SNOWDROPS have started to bloom at Painswick's Rococo Garden weeks ahead of schedule.


Unseasonably mild weather has caused hundreds of the white flowers to come up early this year much to the amazement of garden director Paul Moir.


"I have never known the speed they have come up. It is just staggering," said Paul, who has worked at Rococo Garden for 25 years.


"The mild weather has tricked them into thinking it is later in the month and they have shot straight up."


Rococo Garden has one of the largest naturalistic plantings of snowdrops in the country and each year a carpet of the white flowers covers an area below the Eagle House.


Hundreds of visitors travel to Painswick to see the flowers and with temperatures plummeting this week experts anticipate the main display to be at its best towards the end of January and early February.


Paul said: "This cold snap is good for the snowdrops, it will hold off the main display until the usual time.


"The cold stops them growing and they will continue when it gets milder again.


"I'm not a global warming advocate. I believe that things move in cycles and we are in one that starts early and finishes late."


For more information about the display go to www.rococogarden.org.uk