Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Jon Lees

Chances of snowy Cheltenham Festival rated by bookmakers as UK braced for cold snap

Bookmakers reckon there is a strong chance that the 2023 Cheltenham Festival will be hit by snow with temperatures set to drop before the four-day meeting.

With a cold snap expected in the UK from next week, the chances of snowfall at the fixture are now at Evens, according to William Hill. Extremely cold weather is predicted to hit Britain between March 12 and March 26, leaving the Cheltenham Festival vulnerable to being hit by snow.

In 2018 the track was under a blanket of snow a week before the meeting in the wake of a visit from the ‘Beast from the East’.

Snowdrifts of up to five feet collected around fences but the meeting miraculously went ahead after groundstaff cleared 500 tonnes of snow from the track and the public areas of the racecourse.

“It’s looking more and more likely that we’ll have a re-run of 2018’s conditions in the snow with this forecast.” said William Hill spokesperson Lee Phelps.

“The Cheltenham Festival is just around the corner and with wintery conditions seemingly on the way, we make it just even-money that snow falls during any of the four days of the biggest meeting of the racing calendar.”

According to the Met Office long range forecast wintry showers are predicted between March 7 and March 16 for the UK but Cheltenham may miss the worst of the conditions with “more organised bands of snow” set for the east of the country.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.