This week has seen plenty of cold weather again, nothing too cold but enough for ice, frost and, in some parts of Ireland, snow.

So we headed into the mountains, to photograph some of the ice and frost, no snow here.

Here, on the climb towards the ridge and peak there was plenty of white on the hard forestry road.

And with the late afternoon sun was dipping just below that ridge, the perfect time for a starburst.

Spring is here at long last.

The traditional beginning of spring in Ireland is St. Brigid's Day on the the 1st of February, in the meteorological calendar spring starts on the 1st of March and often the passing of the Spring Equinox on the 20th/21st of March is regarded as the true beginning of the season that sees the hedgerows and woodlands of Ireland erupt into life with fresh green carpeting the countryside and urban parks of the Emerald Isle.

Not very high, the mountains of Ireland are nevertheless full of character and are actually often dusted with snow in the winter.

At 1,038m, Carrauntoohil is the highest point in Ireland; we don't have much in the way of high altitude but in the winter there is snow at 300m and above in many of the mountains for some of the year.