Festive lights displays are being switched on, winter markets are setting up their stalls and this week another (admittedly more recent) London Yuletide tradition has returned for 2026: the Natural History Museum’s tyrannosaurus rex has donned its Christmas jumper.

The NHM’s 15-foot animatronic t-rex has been sporting Christmas knitwear every year since 2021. This year’s jumper pays tribute to one of the museum’s star specimens, Sophie the Stegosaurus, a mainstay of the institution’s Earth Hall and one of the most complete stegosaurus skeletons in Europe.

The dino’s dashing sweater is apparently 12 and a half times the size of an average child, and it took 12 hours to make. As always with the NHM’s main collection, it’s free to visit in the Dinosaur Gallery.

Here are some snaps of Santa Jaws in its trendy new jumper. Looks kind of cuddly, eh? Kind of.

See yourself wearing such a dazzling piece of knitwear? Well, you can do so without having to wrestle it off a beastly lizard. Human- and dog-sized ones are for sale from the NHM shop, as well as patterned scarves.

The jumper was created by the NHM with NotJust Clothing, which uses 100 percent organic cotton. All profits from knitwear sales will support the museum’s charitable mission.

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