SPRING is on the way to York, giving a boost for residents battling against lockdown blues.

A little rain is likely tomorrow but forecasters say high pressure is set to settle over the UK by Friday, bringing sunshine and double-digit temperatures for several days towards the end of the week, over the weekend and into next week. Gentle breezes will make it feel even more pleasant.

The improvement will arrive just days ahead of the start of the meteorological spring on Monday, March 1, and it comes after almost two months when lockdown has been made even more miserable than previously because of snow, sleet, rain, wind, fog, frost and ice.

Flooding caused by heavy rain in the Dales catchment has often made riverside footpaths inaccessible for people's daily exercise and the strays have turned into boggy quagmires.