Midlands awakes to a beautiful Hoar frost

With a sparkling layer of white spread across each and every branch, these trees look like they are growing in a forest in Narnia.

But this was the scene in the Midlands today as a train made its way through the West Midlands which awoke to a spectacular hoar frost.

The atmospheric scene was captured from the Black Country route, near Coseley station, by Express & Star photographer Tim Thursfield.

Click on the image on the right to see more Hoar frost pictures.

Hoar frosts are relatively rare in the Midlands. They describe the scene when branches of trees, wire fences and even cobwebs are covered in a layer of white.

It happens when the air cools and water condenses rapidly, creating complex icy structures. When objects lose heat into open clear skies, they become colder than the surrounding air and allow hoar frost to form.

Gavin Robbins, from the Met Office, said today: "The reason we have hoar frost is that we haven't had any snow or rain but the temperatures are so cold that ice forms on surfaces directly from the air.

"Had temperatures been above freezing, it would have formed as dew.

"It is different from air frost, which happens in autumn when temperatures dip to freezing but the soil still retains some summer heat.

"And it is not the same as ground frost, which can form when the the ground can fall below freezing when the air does not."

It might look pretty for dog walkers wrapped up against the cold, but the hoar frost should also spell danger for motorists and pedestrians. The frosts typically come alongside frozen fog and black ice - hazardous conditions for people either in two feet or four wheels.