William Hill slashes odds on first potential widespread White Christmas in a decade
Odds on snow at UK major airports have plummeted to their lowest collective level in a decade, even lower than 2010’s wintry wonderland.- Both the BBC and the MET Office have warned of ‘unsettled weather’ and a ‘possibility of snow’, while many weather apps and online forecasts predict full-blown snow on the big day.
- Edinburgh and Leeds joint favourites for snowy scenes, 4-9, with Newcastle, Birmingham and Manchester all 10-11.
Bookmaker William Hill today made Scotland’s capital Edinburgh and Leeds 4-9 favourites for a White Christmas in 2021, with all 13 major UK airports now at their lowest level in over a decade.
That means the collective book on a White Christmas is 11-4 or shorter, considerably lower than the widespread White Christmas in 2010, when there was snow on the ground at 83% of stations (the highest amount ever recorded) but snow or sleet also fell at 19% of stations.
Put simply, that means in the past week alone, the odds of widespread White Christmas have increased by 6.7%, from 20%.
Forecasters have now agreed on the ‘possibility of snow’ as we enter the five-day window in which snowfall can be accurately forecast.
William Hill, which has been running a market on a White Christmas since the tail end of the summer, today slashed its odds across the board, with outside betting on London (City Airport) now as short as 11-4.
Edinburgh and Leeds-Bradford, the UK’s highest airport, are now 11-4 joint favourites to wake up to greetings card scenes on the big day, with Newcastle, Birmingham, and Manchester all available at 10-11.
Glasgow is 6-5, Liverpool 11-8, Belfast 2-1, and Cardiff 9-4, before Bristol, Dublin, Gatwick and London (City Airport) all tip the scales at 11-4.
William Hill spokesperson Rupert Adams said: “As ironic as this may sound, we’re now seeing forecasters slowly warming to the idea of a White Christmas. There has been a quiet confidence about the prospect, behind closed doors, for some time, but many have been unwilling to stake their reputation on it.
“As soon as we ticked into the crucial five-day window of being able to forecast snow, those calling snow on the big day got a bit louder and as a consequence punters have been indulging in a festive flurry flutter with renewed confidence.
“After such a turbulent, and at times torrid, 12 months, wouldn’t it be magical to wake up on Christmas day to blankets of fluffy white snow!”
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, with that building long since sold and 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 13 major UK airports.
There have been White Christmases in four of the past six years, but they involved only a small number of locations.
Since 1960, there have been only four occasions when at least 40 per cent of UK weather stations have reported snow on the ground at 9am on December 25 – 1981, 1995, 2009 and 2010.
Edinburgh (Airport)
4-9
Leeds (Leeds-Bradford Airport)
4-9
Newcastle (Airport)
10-11
Birmingham (Airport)
10-11
Manchester (Airport)
10-11
Glasgow (Airport)
6-5
Liverpool (Airport)
11-8
Belfast (Airport)
2-1
Cardiff (Airport)
9-4
Bristol (Airport)
11-4
Dublin (Airport)
11-4
Gatwick (Airport)
11-4
London (City Airport)
To view the full market for a White Christmas in 2021, please visit: https:--sports.williamhill.com-betting-en-gb-tv-specials-OB_EV21589670-snow-on-christmas-day
