Jane Saunders, who runs Byron Beach Santa - a business photographing Santa with families in Byron, said most of their shoots happen in the morning because winds and sandstorms haunt them in the afternoon. “This is our third La Nina in a row and it’s definitely had the upper hand this year,” she said.

Weatherzone meteorologist Drew Casper-Richardson warned that Christmas Day predictions seven days out are subject to change, but this Christmas was looking bright.

“At this stage, it looks like it’ll be mostly sunny with just a moderate chance of showers, but it’s looking mostly sunny [for the city],” Casper-Richardson said. “[We’re] looking at north-westerly winds during the morning and potentially in the early afternoon, with some afternoon sea breeze for the coast.”

The Christmas Day forecast is welcome news after a year of record rainfall, natural disasters and an above-average number of flood warnings. This year was Sydney’s wettest on record, with the city experiencing more than 2522 millimetres of rain, much higher than the average of 1221mm. It took only 279 days before Sydney broke its previous record of 2194mm, which was set in 1950.

After months of heavy rain, Australians are being told they may need to make concessions at the Christmas table. Expect fewer oysters, the roast veggie bake and fruit salad might taste different, and there could be less of your favourite bubbly to go around.

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Climate drivers that have played a large part in bringing the wet weather over the past year have already begun to weaken, however, including La Nina, which will break down in the new year. The negative Indian Ocean Dipole has also returned to a neutral phase.

With Nigel Gladstone

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