ISLANDERS dreaming of a white Christmas will probably have to keep dreaming.
Since the Jersey Met Office started compiling weather data in 1894, there have been just two years when snowfall has been recorded, and 2025 looks unlikely to be the third time.
Senior forecaster Bryan de Gruchy said there was no indication of wintry weather on the forecast, with unsettled conditions forecast for the start of Christmas week on Monday 22 December.
Looking further ahead, Mr de Gruchy added: “Indications are that towards the end of the week and the Christmas Weekend [27 and 28 December], pressure will begin to build, bringing more settled weather, with temperatures close to or a little below average – so cooler than the generally mild conditions we’ve had recently, although it could be a little breezy at times so perhaps feeling cold.”
Jersey’s average maximum temperature for late December is 10°C.
The last time snow was recorded on Christmas Day was 1970, when snow showers were recorded at Jersey Airport at 9.35am and 8.10pm. Eight years earlier, a “trace” of snow was recorded at Maison St Louis in St Helier on 25 December 1962.
Jersey Met confirmed that no snowfall on Christmas Day had been recorded between 1894 and 1962, although the weather bureau did cite anecdotal evidence from an Islander’s diary in 1830. “Very heavy snowfall” was noted on Saturday 25 December, although the temperatures were above freezing and all the snow was said to have melted by Monday morning.
The UK Met Office has also published a medium-term forecast for the ten-day period starting Sunday 21 December. Unsettled conditions are predicted at first, before high pressure becomes “rather more dominant, with more in the way of dry, settled weather” and temperatures “probably a little lower than in recent weeks”.
The UK forecast concluded that “particularly cold conditions look unlikely at this stage”.
