Christmas 2007 will also go down in the record books as one of the most unseasonal in years in weather terms.

A south easterly change that moved in late on Christmas Eve sent temperatures plunging and brought a return to drizzling rain.

And it stayed that way right through Christmas Day with the conditions disappointing those planning outdoor celebrations on the big occasion.

It was the same right across the Blue Mountains with day-long fog and intermittent rain greeting visitors.

In Sydney it was also unseasonally cool and overcast — far from the image of a sun bleached Santa.

But still it WAS Christmas and people were making the most of it.

On Christmas Eve shops were kept extremely busy with last minute and even ‘panic’ purchases until the rush died away in the early evening.

Churches reported good attendances for Christmas Eve services and at St Patrick’s in Lithgow there was barely even standing room.

That service heavily involved small children who were invited to assemble around the altar to take part, an invitation accepted with enthusiasm.

Restaurants, hotels and clubs were also predictably busy.

More people than ever these days obviously head for distant locations on Christmas Day and the traffic flow through the region was unusually heavy.

Travellers reported that for much of Christmas Day the Great Western Highway across the Blue Mountains was as busy and as slow moving as on a normal weekend — a situation not helped by the unpleasant weather conditions.

Yesterday there was again the usual Boxing Day rush to holiday destinations.

Although the sun was shining the temperatures were still well below normal for this time of the year.

At Lake Lyell campers, anglers and boating enthusiasts were beginning to arrive for the holiday break but numbers were clearly still affected by the weather and the effects of the long drought.

“People still think the water levels are at an unusable level but the lake has returned to more than 50 per cent full, the boat ramps are in use, and the water is delightfully clean,” Nicole Browning said at the recreation park kiosk yesterday.

Numbers are expected to pick up considerably over the next few days.

Lithgow district shops will re-open for normal trading today after the Christmas-Boxing Day shut down.

Police said yesterday there had been no major incidents in the Lithgow area to mar the Christmas break.