21 joyous pictures of Britain to raise your spirits on the first day of Spring

There's never been a more important time to get out into the countryside and smell the roses. Or watch the lambs. Or marvel at the views, and dozens of other things.

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Young ducklings and their mother at a pond.
(Image credit: Alamy Stock Photo)

There may be a lot we can't do at the moment, but there are still a lot of things we can do — and to inspire you, we've chosen 20 beautiful images from across England, Scotland and Wales to celebrate the beauty of this island.

Bluebells growing on an open hillside in Snowdonia National Park in spring.
(Image credit: Alamy Stock Photo)

How rude! A newborn lamb sticks its tongue out in the lambing sheds at The Olde House, Chapel Amble, Cornwall.

Bluebells in a wooded area in rural Shropshire during spring.
(Image credit: Alamy Stock Photo)

Beech tree-lined road in evening sunshine, Wimborne, Dorset.
(Image credit: Alamy Stock Photo)

Young ducklings and their mother at a pond.
(Image credit: Alamy Stock Photo)

Daffodils and blossom in spring, Hampton, Greater London.
(Image credit: Alamy Stock Photo)

Flowering thrift on the clifftops above Hartland Quay, North Devon.
(Image credit: Alamy Stock Photo)

English country garden in spring with pots of tulips on the patio in Haslemere, Surrey.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

A pretty Sprawler Moth Caterpillar, Asteroscopus sphinx, walking along a twig at the edge of woodland.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The first rays of the rising sun can create spectacular rainbows when conditions are right.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland.
(Image credit: Alamy Stock Photo)

Swallow (Hirundo rustica) collecting nest material and mud from a garden pond in Scotland.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The New Forest, Hampshire.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Borders of white tulips and forget-me-nots with mature shrubs and trees sweeping lawns in Spring at the Dorothy Clive Garden, Willoughbridge, Staffordshire.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Rays of sunlight burst through the forest canopy in Norfolk.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

A baby badger plays in the grass.
(Image credit: Getty Images/Robert Harding Worl)

A perfect English country gardens scene in Spring.
(Image credit: Getty Images/Mint Images RF)

Flower borders across the nation are beginning to burst into colour.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

View across Elter Water to the Langdale Pikes, Elterwater, near Ambleside, Lake District National Park, Cumbria.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Leeds Castle, Kent.
(Image credit: Alamy Stock Photo)

Looking along the Mam Tor ridge from Rushup Edge at sunrise.
(Image credit: Alamy Stock Photo)

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Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

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Country Life

Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by His Majesty The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.