Why has spring sprung off?

The coldest winter in nearly 50 years has sent the majority of the Capital's flora into hiding, as our pictures of the banks beneath Belford Bridge highlight.

Taken exactly a year apart, they illustrate how slow this year's spring is taking to bloom.

What was an oasis of green this time last year is now an empty landscape of bare branches and dull banks.

It causes a bit of a headache for Water of Leith Visitor Centre manager Helen Brown, who is set to take a party of nature lovers along the banks of the waterway next weekend to peruse some currently non-existent wild flowers.

She said: "I've only been able to count about nine varieties of wild flower out of a seasonal average of about 50.

"The difference between this year and last year is phenomenal. I know we've still got a week to go but if the cold weather keeps up there might not be much to see when everyone arrives next weekend."

The bad news for plant lovers is that Edinburgh's cold temperatures are set to return for much of next week, and could even bring the odd burst of hail.

A Met Office spokesman said: "It's certainly been a cold winter and this will be the reason why spring is reluctant to play ball.

"Edinburgh has just seen its coldest winter since 1963 with mean temperatures of just 0.6C, so coming off the back of a series of mild winters it's no surprise that you're seeing such a huge contrast.

"The big problem next week will be the cold wind coming in off the North Sea, which will hold temperatures down and could bring a few hail storms along with it.

"Temperatures will probably hit a high of 13C, while at night it could still get down to freezing. "By the end of the week, though, the winds look set to change to south or south-westerly and bring some warmer air up in time for the weekend."

David Knott, curator of living collections at the Royal Botanic Garden, said: "When it comes to assessing the weather, plants are much smarter than humans, and nature has a wonderful way of catching up whenever a cold snap has held things down.

"There's still a lot to see down at the Botanics as the daffodils and rhododendrons are out, and the gardens have been busy over the last two weekends – particularly over the Easter weekend – as the daytime temperatures have picked up. While the people are certainly coming out, I think the thing that's prevented the plants from coming out so far has been the night-time weather, as it has still been very cold at night.

"I was still scraping frost from my car yesterday morning, and it was only two weeks ago that we had some of the worst snowstorms on record so the plants may take just a wee while longer to flower."