The central European winter is long, grey and hard. A solid layer of low-hanging cloud descends on the continent in October and stubbornly stays put until the end of April.
The milky light and monotonous chill can depress even the sunniest personality and, depending on your budget, propels desperate people into the arms of tour operators, sun studio owners or pep pill-prescribing doctors.
This year, however, winter appears to have been cancelled. After experiencing its warmest year since 1901 last year, Germany is now experiencing temperatures up to 15 degrees warmer than usual.
In many areas, snowdrops and cherry blossom trees are already in full bloom.
"We are all worried that the trees will pull moisture out of the ground and start their sap flowing," Klaus Hummer, head of an allotment community in Bavaria, told Frankenpostnewspaper. "If it starts to freeze the bark will burst, destroying branches, which would mean huge damage." Without a proper winter rest and cold weather, say other experts, fruit trees will produce a smaller yield in the autumn and be more susceptible to fungi and greenfly.
Without cold temperatures to kill off tick and mosquito eggs, we can also expect a lot more mosquito bites this summer.
Nature lovers in the moors of Lower Saxony say that the cranes have decided to stay put this year. "Normally just a few hundred cranes stay here in Germany and in extremely cold winters nearly all migrate to southern Europe. This year around 8,000 of the 10,000 we've counted here have stayed put," said Kerrin Lehn from nature organisation Bund. "They are finding enough to eat and the cold spell hasn't come to tell them to leave."
It's a similar situation for brown bears in the Austrian Alps: sufficient food and mild temperatures have allowed them do without their winter rest. "Normally they'd be long in their caves but we keep seeing sleepless bears on our tours," said Beate Striebel, bear expert for the World Wildlife Fund, on Austrian radio.
But, she said, smaller animals such as groundhogs and hedgehogs appear to have decided to tuck themselves away as usual.
Ernest Rudel, weather researcher in Vienna, says any cold temperatures are a long way away. "In low-lying areas temperatures are going to remain in plus. Large cities are unlikely to get any snow this year and in the mountains it will also remain markedly warmer than normal."
The mild weather is a boon for the German construction industry, with no extreme temperatures halting work, according to construction federation spokesman Heiko Stiepelmann. But doctors are divided on the effect on humans: some suggest the mild weather has put a spring in people's steps, while others are less optimistic.
"Many people are complaining of sleeping difficulties and spring fatigue," said psychologist Stephan Rudas to Austria's News magazine.
A visit to the cinema or the theatre is enough to show that the mild weather hasn't resulted in fewer coughs or colds.
Meanwhile, local authorities are making a killing from the mild weather.
Huge canisters of salt that are normally spread on icy roads at this time of year have remained untouched, saving the city of Munich €11 million alone.
"Yes, the weather is crazy," said Ernst Valentin Filler from his allotment outside Munich. "But rather than worry, you should enjoy the blossoms." - Derek Scally