Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

This afternoon it started raining on top of the frozen snow that fell a few days ago. Then it started to sleet until at last it started to snow. This is the view in my street at the moment...


Apparently bookmakers William Hill have slashed the odds of it being a White Christmas, worried that they'll be facing a massive pay-out.

Did you know...?
It can actually get cold enough that it doesn't snow! Because snow is frozen water, if there are not enough water droplets in the air it can't snow - simple as that. As a result, the driest place on Earth isn't in the Sahara Desert or the Arizona Desert. It's actually a place known as the Dry Valleys and it's in Antarctica. The area is completely free of ice and snow, and it never rains there at all! In fact, parts of the Antarctic continent haven't seen any rain for around 2 million years! But Antarctica is also the wettest place in world, due to the fact that 70% of the Earth's water is found there in the form of ice.

For more fascinating facts like these, check out Match Wits with the Kids - available now - as well as What is Myrrh Anyway? Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas.

And if you're feeling the cold, why not sit down in front of the fire tonight and enjoy a Snowball? Of the slightly alcoholic variety...

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Snowball Cocktail
2 oz Advocaat
Top up Lemonade
1/2 oz Fresh Lime juice

Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker / stirrer and pour into an unusually shaped glass. Add Crushed Ice and decorations to create a great speciality drink from an easy to make recipe!

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And while you're sipping your Snowball, why not listen to this ode to the cocktail, celebrating the fact that you can enjoy all your favourite drinks in the same glass?

Make your own White Christmas

With Christmas only two weeks away, you might want to start thinking about what you're going to feed all your guests this year. Well, why not make all their Christmases white with this simple recipe for a delicious festive treat from down under?

White Christmas

250g vegetable shortening
1 cup rice crispies
1 cup shredded coconut
¾ cup icing sugar
1 cup powdered milk
¾ cup toasted almond kernels
30g mixed peel
30g preserved ginger
30g glace apricots
30g glace pineapple
30g sultanas
50g glace cherries

Place the coconut, icing sugar, powered milk, mixed fruit, nuts, cherries (all chopped coarsely), and the rice crispies into a bowl and mix well.

Warm the vegetable shortening gently until melted and then pour over the ingredients. Mix well and place in a airtight container and set in the fridge.

Serve sliced into fingers.

Enjoy!

First frost

December is here and with it came the first frost our way. I actually had to get out of the car and spray some de-icer on the windscreen! So much for global warming.

But of course parts of the UK have already seen their first snow, such as here in the Cairngorms.


And there's more to come.

But if you're wondering what the odds are this year of it being a white Christmas in your part of the UK, you can check here.

Did you snow?

Everyone loves a white Christmas but when was the last one you remember? I remember there was a great one down our way back in the Seventies some time.

Did you know...?
For it to officially be a white Christmas - at least according to bookmakers - just one snowflake has to land on the roof of the London Weather Centre within the 24 hours of the 25 December.

However, did you also know...?
Statistically, Britain is just as likely to have a white Easter as it is a white Christmas!

A White Christmas on Broadway

A new cast has been unwrapped for ‘White Christmas’ on Broadway this year. To find out more, click here.

5 December - Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

The Met Office has issued the following weather warnings for today.

Friday 5 December - WEATHER WARNING

Widespread ice is likely on roads and pavements across much of Northeast England and Southeast Scotland tonight. Valid until 1000GMT.

Friday 5 December - WEATHER WARNING

Snow falling over Cheshire, Manchester, South and West Yorkshire, and Derbyshire will cause some travel disruption over the next few hours. 10cm may well accumulate over the hill roads. Valid until 0700GMT.

Did you know...?

The chances of there being a white Christmas are just 1 in 10 for England and Wales, and 1 in 6 for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

I'd say that, right about now, the chances are looking even better. But then that's global warming for you!