Icy grip on Spring daffodil
The beauty of spring is hard to destroy – even when it is caught in the grips of ice.
One couple discovered that a daffodil that had started to bloom when the weather was milder had been completely encased in ice.
Ernie and Joyce Page spotted the daffodil while checking on their garden in Hollies Drive, Bayston Hill this week.
Joyce said: "We have a conservatory with a heater in and that must have been warming up the snow on the top. The snow drips down from the roof and this time it must have dripped on this little baby daffodil. It looks absolutely beautiful."
Forecasters today said March is on course to be one of the 10 coldest on record.
So far the mean temperature has been 3.1C and that is likely to drop to 3C (37F) by the end of the month. That will make it the coldest March since 1970, when the average was 2.9C.
Temperatures have dropped to as low as -10C (14F) this week in some areas, with Shropshire temperatures as low as -6C (21F).
It was warned today that the cold snap is unlikely to end until the latter part of next month.
