AS we enjoy this warm September and the school term has barely got underway, I’ve noticed Christmas has already begun being mentioned.

The Christmas television scheduled being revealed this week may make some sense, but shops getting into the festive spirit is ridiculous.

For instance, Selfridges launched its Christmas shop at the start of the month.

The retailer said it was about getting excited at the prospect of “discovering new ranges and adding to their collections”.

And on Monday, surprised shoppers in Cambridge noticed a Tesco store was selling mince pies, Christmas puddings, reindeer fairy cakes and Santa cake bars.

A number of customers reacted how I did to this news - feeling it is way too early and would lose the magic of seeing these festive things go on sale at the right time.

The reaction on social media was also pretty comedic - one saying “have I missed Halloween?”

Christmas is 96 days away, at this rate everyone will be bored of the festive season before it even begins.

My festive period begins at the start of December. That is when Christmas planning should begin, when shops should be revealing their festive collections, when the Christmas music should start to be introduced.

That is not to say it makes sense to have general plans, for instance saving money now is just sensible.

It may be the most wonderful time of the year, but it can be the most stressful if everything is left last minute.

Before we get to the big day of course we will have the now annual American imported tradition of Black Friday, which has become huge in recent years - overtaking Boxing Day for sales.

This year’s date for Black Friday is November 24 - a day I’m definitely avoiding the shops.

Maybe I should just accept Christmas fever creeps in earlier every year and embrace parts of it. For example, some charities launched their appeals this week, and that can only be a good thing.

And I must admit I was intrigued enough to see what the very early verdict for a white Christmas was.

For those interested a supercomputer, based on models and weather patterns, says we can expect “cold but dry conditions” for the big day.