It is only be a bit of festive fun but you won't see many bookies laughing if it snows on Christmas Day

Simon Clare Coral

Snow also fell in the Scottish Highlands, Stirling and Lerwick.

Newcastle and Durham in north east England and Wrexham in North Wales also had some light snowfall.

For a white Christmas to be official, a flake of snow must be observed to fall at specific sites between midnight on 24 December and midnight on 25 December, even if it is mixed with rain and is not necessarily snow lying on the ground.

Record payout

Heavy snow showers which had already swept across parts of eastern England and Scotland prompted bookmakers to slash the odds on a white Christmas to the shortest price for 20 years.

William Hill has Glasgow as the favourite at 6/4, Manchester at 6/4, London 2/1 and Cardiff 3/1.

A spokesman said there would be a record payout of �150,000 if it were to snow in all four cities.

A swimmer showers after the Serpentine race

Simon Clare, spokesman for the bookmakers Coral, said: "It is only be a bit of festive fun but you won't see many bookies laughing if it snows on Christmas Day."

If snow does fall bookmakers will have to pay out for the third time in six years following the white Christmases of 1996 and 1999.

An official white Christmas has already been confirmed in Northern Ireland.

The Meteorological Office said a snow flurry fell on its offices at Aldergrove, Co Antrim, soon after dawn.

Falling temperatures are expected to mean more snow in Northern Ireland later in the day.

One city that will not be recorded as having a white Christmas, even if snow falls on Christmas Day, is Birmingham.

The Meteorological Office confirmed that automated equipment installed in the city was unable to differentiate between snow, sleet and rain.

'Exhilarating' swim

Meanwhile dozens of hardy swimmers plunged into the icy waters of the Serpentine in central London on Christmas Day to race for the coveted Peter Pan Cup.

More than 35 members of the Hyde Park lake's swimming club - the oldest of whom was 78 - competed in the 100-yard event.

The race has been held every year since 1864 and was won this year by the club's team captain Norman Saxby.

Veteran competitor Alan Titmuss, 65, said: "It's quite exhilarating. It is just a shame it was so murky and grey.

"There is a great sense of camaraderie. Our families watch and we would not miss it."