The first signs of spring have flowered with colourful blooms across Suffolk and Essex.

Eagle-eyed iwitness24 photographers have been out and about taking pictures of flowers that are just starting to bloom despite the wild weather of the past few weeks.

Snowdrops, primulas, pansies and crocuses are just some of the bulbs that have made an early appearance by starting to shoot through the wet ground. The buds will soon be in full bloom to provide a burst of early spring bright colour.

The blooms have been snapped in Abbey Gardens, Gunton Woods, Needham Lakes and various woodlands across the region.

Damien Parker, St Edmundsbury Borough Council’s leisure and cultural operations manager, said Abbey Gardens has an array of colourful primulas and pansies in the central bed, pure white snowdrops in the Holocaust Memorial garden area and yellow winter flowering aconites by the sundial.

He added: “It is true to say that the weather is unseasonably warm but if we get a hard frost some of the more delicate flowers will suffer.

“Meanwhile our visitors, as well as the flowers, are enjoying the warmth.”

Snowdrops are one of the earliest flowering plants to bloom and are often considered a sign of warmer weather ahead and bring the promise of spring, while primulas tend to bloom in early to late spring.

Forecaster Jim Bacon, of East Anglia-based Weatherquest, said: “The fact we have had a mild winter and had a day of warmth on Sunday leads plants to think ‘it’s time to get going again’.

“But we could get some colder days at the drop of a hat so spring hasn’t sprung just yet.

“One warm day makes it seem spring is coming along but it’s more to do with the fact that we’ve had a mild winter.”

Looking ahead Mr Bacon said the weather will remain largely unsettled.

“Today will see some patchy rain around,” he added. “Then it gets wetter at the end of the week before becoming colder with sunshine and showers.

“It will remain mild with temperatures of up to 11C in the first half of the week before colder air comes in.”