Arctic blast forces William Hill to take evasive action with White Christmas odds market

• Sub-zero temperatures and heavy snow are set to fall in large swathes of Northern England and Scotland at the end of this week.
• Leeds, Edinburgh and Glasgow could turn to snowy destinations on December 25.
• MET Office forecast more wintry showers and icy scenes into December as bookmaker William Hill takes evasive action with its White Christmas odds market.
• 8-1 duo Cardiff and Bristol are the shortest priced outsiders since the last official White Christmas in 2017.

With much of the UK bracing itself for sub-zero temperatures and heavy snowfall in the coming days, bookmaker William Hill has today shortened its odds at 12 major UK airports for a White Christmas.

The looming cold snap could see the mercury plummet as low as -11C for some, with five days worth of wintry conditions, and a significant sprinkling of the white stuff for some regions, set to follow.

November has been remarkably mild, but with things set to change throughout this week, the MET Office’s long range forecasts now reveals a barrage of wintry showers and icy conditions are primed to hit at the start of December, effectively forcing bookmaker William Hill to take evasive action on its popular market for festive flurries.

Leeds Bradford Airport, which is more than 700ft above sea level and holds the record for being the highest airport in the UK, is 3-1 favourite for a White Christmas, closely followed by Scottish duo Edinburgh and Glasgow at 10-3 and 7-2 respectively. 

With snow-filled Christmas-card scenes touted for Northern conurbations, Liverpool (7-2), Newcastle, Manchester, and Birmingham (all 4-1) have all seen a significant tightening of their odds in recent days.

William Hill spokesperson Rupert Adams said: “While we’ve enjoyed a relatively mild November to date, we now look set to welcome freezing temperatures in the coming days. Forecasters are already calling snow showers for the tail end of this week, and with most of the forecasting tools at our disposal pointing to more of the same for early December, we had no other option than to cover our backs.”

Belfast (9-2) and Dublin (6-1), join the likes of London, Bristol and Cardiff as the least likely – but even the worst case, Cardiff, still has an 8-1 chance, the shortest-priced outsiders since 2017, which was the last true white Christmas in the UK – with 11 percent of weather stations recording snow falling.

The popular pastime of betting on a white Christmas was in fact instituted by William Hill, and traditionally required a single snowflake to fall on the MET Office operations centre in London. 

Nowadays, and with that building long since sold – the national weather service now based in Devon – all that is needed to declare a white Christmas is the observation of a single snowflake falling in the 24 hours of December 25, at one of 12 major UK airports.

The UK has not seen snow on the ground on Christmas Day since 2015 when it was observed at a tenth of weather stations. Those 2015 flurries came five years after widespread snow and the coldest December for a century in 2010.

The last widespread white Christmas (2010) saw snow on the ground at 83% of weather stations (the highest amount ever recorded), while snow or sleet fell at 19% of station.

Leeds (Leeds-Bradford Airport) – 3-1

Edinburgh (Airport) – 10-3

Glasgow (Airport)- 7-2

Liverpool (Airport) – 7-2

Newcastle (Airport) – 4-1

Birmingham (Airport) – 4-1

Manchester (Airport) – 4-1

Belfast (Airport) – 9-2

Dublin (Airport) – 6-1

London (City Airport – 6-1

Bristol (Airport) – 8-1

Cardiff (Airport) – 8-1

If you’re dreaming of a white Christmas, please visit: https://sports.williamhill.com/betting/en-gb/tv-specials/OB_EV21589670/snow-on-christmas-day