Will there be a white Christmas in Sunderland this year? What we know about the weather forecast for Christmas and New Year so far

Are you dreaming of a white Christmas in Sunderland?
The last white Christmas in Sunderland. Snow on Christmas Eve 2010.The last white Christmas in Sunderland. Snow on Christmas Eve 2010.
The last white Christmas in Sunderland. Snow on Christmas Eve 2010.

There's a chance you could be in luck - though it is far too early to say for sure at this stage.

The Met Office forecast for December 20 to January 3 reports a "risk of snow" - and many will be hoping it falls on Christmas Day (though many others will be hoping it stays away altogether).

The last white Christmas in Sunderland. Snow on Christmas Eve 2010.The last white Christmas in Sunderland. Snow on Christmas Eve 2010.
The last white Christmas in Sunderland. Snow on Christmas Eve 2010.
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Bookmakers William Hill is offering 4/1 odds on snow falling at Newcastle International Airport on Christmas Day, the closest location to Sunderland it has listed - second only to Scotland's Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh Airport, all of which have 3/1 odds.

The last official white Christmas was in 2010, when snow was widespread across the North East, Northern Ireland, Scotland, parts of Wales, the Midlands, and far south-west England.

The weather outlook for Thursday Dec 20 to Thursday January 3

Th festive period is likely to start with a mixture of weather, with spells of settled, drier and colder conditions, overnight frost and fog - but also with a chance of occasional bouts of windy and showery weather bringing a risk of snow.

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By Christmas and through the last week of December there is a more general trend towards unsettled conditions returning, with western areas seeing spells of windy, wet and milder weather, with the best of any drier but colder weather the east and south.

By the New Year there is very low confidence in the forecast, but there are signs that weather patterns may become slow moving again, possibly bringing a period of colder, and at times more settled, weather conditions.

If it does snow in Sunderland, you can become a volunteer observer and record your snow observations on the Met Office's Weather Observations Website.