LONDON - Immortalised on countless holiday cards, inspired in the collective consciousness by Charles Dickens' depictions of snow blanketing the cobbled, crowded streets of London in A Christmas Carol.
But if you've only read Dickens' descriptions of the scenes - "for it was a clear, cold, winter day, with the snow upon the ground" - you might be surprised to learn that heavy snowfall on Christmas Day, or in December at all, is a rarity for Britain.
The Met Office, the national weather service for the country, says sleet and snow are more common in January than December.
So why was Dickens so fixated on snowy Christmas scenes?
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