According to the Met Office, May 2024 was the warmest on record, mainly due to high overnight temperatures. It was also the hottest spring overall. Rainfall in England was above average, though the Met Office maps show that the Sefton Coast bugged the trend, having roughly normal rainfall. This was confirmed by Rachael Parks’ rain-gauge...
Dr Phil Smith – April 2024 Wildlife Notes
An unusual April – no drought! Rachael Parks tells me there were 19 days with measurable rainfall in Formby, totalling about 55mm, which is around average for the month. Nationally, there was about 55% more rain than usual, including a named storm from 6th to 9th. The latter coincided with very high spring tides (10.2m...
Dr Phil Smith, March 2024 – Wildlife Notes
The Met Office tells us that March was “unsettled wet and dull”, with a succession of Atlantic fronts bringing wind and rain. The resulting rainfall total recorded by Rachael Parks in her Formby garden was 91.5 mm, which is about 50% more than average. My measurements at the Devil’s Hole suggest that the sand-dune water-table...
BTO – Report details mixed fortunes for the UK’s rare breeding birds
BTO Press release The latest report by the Rare Breeding Birds Panel, published today, reveals four species of birds of prey, including Osprey, have reached record totals in the UK, as have several species of rare and colonising heron. However, two species of rare breeding bird failed to breed for the second year in succession....
