People go potty as Film 4 broadcast 1954 movie White Christmas during 40C heatwave

Virgin Radio

18 Jul 2022, 16:46

The nation has gone crackers after Film 4 broadcast the festive film White Christmas on one of the hottest days of the year – but it wasn't planned.

At 11am today, the channel aired the yuletide classic and it went down like a lead balloon in a (very hot) tent.

Even if temperatures weren't thought to reach up to 42C in some areas of the UK, the festive movie was an interesting choice from the channel in July.

Film 4 confirmed on Twitter: "#WhiteChristmas is on Film4 now. (Yes, really.)"

One Twitter user commented: "What fresh hell is this??!!"

A second congratulated: "Well played."

A third added: "Best/worst bit of scheduling since we had Praise The Lord, Ye Heavens Adore Him to the German national anthem in school assembly the day after Germany beat England in Euro ‘96!"

But a spokesperson explained the method behind the small-screen madness: “The film was scheduled ten days ago so it’s entirely co-incidental that it has played out during the current heatwave but we hope viewers enjoyed it.”

The Met Office chief executive said: "In this country we're used to treating a hot spell as a chance to go and play in in the sun. This is not that sort of weather."

Home Alone, anyone?