Listen to the birds may help beat winter blues,

SPENDING five minutes listening to birdsong may help beat the winter blues, scientists have suggested.

As people struggle with the latest cold snap, many are left with pre-Christmas gloom. But the National Trust has compiled recordings of birdsong to remind those fed up with the cold and the dark that spring is just around the corner.

Peter Brash, National Trust ecologist, said: "Birdsong gives us a warm glow inside."