Bookies have slashed the odds on Scotland’s white Christmas chances this year.
William Hill, which is offering odds on snowfall at 11 major airports across the UK, recently cut Edinburgh from 4-1 to a 10-3.
This has resulted in a 23 per cent chance of winter flurries hitting the capital on Christmas Day.
The change to the odds also means that Edinburgh has now overtaken Birmingham as the favourite to see snowfall on December 25.
Newcastle and Birmingham also have a 20 per cent chance of snowfall this year, according to William Hill.
Forecasters recently predicted that Scotland could be hit by snow next week as the remnants of Tropical Storm Wanda pass over the UK.
Experts at WXCharts previously said that western and northern parts could be struck by heavy snow showers from Saturday, November 20.
Temperatures are anticipated to dip to well below freezing, with a low of -6C potentially in the Highlands during that weekend.
The last widespread White Christmas in the UK came in 2010, when snow is reported on the ground at 83 per cent of weather stations in the UK.
Forecasters at the Met Office are able to declare a white Christmas if ‘one snowflake is observed falling in the 24 hours of December 25 somewhere in the UK’.
Met Office experts can accurately forecast the likelihood of snow falling on Christmas Day up to five days beforehand.
Forecasters recently changed the definition of a white Christmas due to more people betting on the possibility.
A spokesperson for the Met Office said: “Traditionally we used to use a single location in the country to define a white Christmas, which was the Met Office building in London. However, with the increase in betting on where will see a white Christmas, the number of locations have increased and can now include sites such as Buckingham Palace, Belfast (Aldergrove Airport), Aberdeen (Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen FC), Edinburgh (Castle), Coronation Street in Manchester and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
“We also analyse the data from our observing stations around the UK to provide a complete picture of where snow has fallen or was lying on Christmas Day.”
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