Norwich is set for more snow and ice, but forecasters say it is too soon to predict whether the city will see a white Christmas.

Bookies have slashed the odds on a white Christmas in Norwich, but forecasters at University of East Anglia-based Weatherquest said it was still too soon to say if the city would be blanketed in snow on December 25.

With Christmas still 10 days away, they said their short range models meant they could only predict a few days ahead with any certainty.

But they said snow would return tomorrow and it was likely to stay cold all the way through to December 25 and beyond.

Weatherquest's Joe Osborne said: 'It does look like the snow is coming back. There's some uncertainty towards the weekend, but it looks like the corner will be turned tomorrow.

'There will be some rain and sleet in the morning, but the cold air will turn that to snow at about midday and into the early afternoon.

'There could be a widespread covering of snow and there could be a lot of ice about by the time people are travelling home.'

He said there would be more ice on Friday, with the possibility of further snow showers and temperatures well below freezing.

The outlook for the weekend was less clear, he said, but there could be more snow on Saturday and Sunday. Beyond that he said, it was difficult to make a prediction for Christmas Day, other than that it looked likely to remain cold. But people have been having a flutter on flakes at the bookies.

Ladbrokes had been offering 5-1 on flakes of snow falling in Norwich on Christmas Day, but have shortened the odds to 15-8.

If you define a white Christmas as one where snow is covering the ground on December 25, then the most recent in Norwich was 1995, when there was a slight snow covering in Norwich, although there was also a little sleet in 1996.

But according to Norman Brooks, Costessey-based amateur meteorologist who keeps records to Met Office standards, the last time Norwich had what could really be considered a white Christmas was 1981.