In pictures: Oxford Street's Christmas lights have already gone up

Sure, summer's only just wrapped up and we haven't even got through Halloween yet, but wander down Oxford Street and you'll notice that it's already looking suspiciously festive – because the Christmas lights have already gone up. And no, you haven't slept through the last month, it's still October. The lights went up in the early hours of Monday morning, but the official switch-on won't happen until early November. And in case you were wondering, it's only a mere 80 days until Santa does his rounds, so it's only reasonable they should be up and ready to go in October, right? The lights have barely been up for 24 hours but Instagrammers have already been honing their perfect #xmas in #london shots. 

Sadly, London isn't much of a winter wonderland at the moment, so here are the lights looking very wet:

 

A photo posted by Alex Neale (@alexjneale) on Oct 6, 2015 at 5:47am PDT

But they look pretty glorious by night, especially when they're slightly less damp:

 

A photo posted by natalie villarroel (@gnaterpillar) on Oct 4, 2015 at 11:29pm PDT

Christmas lights in the sun? You definitely don't get that in December:

 

A photo posted by Delaney Mes (@delaneymes) on Oct 6, 2015 at 7:58am PDT

Take a look at some more lovely snaps of the lights – unless you're feeling particularly Scroogey, in which case look away immediately.

 

A photo posted by Stella | A Shiny Place (@ashinyplace) on Oct 6, 2015 at 7:54am PDT

 

A photo posted by Miranda (@feministbagel) on Oct 6, 2015 at 7:07am PDT

 

A photo posted by @giulia__vll on Oct 5, 2015 at 4:54pm PDT

 

A photo posted by Lauren Mallon (@fleeceylauren) on Oct 4, 2015 at 11:53pm PDT

 

A photo posted by Hen The Pearl Cohen (@hen_the_pearl) on Oct 6, 2015 at 6:34am PDT

 

A photo posted by psarocha (@psarocha) on Oct 6, 2015 at 6:12am PDT

 

A photo posted by Roberta (@rorri_86) on Oct 6, 2015 at 3:42am PDT

 

A photo posted by rebeccabkennedy (@rebeccabkennedy) on Oct 5, 2015 at 10:55pm PDT

 

A photo posted by Yasmine Basirat (@wil_luv) on Oct 5, 2015 at 10:00pm PDT

Find out more about when London's Christmas lights get switched on.

Or if you can't face planning that far ahead, take a look at 130 awesome things to do in October.