The Archbishop of York has urged people suffering from stress at Christmas not to forget about refugees and others in need of help.

"It is all too easy, under pressure, to put up the barriers and think only of ourselves, our own stresses and strains, and to forget the stranger at the gates," he writes in a Christmas message.

Advent is always associated as a time of getting ready, he says, but questions how prepared people really are for this Christmas and what it will bring.

He remarks on what a difficult 12 months it has been, both locally and further afield.

Last year, York suffered its worst flooding in a generation and Tadcaster lost its 300-year-old bridge through the town.

In 2015, the number of people forced to leave their homes through conflict and persecution passed a staggering record 60 million for the first time and this has continued.

Earlier this month, Amnesty's Struggling to Survive: Refugees from Syria in Turkey found the failure to deal with escalating numbers of refugees had led to a crisis of unprecedented proportions.

"Being able to support others, whether they are from Aleppo or Acomb, is a wonderful privilege but it does not feel like this in the middle of the crisis, far from it," he says, empathising with the inn keeper in Luke's Gospel.

"Bethlehem was heaving with people, and it wasn't his fault that there were no rooms left."

In York, last Boxing Day, 600 military personnel came out to help flood victims, along with 125 mountain rescue members, York Rescue Boat teams and countless volunteers.

Sentamu writes: "At Christmas, we have a fantastic opportunity to gather together with loved ones – friends, families, our near neighbours and our global ones – and make new beginnings. The birth of Jesus reminds us of the most fantastic new beginning, one that transformed and reshaped the world we live in."