More if you want it...

Snow at Christmas is deep-seated in British culture, and many of us long for the likes of the scenes depicted on traditional Christmas cards and in works like Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' or 'Pickwick Papers'.

The interest in snowy Christmases has its origins in the colder climate of the period 1550-1850 when Britain was in the grip of a 'Little Ice Age'. Winters were particularly persistent and severe - 1813/14 was the last winter that a 'frost fair' was held on the River Thames in London.

For most parts of the UK, Christmas comes at the beginning of the season for snow. Wintry weather is more likely early in the deepening cold of January. White Christmases were more frequent in the 18th and 19th centuries, even more so before the change of calendar in 1752 which effectively brought Christmas day back by 12 days.

Posted By: Jim Nasium on September 9th 2005 at 17:47:14

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