Unpredictable weather patterns during the last 12 months have thrown nature into chaos. Discover how wildlife fared in 2024, and find out about our vital work to address the nature and climate crises.
Each year our Weather and Wildlife Review looks back on how weather has impacted wildlife through the seasons at the places we look after, giving nature a voice and sounding the alarm for wildlife affected by our changing climate.
One in six species in the UK are currently threatened with extinction and we're seeing the impact that the climate crisis is having on both common and rare species.
The review shows that our changing climate has led to the slow loss of predictable weather patterns and how traditional seasonal shifts are causing chaos and confusion for wildlife and people.
The incremental shifts we’re experiencing in terms of our seasons extending may not feel like much in a 12-month period, but over a decade the changes are extremely significant.
With 2024 declared the world’s hottest year on record, it signals a red alert for nature. As global temperatures rise, scientists have previously said that the UK is likely to experience a wetter climate. That reality is now playing out in real time, impacting landscapes, nature and the places we look after.
Following record-breaking warm years in 2022 and 2023, 2024 was mild and very wet by comparison, with unsettled weather dominating forecasts across the UK in the past 12 months.
2024 has seen record-breaking warm and wet months as well as temperatures see-sawing from one extreme to the other within a matter of days.
Storms, flooding and multi-hazard weather events bringing snow, rain and wind simultaneously in different pockets of the country have caused destruction and disruption. Unusual sightings in the natural world from across the year also act as warning beacons for what’s happening to our wildlife and seasons.
A wet start to 2024 helped to relieve the stress in some older trees still suffering from a lack of water following the exceptionally hot and dry summer of 2022, with drier conditions persisting in some regions through to winter 2023. The wet weather at the start of the year also helped newly planted saplings to become established during the planting season.
Storm Henk however, brought damaging winds and heavy rain which caused significant flooding, destruction and power cuts in early January with two further storms, Isha and Jocelyn close behind.
A wet February followed, resulting in the wettest 18 months on record and the warmest February on record in England and Wales. It was also the fourth wettest winter overall for the whole of the UK.
There was some good news from rangers at Orford Ness National Nature Reserve in Suffolk, who announced the establishment of Suffolk’s first grey seal colony after three successive breeding seasons. The team shared the news that over 130 grey seal pups were born last winter, with 200 adults returning to the remote shingle shores of the former military testing site.
The mild winter affected nature’s cues and in Pembrokeshire for example, male great crested newts, the largest of our native newt species, were spotted doing their courtship dance in mating displays in January, two months earlier than usual. This resulted in a prolonged breeding period for the rare species, but the impact of a shorter hibernation period won't be known for a couple of years.
The swing from a very dry period into a prolonged wet winter, followed by a cool start to March and the sixth wettest April on record, had a devastating impact on our insects, particularly butterflies and bees.
The breeding success of some of our bird species was also affected by lower insect numbers impacting on food availability. This, along with relentlessly wet spring weather at times, led to less productivity in some species and fewer fledglings leaving the nest.
It was a similar story for bats in some roosts. In Purbeck in Dorset, Ennerdale in the Lake District and Crom in Northern Ireland, the numbers of bats were down on last year, with some roosts experiencing a significant drop. Possible causes include a lack of insect prey and cold, wet and windy conditions also making hunting more difficult.
The cool and wet start to the year also played a part in bluebells flowering later, and this was reflected in our gardens where spring displays were slow to get going, but then performed well with plenty of moisture to keep plants strong.
Despite a cooler and wetter start to spring and a June that was colder than usual, record-breaking hot weather in May meant spring 2024 still managed to be recorded as the UK’s warmest on record.
Summer was cooler than average and the coolest for nearly a decade, but with a more typical level of rain for the season. Warmer temperatures came at the end of July with the highest temperature of the year recorded in Cambridge in mid-August, registering 34.8° Celsius.
The largely cooler temperatures meant that numbers of insects were widely below average, especially during the first half of the summer. The cool and wet temperatures impacted butterflies, moths, bees and wasps in particular.
A peatland restoration project on Dartmoor in Devon was able to report on some positive insect news over the summer however. The UK's smallest dragonfly – the black darter – one of the country's most rapidly declining species over the last 30 years was spotted. The dragonflies were seen mating and laying eggs in pools created as part of the project.
Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire also had a very good number of dragonflies this year coinciding with its designation as a Dragonfly Hotspot by the Dragonfly Society.
Autumn was milder than average, and the unsettled conditions saw 10 English counties experience their wettest September on record, although Scotland and Northern Ireland were drier than average.
Storm Ashley, the first storm of the new season, brought heavy rain to some parts of the UK in October. But despite the rain, Autumnal displays were enjoyed across the country with colours ranging from deep reds to buttery yellows at places including Sheffield Park in Sussex, Winkworth Arboretum in Surrey and Stourhead in Wiltshire.
Due to the lack of frosts and plenty of water, trees kept their leaves well into November, a month longer than normal.
The dazzling displays of autumn colour were brought to an abrupt end though as a cold snap later in November resulted in snow and a sharp dip in temperatures. This, combined with Storm Bert, made for a multi-hazard weather event, resulting in heavy floods, particularly in south Wales, and snow in different pockets of the country.
