FLAKE NEWS

From the deepest snowfall on UK records to the tallest snowman ever made? Here’s everything you need to know about snow

THE best selling single of all time is 1942 Bing Crosby classic I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas by Irving Berlin. According to The Met Office, it is officially a white Christmas here in the UK if snow is observed falling, however little (even if it melts before it reaches the ground) in the 24 hours of December 25. More often than not, however, snow usually hits the UK in January and February.

And the odds of a white Christmas in Australia are similar to those of us having snow in the UK on June 25.

The best place to see snow here is in Aberdeenshire which claimed the record for coldest ever UK temperature recording -27.20C in Braemar, which is also Britain’s snowiest place. The coldest December on record, according to the Met Office, was in 2010. Ruthin in Wales holds the record for the deepest snow, measuring 1.65m deep in 1947.

Snow falls at a rate of 1-4mph and a good blanket of flakes is so exciting, inviting us to leave footprints, make snowballs and roll together a snowman.

Some snowmen – and snowwomen – have left Every snowflake, pictured above, is unique, much like every snowman! their mark long after the summer thaw. Michelangelo is said to have made a snowman in Florence in 1494 and frozen characters have featured in scenes from the middle ages and on some of the earliest photos, postcards and in silent movies.

The world’s tallest snowwoman was created in Maine, USA, in 2008. Forget your carrot nose, felt hat and coal buttons – standing more than 122ft high, this snow giant had skis for eyelashes, trees for arms and five-foot tyres for buttons.

All snowflakes are unique, formed by slight fluctuations in temperature and humidity. They aren’t white, but completely clear.

Somehow, I don’t think I’m Dreaming of a Completely Clear Christmas has quite the same ring to it though, do you?