"Europe as a whole will be seeing a milder winter than average, " said spokesman Wayne Elliott.

"So while it is far too early to definitively say whether Ireland will see a white Christmas, this would indicate that it is probably unlikely." Towards the end of the season, however, the weather is due to change rapidly, he said. The start of Spring looks set to be bitterly cold.

Bets on whether it will be a white Christmas are already being taken by bookies, with Paddy Power reporting odds of 7/1 on snow being officially registered in Dublin airport on the 25 December.

Odds on it not being a white Christmas currently stand at 1/20. "At the moment, people are thinking it is really unlikely that we will have a white Christmas, " said Paddy Power. "But that may change closer to the time."

A spokesman for Met Eireann said he could not possibly forecast whether it will snow on Christmas Day at this stage. "Nobody in this organisation will be making predictions on this issue, " he said.

"We only do forecasts for the five days ahead and in the absolute outside, we might make ten-day forecasts. But every day is the same as far as we're concerned."

Meanwhile, the cold spell that arrived last Friday looks set to end this afternoon, with wet and windy weather reaching all areas and bringing temperatures back up between 9 and 12 degrees.

"It may have felt very cold the last couple of days because of the wind, but actually the beginning of November was colder, " said the spokesman. "People have noticed the cold more because the weather was milder recently, but now it is reverting to normal winter weather."

Temperatures will go down to between 6 and 8 degrees on Monday and Tuesday, but will climb back up on Thursday, which is due to be mild and rainy. "It's going to be a very changeable week, " the spokesman said.