Britain's biggest winter public art extravaganza has hit the street in the shape of giant penguins.

For seven fun-filled weeks from today, 135 individually designed 5ft penguins - and a further 98 mini-3ftpenguins - are on parade across Merseyside until January 10 2010 to highlight the dangers of global warming and polar ice map melting.

Locations across Liverpool city centre will be animated by their new Antarctic residents, with Wirral and St Helens also hosting their very own polar colonies.

As the Trail winds its way around the indoor and outdoor spaces of the region, Christmas shoppers and city visitors will be astounded by the sculptures in all their Technicolor glory.

Go Penguins' designs include a traditional Father Christmas, angels and snowmen as well as super heroes, famous cyclists, proud peacocks and even designs by TV chat show host Paul O'Grady and comedian Johnny Vegas. The penguins also have various themes, from global warming to Liverpool's cultural landscape and its aim to be a host city for England's 2018 FIFA World Cup bid.

More than 500 liters of paint, 100 litres of varnish, 10kg of mud, 5,000 glass and ceramic tiles, 1,000 plastic carrier bags, 500 buttons, 1km of fabric and several hats have all been incorporated by an army of artists and school children.

And visitors to the world famous Albert Dock will also see a special installation where they can watch several penguins in bathing costumes at play at a specially created lido.

The free event is being delivered by Wild In Art, the people behind the phenomenally successful Go Superlambananas - a highlight of the Liverpool's Capital of Culture celebrations.

Commissioned by Liverpool City Council as a finale to their 'Year of the Environment' and the keystone event of the city's Christmas programme, A Winters Trail, the event also has support from the World Wildlife Fund. WWF are using Go Penguins to promote its new Adopt a Penguin scheme and lobbying at the Copenhagen Climate conference next month.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Warren Bradley, Leader of Liverpool City Council, said, ''Go Penguins has unleashed a phenomenal amount of creativity in our schools and arts community and the flock look absolutely fantastic.

''The anticipation and excitement has been huge and I'd like to congratulate everyone involved in creating and delivering them safely and on time to their new homes across the city and wider region. Thanks to them I've no doubt Liverpool will boast the best and most original Christmas decorations to be seen anywhere in the UK.''

The event includes the UK's largest public art schools programme of 2009 with 98 schools taking part, equating to approximately 45,000 children engaging in the project and with the climate change issue. Their mini penguins will be publicly displayed at 13 locations throughout Liverpool, such as the Walker Art Gallery, Central Library and Met Quarter shopping centre during the event.

Sally-Ann Wilkinson, Director of Wild in Art added: "We didn't think it was possible to top the success of Go Superlambananas in 08, but we were wrong. Go Penguins is now almost twice as big as its sister event. We've been overwhelmed by the response from the people of Merseyside and we know they will love the penguins every bit as much as the Superlambananas. We hope that everyone will come out to see them and have lots of fun meeting each and every one of them."

And the impact of Go Penguins has already begun. Home Bargains are selling a specially commissioned ceramic 'paint your own penguin' at £1.99 each. An incredible 5,000 have already been sold, with proceeds going to the Liverpool Lord Mayor's Charity appeal. Additionally, £150,000 has been invested directly into the region's creative economy, creating 25 jobs, with £1.5 million in positive media coverage secured so far.

The free Go Penguins trail map is available at Tourist Information Centres, the Merseytravel Rail Network and other major outlets and downloadable online at www.gopenguins.co.uk