A warm start to spring after a mild, wet winter has meant optimal conditions for a vivid display of spring flowers in some places this year. Wet earth, plenty of sunshine and a lack of frosts have combined to give some plants a noticeable head start.
Gardens in southern England in particular have reported flowers blooming weeks earlier than normal. Further north, however, spring has been a little slower to get off the marked as cooler and wetter weather has held on for longer.
Spring is a season of transition, as lingering winter influences are gradually replaced by increasing warmth. The days get longer, the sun is higher in the sky with plants responding to this increased sunlight and rise in temperatures.
Snowdrops and daffodils give way to tulips and bluebells, and the speed and intensity of spring's blooms are highly influenced by the weather. This year much of the UK started spring with plenty of moisture in the soil after a wetter than average winter. Met Office figures show that March delivered some notably warm weather for England and Wales in particular, alongside plenty of sunshine.
Read more at BBC
