My mum and dad were apparently at a disco on that night - I guess I must have been with my nan or gran!
There was snow on Christmas Eve, but it stopped before midnight and left a covering for Christmas Day. There have been a few close calls, a few technical White Christmases in some areas, including one here (i.e. a flake or two of sleet and/or snow, but nowhere near enough to settle) and a couple of times when some earlier snow survived into Christmas Day. But the big one, i.e. snow falling and settling, has proved elusive for over 50 years. As you say, 95 and 96 were close - close enough for snow to fall while decorations were up, which looked lovely, but still not on the big day.
I used to fervently hope for a textbook white Christmas. I then used to hope for a few days of snow on the ground, 80s style. These days I'll take even an hour of snow producing slush on the ground, but even that's now a twice-a-decade thing at best! Predicting snow has always been a tough job, but it's become even harder now that the bell-curve has shifted so far to the right (1.5C of warming in just 30 years at Brogdale, for example).
There was an article in 2000 in the Indy about children not knowing what snow was as the century went on, which drew much ridicule at the time. While the premise was way over-hyped, the general trend is clear. Already you get odd looks from youngsters when you mention the regular NE'lies and heavy snow of the 80s... I don't think they believe the ancient 45-year-old when he says 6 inches of snow here wasn't especially noteworthy, and that we used to get drifts of powder snow measured in feet! Just look at all the faff over the 2018 "Beast", which - for 3 days at least - was genuinely like the 80s.
https://web.archive.org/web/20150502225210/http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/snowfalls-are-now-just-a-thing-of-the-past-724017.html
David Parker, at the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research in Berkshire, says ultimately, British children could have only virtual experience of snow. Via the internet, they might wonder at polar scenes - or eventually "feel" virtual cold.Heavy snow will return occasionally, says Dr Viner, but when it does we will be unprepared. "We're really going to get caught out. Snow will probably cause chaos in 20 years time [i.e. 2020]," he said.
Originally Posted by: Retron