Christmas comes but once a year, and when it comes it brings good cheer. Or does it? If not, thank goodness you'll say, especially after you've read these titbits about the Yuletide in the UK.

• The number one thing we forget to buy in the run-up to Christmas is batteries. Next come spare bulbs for the tree lights and camera film.

• It takes 60 minutes of sex to burn off the calories from just one mince pie and cream.

• The French give the most gifts, averaging eight each - one more than us and three more than the stingy Germans.

• The average Christmas viewer spends a whopping eight hours glued to the box on Christmas and Boxing Day alone.

• We munch our way through around 4,000 tons of potatoes and 680 tons of Brussels sprouts for our Christmas dinners.

• Grandparents come off the worst in the gift stakes. Only two per cent will be opening presents worth more than £50 ($73).

• In the shopping-mad three weeks leading up to Christmas we spend £4,800 ($7,000) A SECOND using our credit cards.

• We receive an average of 25 Christmas cards per head of population. Each card costs an average 40 pence (50 cents) - not including the postage.


• British youngsters still put clothes at the top of their Christmas lists - followed by bikes, books, sweets and dolls.

• The average Christmas dinner notches up 2,835 calories which can be burnt off by 39 hours of watching TV.

• Six out of 10 men buy all their presents with just three days to spare. Only three out of 10 women leave it so late.

• Eight in 10 of us will tuck into a turkey on Christmas Day. We gobble up 11million of them along with 600,000 geese.

• A grand total of 304 presents are received during the course of the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas".

• The nations favourite carol is Silent Night. Away In a Manger and O Come All Ye Faithful rank equal second.

• This Christmas (2000) we will each have spent an average of £590 ($880) on presents and £166 ($245) on festive food and drink.

• The Royal Mail takes on about 25,000 temporary workers and hires 2,000 extra vans to cope with the Christmas rush.