Nearly all remaining snow from earlier in the month has already melted, and a prolonged stretch of mild, rainy weather — with temperatures well above freezing — will prevent any meaningful snow accumulation before or on Christmas Day, according to the National Weather Service in Cleveland.

From twinkling Christmas markets across Europe to vibrant displays of poinsettia in Mexico City, the Christmas spirit takes many forms. John Yang takes a look at how Christians around the world are celebrating the season.

Originally a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus, Christmas has evolved into a global cultural event.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, biblical scholars interested in parallels between ancient religious belief systems argued that because early Christians didn’t know the date of the Nativity, they moved it to compete with and appropriate the popularity of pagan winter festivals.

With Christmas fast approaching, Palm Beach’s churches are preparing for the season with special holiday services. The Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ is on Thursday, with every church in town planning festive services to celebrate the holiday. Here’s a list of Christmas services happening in Palm Beach:

Fort McCoy military members and their families were treated to 106 free Christmas trees Dec. 5 courtesy of the Trees for Troops effort as a FedEx

Miami-Dade: No garbage or recycling collection on Christmas Day. Also, all facilities will be closed. If Thursday is your usual garbage day, the next pickup will be Monday, Dec. 29. If Thursday is your usual recycling day, the next pickup will be Saturday.

You won’t be surprised to learn that figures for British viewers – a good representative for most mature TV markets – indicate that less than half of Gen Z would ever dream of watching television by switching one on.

Here’s the origin of Christmas as we know it, when it’s estimated Jesus might have been born and when Christians started celebrating his birth.