Kya deLongchamps reviews paint schemes in the €10-€15 a litre range that are all you need to magic up that must-have blue-grey palette for spring.

BY the end of the month we’ll start to see a stretch in daylight, and although still in the clutch of winter, that light will show up paintwork yellowed by open fires, and black patches on walls above radiators.

Officials warned residents to evacuate nine alpine villages today as bush fires spread across huge swathes of southeast Australia.