Rare 'hair ice' formation spotted by walker

Rare 'hair ice' has been spotted by walker near Hindhead, Surrey

A walker spotted a very rare ice formation known as hair ice or frost beard.

Rev. Jonny Scott, from Godalming, was with his wife on Friday in the Devil's Punch Bowl in the Surrey Hills when he spotted the phenomenon.

The ice only forms on wood from the broadleaf tree in below zero temperatures at latitudes between 45°N and 55°N, according to the Met Office.

Rev Scott said: "Nature never ceases to amaze me."

Rev Scott found the unusual formation while walking in Devil's Punch Bowl

The reverend said he spotted what he thought at first was "a twig that looked to be wrapped in cotton wool" or "perhaps a strange fungus".

He said: "Carefully picking it up I could see that it was a form of ice I had never witnessed before, and was nowhere else around in the woods."

But it wasn't until he got back to the National Trust car park and searched online that he realised quite how rare the phenomenon is.

Although first reported in 1918, the exact cause of hair ice was only determined in 2015.

Scientists Hofmann, Mätzler and Preuss discovered the 0.01mm strands of ice grow thanks to a specific fungus called Exidiopsis effusa, said the Met Office.