Britons across the country will take down their Christmas tree, tinsel and festive decorations on Twelfth Night, which marks the end of Christmas. 

While Twelfth Night sounds like an obvious-sounding name, there is still confusion over the date of the post-Christmas festival. 

The Church of England says that Twelfth Night takes place on January 5. However, not everyone agrees with this.

This is because the name is based on Christmas traditionally being a 12-day celebration, starting on December 25.

While some say the 12 days finish on January 5 - counting from Christmas Day - others will argue it is January 6 because you count the 12th day after Christmas.

Twelfth Night is also a significant date in its own right because it is the prelude to another Christian festival - Epiphany.

Epiphany, which means “manifestation”, is a traditional feast which was originally more important than Christmas Day up until the 19th century.

In western Christianity, it is associated with the three wise men following the star of Bethlehem to visit baby Jesus in a stable.

The Gospel of Matthew states the three kings named Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar offered Jesus three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The elaborate offerings were considered fit for a king with frankincense used as incense and myrrh used as anointing oil

Nowadays, you must be sure to remove your Christmas decorations before Epiphany is over - it’s said to be bad luck not to do so.

If you do miss the date, then you could leave everything up until Candlemas - also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus - on February 2.

In fact, many people in the 19th century would leave their decorations up until Candlemas Day, as noted in the poem by Robert Herrick (1591-1674).

However, if you would prefer to stick with modern traditions then Twelfth Night is the right time.