There are a number of variations of the festive-themed rodents available (Picture: TikTok)

For the past few years, gonk Christmas decorations have become staples in festive fanatics homes’.

These days, the season doesn’t really feel complete without a couple of the little bearded fellas dotted around. With countless styles and variations, the ornaments work both as an outdoor and indoor decoration.

But you might want to hold fire on the gonk army this year, because there’s a new star at the top of the tree: Christmas rats.

If you’ve ever been cooking up turkey and all the trimmings and thought to yourself, ‘Wow, I really want to see a rat in the kitchen,’ you’re in luck, as the current trend sees a huge assortment of the stuffed rodents dressed to the nines in red, white, and green.

Wherever you go, the Christmas rats follow. At this point, they’re inescapable; lining countless aisles in supermarkets, garden centres, and even blowing up on Etsy and Amazon.

But it’s Aldi’s £12.99 rats — complete with red hats, mittens and scarves — that are especially popular with customers.

Would you mind seeing this rat in your kitchen while cooking Christmas lunch? (Picture: woburnsandsemporium)

In fact, so many of them are sharing their adventures with the rats on TikTok, videos tagged #aldirat and #christmasrats have already amassed a combined viewership of 3.8 million.

One video by Bel Settersfield, in which she placed the giant plush toy in different poses around the house, has racked up an impressive 97,600 likes, while a similar clip from a user named Skye now sits at over 34,000.

Due to the craze for the unusual adornments, some retailers have reported they’ve run out of stock, and it seems the hype isn’t going anywhere fast.

‘I need him in my life,’ said one commenter on TikTok, along with others who called him ‘cute’ and one who said: ‘I am crying he is perfect.’

Countless TikTokers tagged their loved ones to hint they wanted one of the rodents in their stockings come Christmas, so while rat girl summer may be firmly behind us, it looks like we’re about to experience a rat girl winter.

MORE : Temperatures plummet to -7°C as cold snap ramps up with first big freeze of winter

MORE : The one thing you should do today to avoid Christmas disappointment

MORE : Netflix fans slam new Christmas film as ‘worst movie of all time’

Santa’s little helpers have had a rodent makeover.