Blog - cold winter

Butterflies and winter temperatures

Butterflies and winter temperatures

by Lewis, 10 August, 2012, 3 comments

Most species of butterfly produce one batch of eggs each year - like the gatekeeper butterfly. However, some species can produce two sets of eggs a year. Whether or not two sets of eggs are produced seems to be connected to or dependent upon the late winter / early spring mean (average) temperature. If it is 'warm' then some species of butterfly can start flying and reproducing earlier in the year. The earlier production of the first brood of eggs makes the production of a second brood more likely. Work on this has been conducted by Angus Westgarth Smith at Brunel University (using data from the Butterfly Monitoring Scheme - co-ordinated from CEH). Read more...

Unseasonal weather

Unseasonal weather

by Lewis, 13 December, 2011, 4 comments

We have experienced an extended and warm autumn, and now true to Pliny's words - "A fair and dry autumn brings in always a windy winter" - winter weather has now firmly settled upon us. The temperature is down to "more representative" seasonal values for December, and cold, high winds have recently lashed Scotland and other parts of the U.K. The warmest Autumn (for some 300 + years) was in 2006, when the temperature was some 2.4 / 3 oC above the seasonal average ; places like Kinlochewe recording a daytime temperature of 22.5 oC. The recent mild weather * was due to an unusual pattern of high altitude winds over the Continent. The course of the jet stream meant that there were southerly winds and relatively settled conditions over the United Kingdom. Read more...

Wild Flower Guide

Badger

Read our guide to wild flowers of woodland and hedgerow

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