Punxsutawney Phil predicts an early spring at Groundhog Day festivities

The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club made the announcement just after sunrise on Friday (Barry Reeger/AP)

Punxsutawney Phil has predicted an early spring in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania, the scene of the largest and best known Groundhog Day celebration in the United States.

The annual event is a tongue-in-cheek ritual in which Phil’s handlers, members of a club with roots in the late 19th century, reveal whether the groundhog has seen his shadow.