As the weather grows colder and the nights shorter, the festive season is just around the corner bringing with it the much anticipated John Lewis Christmas advert. 

The advert has become a symbol of Christmas in the UK, racking up millions of hits each year on YouTube. 

So iconic are the adverts that the songs featured frequently rank highly in the UK charts, even reaching the number one position on numerous occasions. 

Festive advertising has become more and more central to supermarket and department stores marketing over the years, with Sainsbury's, Aldi and M&S in particular all stepping up their game in recent years.

In the past John Lewis and Waitrose have teamed up with charities to produce the adverts; they joined Age UK for the 2015 ad titled The Man on the Moon, while a portion of the sales generated from 2016's Buster the Boxer went to The Wildlife Trust. 

Here's when we can expect the 2021 John Lewis Christmas advert to drop...

When will the 2021 John Lewis Christmas advert air?

The John Lewis advert dropped early this year, two weeks before the usual date. 

It appeared on screens for the first time on Thursday November 4 2021. 

Since 2014, the adverts have always been released on a Thursday or a Friday and for the past three years, it has been the November 15 (2018), November 14 (2019) and November 13 (2020). 

Who will sing the song for John Lewis' 2021 Christmas advert?

Adele was the bookies favourite to sing the advert, but the Together in Electric Dreams cover was actually sung by 20-year-old Lola Young.

The song was originally sung by Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder and released in 1984. 

It's not the first time the song has appeared in an advert: it was used in the Strongbow advert a few years ago. 

What was 2020's John Lewis Christmas advert?

Last year's advert was titled Give A Little Love, and featured a little boy who gave some love in a heart shape to a snowman who was melting. 

The snowman used the love heart as the middle section of his body, before passing it on to some snowmen without a tyre for their car. 

Love continued to be passed from person to person, before the final message reading "Give a little love, together we can make a big difference" appeared. 

The advert was accompanied by the song A Little Love by Celeste.