What a difference a year makes!
What a difference a year makes. Blue skies and sunshine have turned the winter weather upside down this year.
Contrasting pictures captured by the Express & Star show the topsy turvy weather that has left people scratching their heads in disbelief.
Blizzards blew across the Midlands during Christmas week causing hazardous driving conditions for motorists 12 months ago.
Motorists faced snow covered roads as they made their way along Mornington Road, Smethwick, on December 29, 2014.
Cars and lorries snaked their way along the road as visibility was hampered by the falling snow.
A cold snap and heavy snowfalls swept in after Christmas forcing airports to halt flights, trains to be cancelled and schools to close.
Temperatures fell below freezing in the Midlands over the winter as the country shivered in cold blasts coming from Greenland and Iceland.
In January holidaymakers looking to escape the wintry weather were left stranded after heavy snowfall forced a number of flights to be suspended including services into East Midlands Airport.
Across the Atlantic, an emergency was declared in a swathe of north-eastern US states with around 36ins of snow falling outside Boston over January.
But even last winter Britain faced yo-yo weather conditions with temperatures fluctuating and people also facing rain and brighter days.
This year the contrast is greater this with warmer conditions brought in as the jet stream brought sunshine and storms from the Mediterranean.
People have been getting used to unseasonably warm weather with temperatures around double what they would be normally.
This latest picture by Express & Star chief photographer Tim Thursfield shows the contrast in weather in Mornington Road, Smethwick, on Tuesday,
Temperatures rose to at least 12C (53F) this week but have been accompanied by heavy rain, strong winds and storms.
December is set to be Britain's mildest since records began in 1910, according to the Met Office.
It comes as December average for England has been around 9C (48F) which forecasters say is more than 5C above the average.
For some parts of the UK including flood-hit Cumbria, it will have been the wettest December on record.
Although the floodwaters have been receding, across the North, more than 6,700 homes have flooded in the past week.
Flood barriers have been in place at towns this week along the River Severn including Bewdley as people were braced for heavy rain.
Overnight on New Year's Eve, temperatures are expected to fall close to, or just below freezing, bringing a risk of ice or hoar frost.
