FORGET the Met Office – stoats at a 600-year-old monastery are a safe bet for an accurate weather forecast.

Experts say a colony of stoats, which has set up home at Mount Grace Priory, near Osmotherley, in North Yorkshire, can predict whether or not the North will have a white Christmas.

English Heritage, which manages the priory, says an adult male stoat’s fur turning white ahead of schedule is an indicator of a tough winter.

Normally brown on top and white underneath, stoats may turn completely white during the colder months to improve their camouflage against predators.

Becky Wright, of English Heritage, who is also a member of the Mammal Society, said: “Some of the stoats went white after the last New Year and stayed that way for much longer than we had expected.

“Then we had a snowy Easter, showing that they have a sixth sense about these things. On that basis, the stoats could be offering a sign that we may need to wrap up warm for quite a few more months. Perhaps they know a white Christmas is on the cards.”

The colour change is controlled by a gland that reacts to temperature and day length. The head and body may turn white, the tip of the tail stays black.