The Met. Office reckoned it was the warmest and sunniest May on record; it was also dry with measurable rainfall on only eight days. Forecasts of torrential thunder-storms came day after day during the last week but all we got were a couple of brief showers on 30th and 31st. The duneland water-table therefore fell...
Information and photo credit Dr Phil Smith, Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) have been spotted at Ainsdale Sandhills Local Nature Reserve not farm from the Ainsdale Discovery Centre. This species is found infrequently. Largely considered a migrant but with some breeding populations in the UK, considered unstable by the British Dragonfly Society. Phil discovered three males basking on bare...
April 2018 really broke the mould. Since the millennium, we have got used to prolonged droughts, with April showers a distant memory. This month, measurable rain fell on 12 days and, although it was mainly colder than average, there was a heatwave from 18th to 21st with the highest April temperatures (in London) since 1949....
With a few snow flurries at times, and a “mini-beast from the east” on 17th, March was certainly colder than average, while measurable rain on 17 days kept the water-table topped up. The Devil’s Hole at Ravenmeols was impressively flooded, though well below levels seen in 2008, 2013 and 2016. Despite the low temperatures, a...