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White Christmas looking as likely as France winning the World Cup … so pretty good odds!

Ben Hamilton
December 5th, 2022


This article is more than 2 years old.

Whatever happens in 20 days’ time still lies in the laps of the weather gods, but a heavy covering of snow looks assured on December 15

Coming with a vengeance this December, but maybe not at Christmas (photo: CCO)

Denmark has a 20 percent chance of having a White Christmas, according to TV2’s barometer.

That’s more or less the same probability as France lifting the World Cup. 

So if you’re not betting against Mbappe, you can’t write off it getting snappy.

Listen London: A White Christmas needs to be earned!
The rules on what constitutes a White Christmas vary hugely from country to country.

In the UK, only one snowflake is required anywhere in the country. In Denmark, in contrast, at least 0.5cm of the stuff needs to be on the ground, across at least 90 percent of the country.

Given that Bornholm and a few other remote islands account for 2 percent of the country, that’s a pretty tall order.

Knee-deep in snow in ten days’ time
TV2 has its eyes firmly on the prize this coming month, and the prognosis looks good for snow-lovers.

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts predicts the whole country will be deep in snow on December 15 – ranging from 20 cm in north Jutland and north Zealand to 2-5 cm in the south.

The GPS, a North American forecaster, concurs, but to a lesser degree. It forecasts 5 cm in the north but none in some of the southern regions. 

So close last year … maybe that’s an omen
Since records began in 1874, the country has had 12 White Christmases, with a quarter taking place in last 30 years: in 1995, 2009 and 2010.

Still, that means we have gone 11 years and counting without one, although 2018 and 2021 did serve up a few local White Christmases, and that’s all that counts, right?

Last year, we got really close, with the barometer showing 80 percent of the country waking up to snow – an improvement on the 20 percent who had it in 2018.

Who knows: maybe 2021 and 2022 will go down in Danish history alongside the blizzardy 2009-10.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”