There will be no white Christmas in the popular tourist resorts of Himachal Pradesh, the weather office here predicted Wednesday. Thousands of holidaymakers have booked hotels across the state in the hope of playing in the snow.

Temperatures have been above average in popular tourist spots like Shimla, Narkanda, Kasauli, Manali, Dalhousie and Chamba this winter, and the only snow is what one can see atop the high peaks.

According to the meteorological office here, the sunny weather will continue this week.

'The minimum temperature is above average these days across the state. Moreover, there is no possibility of western disturbances approaching the region. So there is no possibility of snow or rain in the next few days,' Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office, told IANS.

'This morning (Wednesday) the minimum temperature of Shimla was 2.9 degrees Celsius, which is relatively high,' he said.

At Bhuntar near Kullu and at Dharamsala, the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile, the minimum temperature Wednesday was minus 0.5 degrees Celsius and 4.1 degrees respectively.

There has been no white Christmas in state capital Shimla for 18 years now; 49 cm of snow had fallen on Christmas Eve in 1991.

Thousands of tourists, mainly from northern states, have booked rooms here in the hope of a White Christmas. 'More than 300 hotels in Shimla will be packed to capacity in the coming weekend,' Harnam Kukreja, president of Shimla Hoteliers and Restaurants Association, said.

Manali remains a magnet for holidaymakers due to plentiful snow in its nearby hills.

Tek Chand Thakur, president of the Manali Hoteliers Association, said: 'Though Manali has not experienced snow so far, its adjoining hills recently saw good spells of snow where the revellers can get a chance to hurl snowballs at each other.'

Gulaba, 30 km from Manali, is under a thick blanket of snow. Every day hundreds of tourists go there to ski or ride sleds and snow scooters.