What are odds on a White Christmas?

WILL it be a white Christmas in Ipswich this year?

That is the question always asked at this time of year but now, for the first time in Ipswich, you can place an official bet on it.

For decades the nation's odds compilers have been offering wagers on a festive freeze out in London and other big cities but now for the first time bookies are giving customers prices for their own postal districts.

Bookmakers Ladbrokes believe there is a pretty good chance that the town will see snow this year, putting odds on at 4/1 for the IP postcode.

Robin Hutchison, spokesman for the firm, said: “A white Christmas is the oldest novelty market in British bookmaking and always produces a huge number of bets.

“But for so many customers in this country including Ipswich the wager isn't overly relevant as they have to have a bet on somewhere they neither live or work.

“The postcode lottery gives them the chance to keep an eye on their own backyard when they're unwrapping their presents or carving the turkey.”

Prices have been drawn up for 126 postcodes in the UK. Places like Shetland, the Hebrides and Dundee are most likely to have snow as they are quoted 5/4, whereas Plymouth and Torquay are ranked outsiders at 7/1.

It is expected the British bookmaking industry will turn over up to £5million on snow blanketing the country on December 25.

Following early December's cold snaps betting levels are already at an all-time high.

For a bet on a white Christmas to be paid out, a single snowflake must be recorded to have fallen within that postcode area during the 24 hours of Christmas Day.

All postcodes will be monitored by the British Weather Services on behalf of Ladbrokes.

Are you going to bet on it being a White Christmas this year? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk