Extreme weather conditions seen this year are set to become the new normal and they will have a devastating impact on wildlife unless more is done to tackle the climate and nature crises.
These are the findings of the National Trust’s Weather and Wildlife Review,but they say that despite a tough year for UK nature, they have seen wildlife better able to cope at places where conservation efforts are already underway to build resilience into landscapes.
The charity’s climate crisis adviser, Keith Jones, said:
“This year’s weather has been challenging for nature. Drought, high temperatures, back-to-back storms, unseasonal heat, a cold snap and floods means nature, like us, is having to cope with a new litany of weather extremes.
There were winners and losers in nature in 2022 say the National Trust
Bird flu wiped out several thousand seabirds across the UK. The Farne Islands off the coast of Northumberland were badly hit in June when the virus spread quickly through large numbers of nesting birds, many of which were packed onto the cliff ledges after returning to the island for the breeding season.
Bats struggled to cope with the summer heat and Despite lots of spawn and tadpoles in the spring, there were no sightings of toadlets at Formby in Liverpool or across the Sefton coast. This is because their pools dried up before they could complete their metamorphosis.
Drought and high temperatures devastated populations of young trees planted last year at the places in the Trust’s care.
But there were winners as well
The hot, dry summer and unusually warm October had little impact on autumn colour. Although many poplars and sycamores dropped their leaves in August and early September because of the drought, it was still a colourful autumn across the UK. Leaves kept their colour and stayed on the trees for longer due to a lack of frost.
Areas in the east and the north of England and Northern Ireland saw a glut of seeds and nuts, including acorns, beech masts, rowan berries and elderberries. While this phenomenon, known as a mast year, typically happens every four to five years, 2022 was unusual because trees fruited earlier than normal.
Drought affected the quality of pasture forcing many farmers to feed livestock during the summer months.
Wimpole in Cambridgeshire was one of the worst hit sites with farmers reporting poor quality grass and hay and higher costs. But farmers managing upland sites in Snowdonia, north Wales and the Lake District had the best summer for 30 years. Short periods of rain and sunshine in these areas created good quality crops and grass.
