It's that time of year again... You know the time. It's when yer man from Donegal (postman Michael Gallagher, don't you know) says we're all going to get snowed in (or frostbit, at least) for months on end, and we all go rushing off to buy sledges and those Yaktrax for your shoes that lie dormant in your cupboard under the stairs for the vast majority of the winter.
This year, however, is going to be different. This year, the bookie overlords are so sure we're due a white Christmas (our first since 2010 we do believe), that they've gone and slashed the odds on it happening. Because they don't do that every year.
Seemingly it's all down to a "blob" of "abnormally cold water" thanks to ice from Greenland seeping into the Atlantic. The informed folk at AccuWeather had this to say on the matter: "If the Gulf Stream and correspondingly other currents in the Atlantic weaken, then it could change long-term temperature patterns all around the Atlantic basin... Assuming the Atlantic current slow-down theory is correct, and should the abnormally cold water off of Greenland remain consistent, it could continue to partially block the transport of warm water and correspondingly warm air into western Europe for years to come." Yaaaay.
Trend chart :If this will be true winter 2015/2016 Ireland/UK/Holland would be burried under heavy severe snow ! pic.twitter.com/rz3CKydpki
— Ryan/J-Ashoka (@WinterExpert) October 4, 2015
AccuWeather's Tyler Roys added: We'll see full-on cold spells. Northern England faces colder-than-normal periods, some of which could affect southern England, and Scotland is forecast a colder than normal winter... Given recent past winters' minimum temperatures of -8C to -21C, lows of that level are possible this winter."
This lead to the following statement from William Hill bookmakers: "A long, cold winter is being forecast up and down the country but despite the prediction of prolonged winter blues some of us may have the chance to experience the magic of snow on Christmas day."
A Ladbrokes spokesperson added: "The mercury looks like dropping as fast as the odds in a brutal winter."
Paddy Power are currently offering odds of it being a white christmas in Dublin Airport at 5/2 and Cork 4/1.
Whip out those Yaktrax, we're in for a cold one.
