SPRING has sprung in York with residents enjoying spectacular flowers and greenery across the city.

The silt left behind by floodwater, as well as high levels of sunshine, have been credited with leaving the city looking especially lush this spring.

Mick Hickling, who pictured his dog Stanley among flowers by the River Ouse, said: “The area known as Paddy’s Pitch, just upstream from Scarborough Bridge, was under water for months during the York floods of 2016.

“When it finally dried out in the summer all that remained was a gloomy expanse brown baked earth.

“But this Spring it has just recovered its lushness, much to the delight of local dog-walkers and their animals.”

Meanwhile, visitors to Rowntree Park, which is regularly flooded in the winter, have enjoyed the sight of a blanket of daisies covering the park. Sue Gabbatiss said daisies are carpeting the park “like snow or blossom”.

Ben Goodwill, a gardening expert at Dean’s Garden Centre in Stockton on the Forest, said the nutrients left by floodwater could have benefited grassland by the river.

He added that agreeable weather conditions had been particularly good for flowering and blossoming plants this spring.

He said: “We’ve had a lot of sunshine and limited rainfall. There has been less of the wet and windy April weather we can get, it’s been quite settled.”