Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Did you know that it can actually get so cold that it doesn't snow? Because snow is frozen water, if there are not enough water droplets in the air it can't snow - simple as that. As a result, the driest place on Earth isn't in the Sahara Desert or the Arizona Desert. It's actually a place known as the Dry Valleys and it's in Antarctica. The area is completely free of ice and snow, and it never rains there at all! In fact, parts of the Antarctic continent haven't seen any rain for around 2 million years! But Antarctica is also the wettest place in world, due to the fact that 70% of the Earth's water is found there in the form of ice.

For more fascinating facts like these, check out Match Wits with the Kids - available now - as well as What is Myrrh Anyway? Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas.

And if you're feeling the cold, why not sit down in front of the fire tonight and enjoy a Snowball? Of the slightly alcoholic variety...

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Snowball Cocktail
2 oz Advocaat 
Top up Lemonade 
1/2 oz Fresh Lime juice

Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker / stirrer and pour into an unusually shaped glass. Add Crushed Ice and decorations to create a great speciality drink from an easy to make recipe!

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And while you're sipping your Snowball, why not listen to this ode to the cocktail, celebrating the fact that you can enjoy all your favourite drinks in the same glass?

The Chrismologist's Advent Calendar - Day 18

Following the spat of cold weather we've been having here in the UK, bookmakers have cut the odds on there being a White Christmas this year.

Forecasters have reported that temperatures could drop to as low as minus ten in parts of Scotland, and the cold spell could last for several days.

Jonathan Powell, a senior forecaster from Positive Weather Solutions, told the BBC their weather models suggest it will be a white Christmas for many.

Snowy scenes on Christmas cards suddenly seem more appropriate than ever before, there having been two white Christmases in the 20th Century in London - in 1938 and 1970. So why have we had more than a century of snowy scenes on Christmas cards? It’s thanks to the Victorians.

To help prepare you psychologically for being snowed in this Christmas, here's a Christmas classic from Bing Crosby and the gang.