Woman spots dead mother on Google Earth in UK after 18 months

London:  An American woman living in the UK "got the biggest surprise ever" after she saw her mother pictured on Google Street View, 18 months after she passed away, according to media reports.

Denise Underhill, who moved from Florida to Tamworth, Staffordshire in England saw her mother, Beryl Turton outside their old home, watering the plants.

"As I went about my housework, I somehow instantaneously had the impulse to call my mother but realising that it was completely out of the question," she was quoted as saying by The Independent.

"I decided to Google Earth my mother's home to see how it looked, considering, since she had passed away in 2015 and the property had been sold," she said.

After Underhill located the home on Chaytor Road, which she recognised thanks to a tall silver birch tree, and zoomed in on the street view, she spotted her mother pottering around in their old garden in a photograph that had clearly been taken years earlier.

"I got the biggest surprise ever! I just couldn't believe it, she said.

"At the foot of the driveway was my mother. She was watering the garden, just as she always did. I was absolutely astounded, it made my day. You never know what photos are being taken but they really do last a lifetime," Underhill said.

"I think someone wanted me to see this," she said.

With hundreds and thousands of photographic contributors, people can view many parts of the world on Google Earth, with some pictures dating as far back as 2008.