White Christmas Guaranteed: places where the snow will show

Wednesday 17 December 2008

If rain and drizzle just won’t do, Skyscanner introduces eight places where you are guaranteed a white Christmas.

Despite the recent cold snap that has seen much snow fall over the UK in the last few weeks, the chances of Britain getting a White Christmas are melting away. Belfast (2/1) and Glasgow (3/1) are currently the favourites but forecasters say that for most of the country, a grey Christmas is more likely.

The North Pole – located in the middle of a frozen Arctic Ocean, you can be certain of a White Christmas here. However, access is tricky and unless you’re a polar explorer, it’s unlikely you’ll be munching mince pies at the pole. As for getting the tree up – forget it – there are no plants at all in this frozen wasteland. You’ll have to join a polar expedition to get here

Hokkaido, Japan – already well known to globetrotting skiers and snowboarders, the northernmost Japanese Island of Hokkaido receives massive snowfalls every winter meaning a white Christmas is almost certain. The ski resorts of Niseko, Furano and Rusutsu will be full of revellers enjoying the powdery conditions come winter. Find cheap flights to Japan

Greenland – you’re sure to get a cool Christmas on Greenland’s massive ice sheet, where whiteness comes as standard. Instead of turkey, Greenlanders celebrate Christmas day with Kiviak – the raw flesh of a bird called an auk which has been buried whole in sealskin for several months and reached an advanced stage of decomposition. And you complain about spouts. Find cheap flights to Greenland

Mount Everest, Nepal – as the highest mountain on Earth, you can guarantee a White Christmas here. You may have a job boiling your Brussels though – low air pressure at the top of Everest means that water boils at around 69C – so you may have to eat your sprouts semi-raw. Find cheap flights to Nepal

Lapland – home to Santa’s global manufacturing base and distribution centre, Lapland is not a single country but a region within the Arctic Circle that spans Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. At these northerly latitudes, a white Christmas is a sure bet, and good children can even meet with Santa himself. Find cheap flights to Finland, Norway and Sweden

Antarctica – even though it’s summer down in the southern hemisphere, you can be fairly sure that Antarctica, the coldest continent on Earth, will be experiencing a Christmas filled with ice and snow.  Although there are no permanent residents on Antarctica, there are several research stations staffed year round with scientists who will likely be enjoying a white Christmas with the penguins. You’ll have to join a polar expedition or an Antarctic cruise ship to get here. Find cheap flights to Buenos Aries

Mont Blanc, France – Europe’s highest mountain (if you don’t include Mt Elbrus in Russia) is a sure bet for snow on Christmas day. If you don’t fancy the 4810m climb, many of France’s ski resorts are a given for Christmas snow. Val Thorens in the Three Valleys is the highest resort in the country and the French Alps have already had an excellent start to the ski season. Find cheap flights to Geneva

Gulmarg, Kashmir – boasting the world’s highest ski lift,  the frontier ski resort of Gulmarg is attracting more and more adventurous skiers and snowboarders who are prepared to tackle the hardships of Delhi Belly and civil unrest to sample the superb Himalayan powder and see the snow monkeys. The gondola rises to almost 4000m and Himalayan storms should guarantee a cold, white, snowy Christmas in this mountainous region. Find cheap flights to Delhi