey, Down in 2021
• Scotland: 70.5mm at Achnagart, Ross & Cromarty in 2011
• Wales: 165.4mm at Capel Curig, Gwynedd in 2015