It is cold

The combination of clear skies and an area of high pressure that is directing Siberian winds Europe-wards has put a decided bite in the air. It was -14c / 6.8f when I ventured outside this morning When I opened the curtains just after dawn, the hedgerow at the back of my garden was glossed over with that ghost-smoke grey which signals heavy hoarfrost, the kind of ornamentation that you only see when the mercury plunges well below zero.

But, the morning was beautiful





Even flowers are growing - well, flowers of frost, with aquatic plants given a false softness by their frigid rims.



The Broad is still capped with ice.



And the Yare has frozen over as well in much of its meandering course across campus.





These are tough conditions for wetland wildlife and I didn't see much this morning; just the odd cormorant flying overhead, and the gulls wandering on the ice, and a rabbit huddled under a trailer.



Last night, the ponies were playing tag in the snow


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But while Norfolk continues its interpretation of the Pleistocene, foxes are busy exploring the North Downs A few photos from my mother, down in Surrey: