THE British have an intrinsic love for discussing the weather.

Luckily the weather gods have been listening and have blessed the nation with a peculiar matter that transforms from solid to liquid in your palm.

This phenomenon is widely known as snow. Snow has forced hundreds of children desperate to attend school to stay at home whilst parents are left wishing for someone like Nanny McPhee to appear and entertain (and perhaps discipline) them for hours on end.

And now, commissioned by MORE TH>N, mathematician Dr James Hind of Nottingham Trent University, has answered every parent’s prayers as he has miraculously worked out the enigma code on how to build the perfect snowman.

To reduce the household arguments of whether the buttons are lumps of coal, or clumps of manure from the fields, or whether to use a carrot for a nose, or Herefordshire’s cider apples, here is the simplified formula to make the best snowman/woman in the village this Christmas.

1. Must be precisely 1.62m in height.

2. Must be made up of three tiered balls of snow with diameters of 30cm (head ball), 50cm (body all) and 80cm (leg ball) respectively, following the golden ratio

3. Must wear three accessories: hat, scarf and gloves

4. Must have three buttons on the snowman’s chest each at an equal distance from one another

5. Must have a nose made from a carrot that is exactly 4cm long.

Dr James Hind, of Nottingham Trent University, said: "There are many contrasting opinions about what makes the perfect snowman, but this research should settle the debate, as it outlines the definitive blueprint for the ideal snowman according to science.

"All the signs point to snow falling this festive season and hopefully this formula will see households all over the UK inspired to create mathematically marvelous snowmen."