Storm Darragh arrived in early December, its high winds bringing hundreds of trees down across the places in our care. These included 250 at Killerton and 100 at Arlington Court in Devon, around 30 significant trees at Bodnant in north Wales and 30 in the wider estate at Cragside in Northumberland.
Small mammals, barn owls and raptors appear to have had a good year as demonstrated by some notable breeding success stories at places we look after. In spring at Sherborne in Gloucestershire, rangers confirmed five territories (five breeding pairs) for the little owl and recorded four kestrels, three barn owl nests with more than three fledglings, as well as the presence of red kite. Peregrines were recorded breeding at Killerton for the first time, and the team also noted three goshawk, four barn owl and two kestrel breeding sites. At Mottisfont in Hampshire three barn owl chicks successfully fledged and tawny owls and kestrels also had a successful breeding year due to the boom of the field vole population as a food source this year. Five barn owl pairs (in contrast to just one pair seven years ago) were recorded at Southwood Estate in Pembrokeshire and increased numbers of kestrels and barn owls have also been spotted on the Holnicote Estate in Somerset, a year after its innovative ‘Stage 0’ reset of the River Aller.
The wet start to the year and damp and cool spring greatly hampered the UK’s butterfly populations this year with a crash in many species’ numbers, such as the Adonis blue, the rarest of the blue butterflies in the UK. In Dorset, only 92 were recorded this year compared to 552 in 2023. At the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland, numbers were half what they typically are. And the trend continued in Wales, where there were poor butterfly numbers at Chirk and at the countryside locations of Sugar Loaf, Skirrid and Langley Meadows. However, where concerted conservation efforts have taken place to help particular species, numbers were still encouraging. At Rodborough Common in Gloucestershire, the Duke of Burgundy butterfly, a priority species for conservation action, was was spotted in decent numbers during a brief period of more settled weather during the second week of May. Although overall sightings of this species were still down. There was good news too for the silver-studded blue butterfly in Purbeck in Dorset, with numbers soaring to record highs with 1,714 and 430 recorded in the two areas surveyed, the highest numbers recorded at either site. The success follows work being carried out to manage the heathland in a way that creates the complex mosaic of different vegetation and bare ground that the silver-studded blues love.
After two years of bird flu impacting various seabird colonies on the Farne Islands and Long Nanny off the Northumberland coast, there were no signs of the disease at either place this year. Puffin numbers were declared stable on the Farne Islands, up by 15 per cent on 2019 figures, but in contrast, European shag numbers were significantly down across the Inner and Outer Group of islands by 84 per cent. Just 61 pairs were recorded – comparative to 1950 when there were just 59 pairs. This is particularly significant as unlike other birds on the Farnes, shags weren't hugely impacted by bird flu. Our rangers therefore suspect that their dramatic decline is due to more extreme weather and frequent storms out at sea in winter and this is disrupting their ability to feed. Terns also recorded big losses on the Farnes with numbers of Arctic, common and Sandwich down by 51 per cent, 70 per cent and 66 per cent respectively. With the numbers being the lowest in modern history, bird flu in recent years is suspected to be a key factor in their decline. However, productivity figures, meaning the number of chicks that fledged per breeding pair this year, were comparable to the past few years.
As our Weather and Wildlife Review shows, our climate is changing and it's having an impact on people and wildlife. Nature's recovery is essential for tackling the climate crisis as damaged ecosystems also contribute to climate change.
Nature-based solutions can help us adapt to, as well as slow, the effects of climate change and build climate resilience that benefits people and wildlife.
Peatland restoration is just one example of a nature-based solution. Restoring peatlands helps hold more rainfall in our landscapes, reduces flood and wildfire risk and keeps carbon locked away in peaty soils.
We’re working with communities and partners at the places we care for and beyond, to restore nature, inspire future generations to care for the world we share and to tackle the climate crisis together.
We are witnessing first-hand the increasing benefits of nature-based solutions and these are vital for building resilience into our landscapes. The Government’s target of ensuring 30 per cent of the UK is well managed land for nature by 2030 is the absolute minimum of what we need to be aiming for to ensure nature recovery. By working at scale we can have a much bigger impact, and by ensuring our peatlands, woodlands and rivers are restored to full health we can make great strides in helping our wildlife adapt to our changing climate.
We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as this content may introduce additional cookies. You may want to read the Google YouTube terms of service and privacy policy before accepting.
Follow zoologist and wildlife filmmaker Leanna Rohini Fernandez on a special access-all-areas trip to Orford Ness National Nature Reserve in Suffolk to spot grey seal pups in the wild. As well as discovering why the seals are thriving at Orford Ness, Leanna finds out about how other species of UK wildlife has fared in 2024.
Landscapes and the wildlife they support are threatened by climate change, but it's not too late to give nature hope. Donate today and you could help us create new meadows, areas of woodland, restore peatlands and protect nature for future generations to enjoy.
Climate change is the greatest threat to the coastline, countryside and historic buildings in our care. Our new report, A Climate for Change: Adaptation and the National Trust, reveals how we’re tackling its causes and effects and identifying future hazards. From protecting and planting trees to nature-friendly farming, helping people, heritage and nature adapt to a changing climate is at the heart of everything we do.
Discover how we’re helping increase butterfly populations through habitat management and monitoring, and learn about the rare species we’re bringing back from the brink.
Many species that were once common are now under threat because of habitat degradation and intensive farming. Discover the conservation success stories.
