Signs of spring around the world - in pictures

London, UK: a woman enjoys an early taste of summer with an after-work ice cream in Regent's Park on the last official day of winter Photograph: Sarah Lee/Guardian

Washington DC, US: the Jefferson Memorial is seen as a backdrop to the cherry blossoms which are in full bloom due to the early warm weather along the east coast of the US Photograph: Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images

Munich, Germany: people enjoy the sunshine in the beer garden near the Chinese pagoda at the English Garden. Spring-like temperatures lured many people into the open at the weekend Photograph: Andreas Gebert/EPA

Whitley Bay, UK: three-year-old Kadie Leigh Koch among the daffodils as the spring weather continues across the UK Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

Orense, Spain: people enjoy warm weather conditions at the banks of Minho river. Temperatures reached 26C, the highest in Spain, after an unusually dry winter season Photograph: Brais Lorenzo/EPA

Paris, France: young women sit in the sun on the Pont des Arts with its fence covered with padlocks left by lovers over the River Seine as unusually warm temperatures hit the French capital Photograph: Benoit Tessier/Reuters

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: devotees with faces covered in coloured powder seen being splashed with water during the Holi celebrations. Holi, also known as the festival of colours, is to mark the end of the winter season and the arrival of spring Photograph: Mohd Fazrul Hasnor/Demotix/Corbis

South Yorkshire, UK: ladybirds in a daffodil as the spring weather continues Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

Prague, Czech Republic: a mother with her child enjoy the swings during a sunny day in front of Charles Bridge in Prague. Parts of Europe are now experiencing spring-like temperatures Photograph: Michal Cizek/AFP/Getty Images

Jimo, China: Chinese villagers watch the offerings during the ceremony of sacrifice to the sea god. The village ceremony has a 500-year-old tradition where fishermen decorate their boats, slaughter pigs, prepare offerings and burn papers in the hope of good fortune in the fishing season Photograph: Hong Wu/Getty Images

London, UK: office workers near Tower Bridge take their lunch in the sunshine as the spring weather continues across the UK Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Nice, France: people sit along the beach in front of the Mediterranean sea while enjoying a sunbathe on the Promenade des Anglais in the French Riviera Photograph: Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images

Delhi, India: Hindu devotees put red powder on the head of a local television news reporter while celebrating Holi, the festival of colour that marks the start of spring Photograph: Kevin Frayer/AP

Ashford, UK: the sun sets near Ashford, Kent, ahead of a week of predicted fine weather Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

Gueterfelde, Germany: A male toad clings to the back of his female partner after volunteers deposited them on the other side of a road along the toads' migration route. Volunteers from Germany's NABU wildlife protection group collect toads migrating to spawn in a nearby lake in order to save them from the passing cars on a road that lies along the migration route Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Paris, France: tourists and Parisians take advantage of warm temperatures in the French capital by relaxing on top of the Montparnasse Tower Photograph: Francois Mori/AP

Tehran, Iran: a woman buys flower as she does her new year shopping ahead of Nowruz, the Iranian new year. Nowruz, which usually occurs on March 20 or 21, marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the new year on the Iranian calendar Photograph: Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua Press/Corbis

Churchill, Canada: a polar bear and her cubs shortly after emerging from their winter den for the first time. The mother may not have eaten for eight months. The cubs will stay with her for approximately two and a half years
Photograph: Christine Haines/Rex Features

Washington DC, US: a couple take photos beneath cherry blossom trees adjacent to the tidal basin on the National Mall. The iconic trees are beginning to bloom, with the National Park Service forecasting peak bloom between 20 and 23 March, one of the earliest years on record due to warmer-than-average temperatures Photograph: Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images

London, UK: people enjoying the sunshine in Green Park Photograph: Linda Nylind/Guardian