Snow falls in NYC on Christmas Eve for the first time in 26 years

Keep dreaming of White Christmas, New York.

The Big Apple was covered in a light layer of snow on Tuesday morning, marking the first time in more than two decades that there has been snow on Christmas Eve – but it won’t last.

The sun is expected to break through for the festivities on Wednesday and bring in warmer temperatures, meaning the snow will mostly melt before dinner hits the table.

“We hope you enjoyed it while it was here this morning,” FOX Weather meteorologist Stephanie van Oppen told The Post.

An inch of snow was logged in Central Park Tuesday morning — the most to fall in the Big Apple on Christmas Eve since two inches fell in 1998, van Oppen noted.

The snow clouds moved quickly through the I-95 corridor and were pushed out to the coast before noon, bringing with them any chance of snow falling on Christmas Day.

Wednesday is expected to be sunny with a high of 35 degrees, meaning an overnight dip into the high 20s won’t be enough to save the snow from melting away on the holiday.

Temperatures are expected to climb into the 40s for the rest of the week, with van Oppen predicting the chances of the Big Apple seeing snow for the rest of the calendar year will remain slim — but a snow-free Christmas has become something New Yorkers are used to .

The metro area saw a light dusting on Christmas Day 2017, but the last time there was measurable snow for the holiday was in 2002, when 5 inches were dumped on the city.

However, New Yorkers were more than happy with the sprinkles that landed this year.

“That’s more than we’ve had in a long time—which is nothing!” Meagan Finn, 26, told The Post. “It’s not as much as I would have liked, but I’ll take it, I’ll enjoy it.”

Social worker Susan Ginsberg shared the same sentiment, noting that she would have much preferred a blizzard: “But I’ll take anything, I’ll take this over nothing.”

“It’s just peaceful and playful, and the fact that it’s Christmas and people are with their families, it just hearkens back to family and childhood,” Ginsberg continued.

“Every year we hope it will snow and it just hasn’t happened, but this year it was great to go outside and see the snow on the ground.”

Julian Gonsalves, 67, was reminded of the iconic carol, “I’m Dreaming of a white Christmas” when he woke up this morning, adding that his dream has come true after so many years.

“Without snow, there is no Christmas. It’s a boring Christmas because snow is what makes Christmas,” said the security guard.

“Forget about the food – it makes me feel like this is the real Christmas. It’s what Christmas is all about.”

Jim Thornton and Emma Sherston from the UK almost missed the rare snowfall – the couple extended their trip to the Big Apple because Thorton had a strong feeling the flakes would arrive for the holiday.

“We are really looking forward to a white Christmas, really excited! We are from the UK and this is the first white Christmas we have had in about 20 years. We usually don’t get snow until January or February, if we get snow at all. Usually we just get rain and clouds,” Thorton said.

“I just think it makes it feel like a more traditional Christmas than a cold gray day. I traditionally associate snow with Christmas. We just don’t feel normal, but we think about it.”

The couple joked that they brought the snow to town, and Sherston added that seeing the white fluff brings “childlike excitement.”

“Waking up and it’s white outside, so different. It’s exciting no matter what age you are. It is the childlike excitement.”