Happy days are here again as nature wakes early
[gallery] Here's a reason to be cheerful – it's still January and spring is already on its way.
The earliest snowdrops for 40 years have appeared across Shropshire and Mid Wales, which is enough to bring a smile to anyone's face.
An extremely mild winter has led to signs of an early spring sprouting across the UK, from snowdrops and hazel flowering to sightings of ladybirds and butterflies.
The Woodland Trust's network of nature watchers recorded snowdrops appearing as early as December, and have spotted budburst on elder bushes, plus butterflies including Brimstones, Red Admirals and Small Tortoiseshells.
Naturalists said the number of hazel catkins out was particularly unusual, though the number of insects sighted has been relatively low despite the mild temperatures.
Last year in Shropshire, many areas known for their shows of snowdrops were barren until March, such was the ferocity of the late winter and early spring.
But today areas of the grounds at Berrington Hall, near Ludlow, and Shrewsbury's Attingham Park, are already a carpet of white. Hazel catkins are out at the Shropshire Hill Discovery Centre and children at Onny Primary School near Ludlow are enjoying the arrival of their cyclamens.
This year fits into the trend over recent years of traditional harbingers of spring arriving early because of rising UK temperatures. British flowers came out between two and 12 days earlier in the past quarter century than in any previous 25-year period, and the seasonal timing of reproduction shifted forward by around 11 days between 1976 and 2005, previous research has shown.
Many of the signs of spring already out now, such as snowdrops and hazel catkins, used to appear more commonly in February.
Kate Lewthwaite, project manager for the Woodland Trust's Nature's Calendar, said: "It doesn't feel like it's exceptional compared to recent years. But it is exceptional that this has become the norm because of climate change."
Miss Lewthwaite said she was surprised people had not spotted more insects, as the weather was so mild. But National Trust naturalist, Matthew Oates, believes insects have been put off by the incessant rain.
He said: "The soil in Shropshire is saturated, and it stops bumblebees getting out and slows down caterpillars. The butterflies being spotted are ones emerging from buildings. It doesn't surprise me that bumblebees and hoverflies are not out yet. It may simply be because they're in ground that is saturated."
The wet and mild weather might put a spring in the step of plants, but there may yet be a sting in the tail.
A cold spell could spell disaster for many of the plants and wildlife emerging now – and February is often a month of snow and frost.
Miss Lewthwaite warned: "It is turning out to be a mild spring, but I can't believe it will stay like this until March – I expect a nasty shock from Mother Nature in store."
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