This year another Christmas without snow is forecast by meteorologists. The snow will fall only in the mountains, while in lowlands snow will turn into rain. The winter will not resemble to the one from 2012/12, which stood out for the inordinate quantity of snow – even 249 centimetres in Ljubljana, compared to the 17 centimetres of snow which fell during the entire winter of 2016/17. The lowest average winter temperature was measured in winter of 1984/85, ranging between 0 and -5 degrees Celsius, and in 1986/87 with temperatures between -1 and -3 degrees Celsius.

The winter solstice falls on the day with the longest night, and the shortest period of daylight. According to pagan beliefs, solstice brings victory of Sun over darkness, and good over evil. On that day our ancestors celebrated the birth of the little sun god Svarožič, who represented the young sun. The holiday was marked by several traditional rituals, one of the most common being burning logs. The logs had to burn as long as possible, as their flame represented the god, and his power. At that occasion people offered up food, beverages, and divined.