Only a few days left before the big day and there are plenty of people repeatedly checking the weather forecast to see if they’ll get the postcard-perfect white Christmas of their dreams. But what country is most likely to see snow on 25 December?
Using historic data from each country’s capital city, Vouchercloud have put together a series of infographics to determine in which countries you are most likely to be able to build your own snowman. Don’t get too excited however; a whopping 127 countries - or 65% of the world - have a statistically 0% of ever seeing a white Christmas.
If you want to maximise your chances, you would be best heading to Russia, which has by far the best chance at more than 60%. Scandinavian countries also make a decent showing, while across the Atlantic, snow-lovers should aim to be in Canada.
The top 10 countries and their odds of getting a white Christmas are as follows:
Russia - 60.89%
Belarus - 52.82%
Finland - 49.19%
Estonia - 49.19%
Lithuania - 48.39%
Greenland - 47.18%
Kazakhstan - 43.95%
Canada - 43.55%
Ukraine - 43.15%
Iceland - 42.34%
Of course, all is not lost if you don’t live in any of these countries, especially if you are in such a huge place as the United States, where some areas are beating even Russia’s odds at a white Christmas. Alaska has an impressive 66.1% of getting snow on Christmas, followed by Vermont and Minnesota.
This year brings some extra good news for US residents as current forecasts predict that the lower 48 states have a better-than-average chance at a white Christmas, although possible storms brewing could put a stop to that closer to the day.
Of course, there are different definitions of what a ‘white Christmas’ is. In the UK, the Met Office says that you only need to observe some snow falling during 25 December, even if it doesn’t stay on the ground. In the USA, there must be one centimetre of snow on the ground at 7am on Christmas morning, while in Canada, where snow is a lot more common, there must be two centimetres.
