Claire Dunn: I only have warmest memories of the big chill

The snow outside was really deep, several foot deep. It was a total and utter white out.

My rotten boiler was also on the blink and the heating kept switching itself off. Sometimes, inside the house it was teeth-chatteringly chilly.

Even the resident spiders had cleared off somewhere warmer.

I remember that it was a complete nightmare driving anywhere. The ice was thick under the blanket of snow, which was rather scary at night or when driving downhill.

Work was busy. The front pages of the newspapers were dominated by, you guessed it, the weather. Siberia! Siberia! screamed all the headlines.

Ahhh, how well I remember December 2010 – thankfully not just for the Arctic blast or the fridge freezer of a house.

Despite the onset of the big chill it was, and still is, one of the happiest times I have ever had.

And to be fair I've enjoyed a lot of happy times.

However, I really do love Christmas and New Year. It's definitely my time of year.

As a youngster, I loved putting the tinsel on the tree; I loved my mum's fantastic Christmas dinners; I loved unwrapping my presents (a Sony Walkman and Wham! tape was a particular highlight). I loved being off school; building lopsided snowmen; even the Christmas Day washing up, and then the run up to the New Year's Eve celebrations.

Even being a grown-up, Christmas and New Year have always been barrel of laughs.

And, of course, being an adult has the added of advantage of being able to ring in the New Year with a glass or two of bubbles.

But for me, the festive season of December 2010 was the most memorable – and 2006 was pretty hard to beat.

December 2006 saw the arrival of my first child. He was born 13 days before Christmas. It was great. Even the maternity ward had a choir singing carols. It was hard not to feel full of festive spirit.

The toy this hospital gave to all the babies born that year has been hung up in the house as a reminder of that special time.

However, New Year's celebrations with a newborn are certainly more subdued than in previous years – something I was reminded of again four years later.

In 2010, my second child was born – this time just a few days before Christmas.

I admit I was slightly worried; I had visions of giving birth on Christmas Day. Definitely not my idea of how Christmas Day should be spent, choir or no choir.

But at 6.52pm eight days before Santa leapt aboard his trusty sleigh, my second little one arrived on the earth and thawed the outside icy blast.

And that is why I will remember December 2010 and why it was, for me, so far the best Christmas and New Year ever.

Not because of the unprecedented Siberian weather; not because of the dodgy boiler, or more snow than I can ever remember. No, for me, it was the fact that my little family was complete.

And that's what this time of year is all about.

Happy New Year!