It’s August, it’s sunny and the kids are on summer holidays – yes, now does seem the perfect time for Christmas to begin.

London department store Selfridges obviously thinks so, launching its Christmas shop 143 shopping days before Santa comes down our chimneys.

It has transformed 3,000 square feet of its fourth floor in Oxford Street into a winter wonderland filled with festive treasures and decorations.

Geraldine James, the company’s Christmas home and decorations buyer, explained the store has been working on this year's Christmas Shop since Christmas last year.

She said: "We have so many customers visiting from all over the world and eager to snap up festive souvenirs on their summer holidays, which they can't buy at home.

"So, we have to make sure we're ready to showcase Christmas decorations they will truly treasure."

This Is Local London:

First customers through the Christmas shop were Holly and Ken Martin, from Pennsylvania in the US, who bought a Christmas 2015 bauble to mark their holiday in Britain.

Each of the thousands of glass baubles have been designed exclusively for Selfridges and were individually mouth-blown from a supplier in Hungary – that’s an awful lot of blowing.

The store will be going even more Christmas crazy in the autumn, when its floor space devoted to all things festive will be more than doubled.

This Is Local London:

If you’re an indecisive person you’re in for a shopping nightmare, as once fully open the store will include more than 60,000 baubles, more than 120 cracker options and more than 1,250 different cards and wrapping paper designs.

In you’re into being trendy, personalised decorations are in this year apparently along with black and white monochrome and Magical Forest, which includes wood-based decorations and woodland creatures.