There are lots of things that encapsulate the idea of Christmas, including trees, carols and gifts.
One thing that is always synonymous with the idea of Christmas though is snow, and the chilly white stuff is so central to festive imagery that snow Christmas trees are a popular form of decoration. So, why do we associate snow with the season?
It is certainly not something supported by reality in the modern age. The UK has only seen four snowy Christmases since 1960, with the last one back in 2010.
That was not always the case though; between the mid-16th century and the late 1900s, Britain went through its Little Ice Age period. This was a prolonged spell of remarkably cold winters, in which snow and ice were regular features.
These were not exactly the charming snowy scenes found on Christmas cards – they were months of harsh and bitterly cold weather. When Charles Dickens wrote about festive snow in his 1843 masterpiece ‘A Christmas Carol’, he was describing the reality for people in the UK.
Snow has therefore became inextricably linked to the festive period during Victorian times. The royal children were often depicted in newspapers of this era playing with sledges and building snowmen.
This association was further strengthened during the last century, when Irving Berlin composed the iconic ‘White Christmas’. Sung by Bing Crosby and featured in the film Holiday Inn, it became a staple festive song, and introduced that oft-heard phrase to the world, even if it’s a sight we rarely see these days!
