No, you are not seeing things... this Christmas tree has gone up in Derry!

With 55 days to go to Christmas Day, Christmas trees are going up in Derry.

The tree pictured above has gone up in Lisnagelvin shopping centre in the Waterside area of the city.

A tree has also gone up in the Tesco store located within the centre..

So, have they gone up too early?

In centuries gone by, Christmas trees were not to be brought in, let alone decorated, until after noon on Christmas Eve.

Modern tradition is to put up a Christmas tree the day or weekend after Thanksgiving (after the fourth Thursday in November).

In some communities it is tradition to put up the Christmas tree on the 6th of December in honour of Saint Nicholas.

The classic tradition is to put up the Christmas tree 12 days before Christmas Day, on the 13th of December.

In Catholic tradition the Christmas tree is put up after noon on Christmas Eve.

When should it come down?

Historically, trees have been unceremoniously dumped on Twelfth Night (5 January). It is considered bad luck to have a tree up after this date.