Dr Phil Smith Arguably the most severe spring drought of modern times continued throughout April. Rachael Parks measured only 22 mm of rainfall in her Formby garden, this being about 40% of the expected amount. The Met Office tells us that the UK had the sunniest April on record and the third warmest since 1884;...
In my February notes I wondered whether the usual spring drought had started. I was right! The Met. Office tells us that March was extremely dry in the UK, many areas reporting less than 10 mm of rain. It was also the sunniest March in England since records began in 1910. Rachael Park’s Formby data...
Introduction The Sefton Coast sand-dune system is the largest expanse of this rare habitat in England and one of the richest for flora and fauna in Northwest Europe. Much of this diversity is threatened by Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides), an invasive spiny shrub that was introduced here in the 1890s. For decades, it was kept...
The Met. Office described November as: “A month of two halves.” The first fortnight was dominated by ‘anticyclonic gloom’; grey skies, mild and calm conditions caused by high pressure trapping a low-level layer of cloud. From mid-month, temperatures fell and unsettled weather prevailed, including a named storm and spells of rain. There was even an...