Long, hot days at the beach have been a rare thing this summer, but has the weather this summer caused British wildlife to suffer?
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An air of gloom has hung over the first half of the British summer this year. At times it has felt like the rain and drizzle is never going to stop and the thought of long, hot beach days might have seemed like nothing but a tantalising hope.
According to some conservation groups and media reports though, it’s not just us humans who have found summer 2024 a bit of a letdown. Some of Britain’s wildlife is also said to be suffering from the wet, cool weather with bats, butterflies and nightjars all having a hard time. But, is this really the impact of one underwhelming summer or is there something else at play?
In the past week, some media outlets have reported that bats have been particularly suffering from the effects of the poor weather, with a reported increase in the number of starving or underweight bats needing to be rescued across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Worcestershire, Essex and South Lancashire. It’s been suggested that this is partly due to the declining insect populations, caused by this summer’s wet weather. The lack of insects has meant that bats have had to travel further – and burn up more energy – to find food.
Meanwhile, the website BirdGuides has reported that European nightjars, a migratory species that spends the summer in the UK, are facing increasing challenges as a result of recent wetter springs and ongoing nationwide insect declines. Nightjars spend the colder months in Africa before migrating to Europe for the summer, but stormy, wet, and cool conditions in much of western Europe this spring are said to have delayed the nightjars’ northward progress, with data showing a reduction in nightjars reported on UK breeding grounds.
Butterflies are also notable for their absence. The group, Butterfly Conservation has reported a noticeable lack of butterflies and moths this year. Dr Dan Hoare, director of conservation at Butterfly Conservation has said that ‘This is likely to be because of the wet spring and now the colder than normal temperatures. Butterflies and moths need some warmth and dry conditions to be able to fly around and mate.’
But, has the weather this summer really been as bad as many of us think? And has it really had an impact on wildlife? According to the UK Meteorological Office, it all depends on where you live.
Early provisional Met Office statistics for 1 June to 15 July shows that the summer so far has actually been slightly drier than average. 113.8mm of rain has fallen across the UK, which is 45 per cent of the long-term meteorological average for the whole of the season.
However, the Met Office goes on to say that there are regional differences, with northern Scotland seeing 57 per cent of its long-term meteorological average compared to Wales, which has seen just 37 per cent. Aside from northern Scotland, the rest of the UK actually experienced a drier than average June, although the first half of July has been wetter than average for many areas of England.
But while this summer has been fairly normal in terms of rainfall, temperatures have been below average across the UK. By mid-July, the mean temperature in the UK stood at 13.04°C, which is 1.55°C cooler than the long-term meteorological average for the summer.
So, if this summers weather hasn’t been quite as bad as we all thought then what is it that’s really causing Britain’s wildlife to suffer? Most likely it’s to do with a long-term decline in insects which has been exasperated by a cooler than average summer.
Insects, which are the base of so many food chains, have become notably less numerous over the past few decades. A study conducted by Bugs Matter in 2023 showed a 78 per cent decline since 2004 in the number of flying insects recorded as squashed on vehicle number plates. Much of this is a long-term decline due to habitat loss, pesticide use, pollution and climate change.
If there’s a decline in insects then, naturally, there’s a decline in insect eaters such as bats. The Bat Conservation Trust has said that while they are concerned about the reports of an increase in bat rescues across parts of the country, in other parts of the UK there has been no significant variation in the number and condition of bats coming into care. A statement released by the trust says that, ‘It’s important to remember that there are always natural fluctuations in wildlife populations, including bats, which may happen at different scales. This year’s unusual spring and summer weather can only be speculatively linked to any fluctuations’.
As for the European nightjar, well, that might also be partially to do with the long-term decline in insects. The BirdGuides website claims that those nightjars that have made it to the UK have found fewer large insects, resulting in less food for themselves and their chicks.
So, it seems that while the cooler weather this summer might have played some role in the problems our wildlife is facing the real threat is from the general decline in insects caused by humanities destruction of the environment.
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