The chances of snow landing this year on Christmas Day seem pretty good for a change. Currently, the UK is in a cold snap with eastern winds blowing over the country. There seems to be a possibility that East Anglia and Central Southern England will expect snow showers this week. But will it still be around for Christmas Day? According to the Met Office most of the country will experience rain, sleet or snow next week. So, it does look promising.

Remember, we just need 1 snowflake to fall at any of the following locations during the 24hrs on Christmas Day for it to be officialy called a White Christmas.

• London, Buckingham Palace
• Liverpool, Albert Dock
• Aberdeen, Aberdeen FC grounds
• Glasgow Cathedral
• Edinburgh Castle
• Exeter, Met Office
• Manchester, Granada Studios
• Birmingham, Bullring
• Cardiff, Millennium Stadium
• Belfast, Aldergrove Airport
• Leeds, Elland Road

Snow on Christmas Day 2009 Betting Odds

London	11/4	5/2	10/3	389/100	11/4	5/2	9/4
Belfast	11/4	3	3	171/50			11/4
Aberdeen	6/5
Glasgow					3		2
Liverpool			7/2	371/100
Birmingham	11/4		4	371/100	3
Manchester					11/4		11/4

Formula 1 is second only to Athletics in the history of the award with drivers having won six medals since the contest began in 1954 while swimmers have won only twice, the last time being in 1962 when Anita Lonsbrough walked away with the trophy. There is no doubt that, despite all the controversies that have surrounded Formula 1 racing in recent years, it is still a sport which carries the kind of romanticism to capture the imagination of the public.

But romance of that kind can sometimes come up against an invincible rival in the unexpected form of the ordinary girl or boy who makes good. The British people are susceptible to the understated radiance that comes from this kind of winner and Rebecca Adlington perfectly personifies this while warming the heart in a way that is beyond our top sporting professionals. Long may it be so

The last time an American won the prize was Toni Morrison, best known for the Pulitzer Prize winning novel ‘Beloved’. Since then, nine Europeans, including last year’s winner, Doris Lessing, have been honoured together with authors from Japan, Turkey, South Africa, China and Trinidad. These authors all had close links with Europe. Many Americans have accused Engdahl of overlooking authors beyond the mainstream of US literary output but, strangely, none have come up with examples, as of now. Hmmmm.

The award announcement may come next Thursday but the Swedish government only announce the date two days before so it’s anyone’s guess when it will be. One of the favourites, prior to Engdahl’s comments, was US author, Philip Roth but he must have now downgraded his chances of getting his hands on the $1.3m prize. On the other hand, front runner, Japanese writer, Haruki Murakami has probably already pencilled in the order for the Ferrari. Italian, Claudio Magris is high on Ladbroke’s Nobel Prize betting list with Israel’s Amos Oz and America’s Joyce Carol Oates close behind while Bob Dylan languishes at the bottom of the list.

Summer Betting Events

Euro 2008 : It’s already started and we’re 3 days in to the 22 day football marathon. Early form is pointing towards either Holland, Germany or Portugal as the most likely winners. However, there is a lot of football still to be played and you can catch up with the latest news and offers on our Euro 2008 Betting page. (Euro 2008 runs from 7^th June to 29^th June)

Big Brother 9 Betting : The house and its new inhabitants are back for a 9^th series and already its stealing the newspaper headlines and column inches. Love it or loathe it there is no getting away from it for the full summer. Big Brother betting is always fun as the house-mates try and out manoeuvre each other week after week and get another housemate evicted from the house. (Big Brother 9 runs from 5^th June to est, 29^th August)

Wimbledon 2008 Betting : Once again the country will be counting on a UK winner at Wimbledon and once again we’ll all probably be left in awe at the sheer brilliance of Nadal, Federer, Williams and co. The prospect of the current crop of tennis greats battling it out on centre court cannot come quickly enough for some Wimbledon tennis betting punters. (Wimbledon runs from 23^rd June to 6^th July)

The Open Golf Betting 2008 : Royal Birkdale hosts the 137^th Open Golf Championship. The course has been hailed as one of the best in Britain and with the usual big names in Golf present it promises to be a great occasion for Open Golf Betting once again. (The Open runs from 17^th to 20^th July)

Olympics Betting 2008 : The City of Beijing will have the focus of the World upon it when it hosts one of the biggest sporting occasions : The Olympics. Can Team GB compete and bring home some Gold against some amazing International sports men and women. Olympic betting is always exciting and the vast variety of sports on show makes it a superb spectacle. (Olympics 2008 runs from 8^th August to 24^th August)

Royal Ascot Betting : In amongst many great meetings this summer for horse racing betting is Royal Ascot. A time when glamour meets top class horse racing in the midst of British Summertime. This occasion is centred around The Royal Ascot Gold Cup betting and is certainly a highlight for any punters summer calendar. (Royal Ascot runs from the 17^th June to 21^st June)

The old favourite was betting on a white christmas betting but this has now been broadened to offer a month by month option for online weather betting. You can opt for

Wettest month
Driest month
Warmest month
Coldest month
Top temperature (For month and summer)
Lowest Temperatures

A good thing about the weather in the United Kingdom being so erratic is that it brings an element of volatility to the market. This is because the bookies themselves will probably have a few problems trying to predict what’s going to happen, so that means, for example, if you had bet on  June 2007 being the wettest of the year, the odds would have been pretty good as it’s a summer month.

 It might now be worth looking to the end of the summer and having a look at the possible dry autumn months. What will you get on October being the driest of the year?

So don’t let the current wave of excessive moisture dampen your spirits – get into weather betting and make some money out of it!