LOVE is in the air all across Oxfordshire this weekend, as the county gets ready for the most romantic day of the year.

From enjoying heart-shaped cakes to viewing cards sent by jilted lovers, the county seems to have something to offer everyone this Valentine’s Day.

Summertown cake baker Julia Atkinson has been hard at work prepping hundreds of pink, red and white cupcakes for the special day.

The owner of Happy Cakes gave her thoughts on the most romantic places in the county.

She said: “I love walking between the Radcliffe Camera, and the Sheldonian and Bodleian. It’s so historic and you get the real essence of Oxford.

“You could almost be in a different time period. It’s beautiful.”

A professor at the University of Oxford has written a book he thinks will help romantics across the city deliver the perfect Valentine’s Day for their loved one.

Professor Charles Spence, of the Crossmodal Research Laboratory, has written The Perfect Meal: The Multisensory Science of Food and Dining after working with famous chefs such as Heston Blumenthal and Ferran Adrià.

Professor Spence says that sharing food, thinking about the brightness of the lighting and carefully selecting the soundtrack will have a positive effect on the success of an important date.

For those looking for something not quite as romantic to do on the big day, the Oxfordshire Museum is hosting a Valentine’s exhibition displaying a wide range of unique cards and love tokens. David Howells, assistant curator at the museum in Park Street, Woodstock, said: “It’s not just cherubs and pretty cards, there are some cruel cards as well.

“It really shows the history of Valentine’s cards. There would be ones sent by jilted lovers or people who have been rejected, or someone who has been asked out by someone who they thought was too far beneath them.

“It’s especially mean because back then you paid to receive your mail, not to send it. So people would have been really happy to get a card, pay their penny and then find out it’s a cruel one.”

The free exhibition runs until March 13.