As the countdown to Christmas begins, and only 21 days stand between us and the big day, you may be wondering what the chance of a white Christmas is.

It's not a very common occurrence nowadays in Berkshire, as the South East of England experiences milder weather, with the early months of January and February often seeing the most frosty days.

However, it cannot be ruled out entirely, and with the help of the Met Office's long-range forecasting it can build up a fairly reliable picture of what will be experienced over the month of December.

According to the Met Office long-range forecast for the whole of the UK, it appears unlikely that Berkshire will see any snowfall before the end of 2022.

Between Wednesday, December 7 and Friday, December 16 there is "reasonable confidence" that temperatures will remain below average and the showers "will fall increasingly as snow" but that is more likely in the north.

There is a "low risk" that prolonged spells of rain could turn into snow in the far southwest, but generally, the south will have milder and wetter conditions in this period.

In Berkshire temperatures this week are expected to plummet, with below-freezing temperatures expected from Tuesday, December 6, to Saturday, December 10, with -4 degrees celsius expected on Thursday, December 8.

From Saturday, December 17 to Saturday, December 31 Berkshire will see "the signal for below average temperatures" weakening "especially in southern and western areas".

It will likely be wetter and windier this period in the south of England, with colder conditions holding on in the north.

To see the full Met Office long-range forecast you can visit the Met Office page here.