You've heard of a 'liquid lunch' - well here's a bunch of Christmas drinks available from all three top high street coffee shops chain that contain as many calories as an average midday meal.

Once upon a time a regular hot chocolate was sufficient to warm up the shopper in the cold months.

Now it seems to be a contest as to which coffee chain can make the most indulgent drink.

Several of these drinks contain more calories than a Big Mac - McDonald's best known product has 508kcal - and almost three Mars bars' worth of sugar.

And one contains significantly more calories and almost enough sugar for three-and-a-half Mars bars.

If you must order one of these give the cake a miss.

Wren Kitchens conducted a study of some of the most calorific and sugar addled drinks that Starbucks, Costa and Caffé Nero produce.

Here are the results, with the Toffee Nut Coffee Frappuccino from Starbucks and the Billionaire's Hot Chocolate from Costa being some of the worst offenders.

To get a sense of just how much sugar can be in these drinks, the Billionaire's Hot Chocolate at Costa contains a massive 19.7 teaspoons of sugar while Starbucks' Gingerbread Frappuccino contains a 17 teaspoons.

But is it anything to worry about? Well it's definitely worth remembering as the NHS recommends no more than 30g of sugar a day, but as with most things in life, it's about balance.

Dr Dan Robertson, medical officer at Push Doctor says "It depends how regularly you drink these coffees. If it’s every day, you do need to be careful. On the other hand, if you’re just having them in moderation, such as once a week, this is less of a risk to your health.

"It is the festive season, after all.”