A black Christmas

If you're dreaming of a white Christmas, you may be disappointed.

Black Christmas trees are flying out of the shops.

In fact shoppers keen to follow the festive fashion could already be too late.

John Lewis is close to selling out of its £90 6ft artificial black tree with 400 inbuilt white lights.

The department store chain said staff were selling more black trees than the traditional white, gold and green varieties.

Argos has a 5ft black fibre-optic tree for £34.99 but the store's website lists it as 'currently out of stock for home delivery'.

Internet shopping website iwantoneofthose.com has also seen enormous interest in its black artificial trees.

It has a 3ft version for £11.99 or a desktop size for £7.99.

Susan Rose, editor of the magazine Ideal Home, said black trees were 'elegant and sophisticated'.

'Black is the surprise phenomenon of Christmas 2005,' she said.

'We all thought it was going to be one of those trends that would take a little while for the public to catch on to but it has really captured the public's imagination.

'The thing about black Christmas trees is they do fit into our current interiors very well.

'We have a lot of neutral and minimalist looking colours and in that environment green Christmas trees decked out with red and gold decorations will stick out like a sore thumb.

'The marvellous thing about black Christmas trees decked out in frosty white, silver and cream is they do look incredibly stylish.'

Roger Hay, secretary of the British Christmas Tree Growers' Association, won't hear of an artificial black tree darkening his door.

'The trend over the last 15 years has been for more and more people to go for real Christmas trees,' he said. 'In 1992 the number of sales was about three million. Now it is nearer to eight million. I understand why people have artificial trees because they are easier to handle. But they are also a blight on the environment.

'They are just metal and PVC which cannot biodegrade and will end up sitting in a landfill site.

'The vast majority of people like to see and smell a real Christmas tree in the house.

The smell makes such a difference. Black Christmas trees are a fashion.'

Those who want the real thing but hanker to be fashionable as well could take a hint from Mr Hay.

He suggested using a little spray paint to turn a real tree black - or any other colour you choose.