A wet Christmas - Telegraph Just a few weeks ago the first cold snap of the winter saw the bookies narrowing the odds on a white Christmas. Students of our capricious weather - and that includes most of us - would not have risked their money on such a wager. For the records show that snow at Christmas is as rare as hen's teeth. The Yuletide norm is dampness - though rarely quite as damp as the monsoon-like conditions that have ushered in this holiday season. While the whole of the country has been soaked, the South West, Wales and Scotland have been deluged and there is more on the way. It has been one of those years. Record rainfall ruined the summer - it was the wettest in a century, the dullest in a quarter of a century. That was caused by the jet stream edging southwards. This latest downpour is, it seems, caused by warm air from the south attracting moisture. Many blame climate change, others see it as just another example of the kind of extreme weather that has always assailed us. Explanations are of scant comfort to the many whose homes or businesses have been flooded or whose holiday journeys have been disrupted. But as ever in times of difficulty, communities have rallied round to help the hardest hit, while the emergency services have performed brilliantly. And these clouds have a silver lining. It has been officially announced that there will be no hosepipe ban in 2013.