WITH snow coating North-East hills and high-up areas of County Durham and North Yorkshire on Friday, December 4, people continue to hope for a white Christmas.

With the festive day just three weeks away, The Met Office has not ruled out a white Christmas.

The festive season is certainly different this year as the country and world continue to grapple with the coronavirus, but a blanket of white on Christmas day may make it feel a little more normal.

What are the chances? 

In its long-range forecast for December 17 to December 31, last updated this morning, The Met Office cannot say for sure whether you should dig out your sledge. 

Instead, the weather service says confidence is low in any prediction as signals are weak, "rather mixed" and likely to change - but that doesn't mean there is no hope.

There may be snowfall in the west of the region, in the likes of County Durham areas Consett and Bishop Auckland, but The Met Office will have a better idea around a week beforehand.

It is also more likely to fall on high-up areas, unlike lower grounds like in Tyne and Wear which will instead see rain and showers. 

As temperatures plummet and dry spells are a likely, frosts and fog are in the pipeline.

Although Teesside Airport isn't listed, betting shop William Hill has odd 5/1 for it showing at Newcastle Airport on Christmas day. 

The Northern Echo: Credit: William HillCredit: William Hill

When was the last white Christmas?

The Met Office counts a little snowfall on December 25 as a white Christmas, making 2017 the most recent and the second consecutive one following similar levels in 2016.

However, neither Christmas saw widespread snow and there were no reports of it actually settling on the ground - so that doesn't count for many of us.

The last proper white Christmas was in 2010, where snow was reported by 83 per cent of the weather stations used by the Met Office to monitor snowfall - the highest amount ever recorded.