Recently widowed Eileen Lewis,son Pete and his wife Mandy and daughter Paula with her spouse Ray,plus the grandchildren, leave Birkenhead to spend Christmas in Lapland. Pete and Mandy's late arrival holds the flight up and the take-off is scary whilst on arrival at the Finnish hotel they find themselves hostages to the enforced jollity of tour rep Jingle Jill,who secretly wishes she was in Val D'Iseres. Fed up with being used as a perpetual baby-sitter Eileen enjoys herself helping the chef cook Christmas dinner,though the revelation that the meat is reindeer causes yet another row between Paula and Mandy. There are misunderstandings when widower Maurice misreads the signs with Eileen and a jealous Mandy catches Pete having an innocent sauna with Jingle Jill,as well as panic when Eileen takes grandson Jack to see Santa without telling anybody. However the calming influence of the Northern Lights brings reconciliation as the family come together to wonder at their beauty.