Boxing Day sales are always going to be popular with those who like to be thrifty and get more for their Christmas money, but the scenes at Manchester’s Trafford Centre and the Arndale Centre were quite chaotic to say the least.

Some people had queued up overnight to be first in line for the bargains, and the video on the Manchester Evening News website shows how thousands of people rushed to get into stores like Next, Selfridges and Topshop once the shops finally opened up.

If you are looking to get good value, it may now be safe to venture out again. While you may not be able to get the heavily-discounted products that were first available when the sales started, at least you can have your sanity intact instead!

With Christmas now over it is time to look ahead and embrace the New Year. If you have been eating a lot of food like most people have over the festive period, then it might be advisable to get involved in a spot of exercise. In addition to fitness pursuits, you can start to plan your next holiday too.

If you have always wanted to go skiing but could never afford it or fancied travelling Europe, it might be worth saving up at the start of next year to finally step out and realise that dream.

Even if you cannot think of any New Year’s resolutions straight away, you can surely come up with a few ideas on new things to try out and get involved in during 2012.

It was not long ago that the odds on a white Christmas were slashed amidst dropping temperatures and snow across parts of the UK, but now it seems that those taking a punt are set to be disappointed. Those having to travel during this period should be a little happier though.

The recent cold snap seems to have vanished as mild weather is now prevalent across most of the country. In fact, temperatures for Christmas Day and Boxing Day have been predicted as reaching 12C in some areas.

Sky News weather producer Joanna Robinson admitted:

“We’re seeing milder air being introduced across Britain and Ireland. It looks to stay fairly mild through to Boxing Day, although there will be a brief colder spell on Friday and perhaps Christmas Eve (Saturday). Not as cold as the weekend just gone though.”

This would mean that the temperature for this time of year is several degrees more than the average. However, the rain, wind and cloud will mean it doesn’t feel that much warmer.

Have you decided what your plans are for this year? More and more people seem to be going away at this time to escape the bad weather and the chaos of shopping around the festive season. There are always those who are going to stay at home and enjoy some quality family time, while for others they have to do the travelling if they want to visit relatives and exchange presents.

For those staying in this country, it seems like it will be a much milder Christmas than the past few years. While it’s always nice to have some snow (on days where you have nowhere to get to in any case), I’m sure it won’t be missed too much if we don’t see any.

If you are going abroad to sunnier climes, then be sure to make the most of it!