As Christmas draws to a close and we resign ourselves to packing up the decorations and taking down the tree, it might feel as though there's nothing to brighten the gloom of a chilly January.
But it seems Mother Nature has other ideas.
Thanks to the sub-zero temperatures, she greeted passers-by with an intricate icicle tree to rival any Christmas display early yesterday morning.
Ice sculpture: The freezing temperatures and passing cars have created a 10ft design in Lancashire The freezing weather, which reached -4c (25f) in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, had obviously created the ideal conditions for the sculpture, which reaches up to 10ft.
But like any good designer, Nature made sure she used all the resources at her disposal.
Despite the cold, and possibly because of grit on the road to nearby Newburgh, water had collected in puddles on the tarmac.
And as cars passed, they sent spray flying up into the trees and bushes at the roadside.
As water dripped back to the ground, it froze.
As the night went on, and more spray was thrown into the undergrowth, the hundreds of icicles in the natural sculpture grew longer and longer.
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