The types of food you eat, gifts you receive, games you play, and how many family arguments you have can make or break Christmas Day.
So too can the weather.
Cold and wet conditions could throw any plans for a game of backyard cricket or a trip to the beach out the window.
If it's too hot, you might find the cream slides off your pavlova, or your seafood buffet becomes less of a luxurious treat and more of a salmonella risk.
This is what the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has forecast for Australia's capital cities on 25 December 2024.
Christmas weather forecast
Melbourne
Top of 28C, low of 14C. Mostly sunny.
Sydney
Top of 28C, low of 18C. Cloud clearing.
Brisbane
Mostly sunny, with a top of 29C and a low of 20C.
Perth
Cloud increasing, with a top of 25C and a low of 15C.
Adelaide
Top of 35C, low of 16C. Sunny.
Canberra
Top of 33C, low of 9C. Mostly sunny.
Hobart
Top of 23C, low of 13C. Partly cloudy.
Darwin
Possible shower or storm, with a top of 34C and a low of 26C.
The forecast may change as it gets closer to 25 December, the BoM noted.
Perth holds the title of the hottest Christmas Day ever recorded in an Australian capital city, according to Weatherzone.
It recorded a sweat-inducing 42.8C on 25 December 2021.
The coldest capital city Christmas Day temperature was a chilly 12.6C, recorded in Hobart in 1911.
The BoM's long-range forecast, released late last month, suggested much of Australia would experience above-average temperatures this summer.
It also predicted an "unusual" mixed bag of weather, in which tropical cyclones, bushfires, severe weather, heatwaves and floods would hit some regions.
