The National Trust says country’s gone from ‘drought to deluge’
A national environmental charity is reflecting on the past year and how storms have battered the country.
It comes after global experts say the past 12 months puts the planet on course to be the hottest year on record.
The National Trust says there’s ‘fresh fears for climate changes impacts on wildlife’ as ‘ferocious storms bookended a very wet and mild year in the UK.’
This year certainly got off to a wildly wet start with Storm Henk battering the nation, causing flooding, destruction and power cuts in early January. It was quickly followed by two further storms before February experienced mild and wet conditions.
Storm damage after Storm Darragh at Bossington Hill on the Holnicote Estate in West Somerset. Image: The National Trust.
The wet weather also resulted in Britons experiencing the highest number of flood alerts and warnings in the first four months of 2024, with up to 40 issued on average each day.
National Trust places that suffered particularly badly due to the flooding were Avebury Manor in Wiltshire, which flooded for the first time in 300 years and Charlecote Manor in Warwickshire, which flooded eight times in 2024.
And at Crom, in Northern Ireland, rain and Lough levels plunged jetties under water for six weeks in the summer.
‘The wet start to the year finally kicked into touch any lingering symptoms of drought, a hangover from the exceptionally hot and dry summer of 2022 which persisted through to winter 2023 in some regions of the UK,’ says Ben McCarthy, Head of Nature Conservation and Restoration Ecology at The National Trust.
‘The drought’s subsequent low groundwater levels had been causing various issues for wildlife including stress to trees, drying out peatlands and raising temperatures in waterways and seas, exacerbating issues already caused by pollution.’
‘Advantageous for establishing newly planted trees’
‘The lurch from a very dry to a prolonged, wet period was particularly advantageous for establishing newly planted trees and helping wetlands recover to act as nature’s sponges.’
He adds that the change ‘had a particularly devastating impact on our insects, particularly butterflies and bees and some birds which struggled to get their breeding seasons underway subsequently impacting the number of fledglings.’
‘In Great Britain, one in six species are currently threatened with extinction – and it’s both common and rare species which are being impacted by the nature and climate crisis.’
‘The unpredictability of the weather and blurring of the seasons is adding additional stresses to our struggling wildlife.’
‘Even in these past few weeks we have seen temperatures see-saw from freezing to balmy in a matter of days.’
‘But, as these ‘trends’ become the new norm both here in the UK and further afield, it is even more vital to invest in restoring nature to provide additional support and to help build in resilience to deal with the impacts of our changing climate.’
‘Shifting patterns’
‘Climate change has exacerbated weather events around the world,’ says Keith Jones, Climate Change Adviser at The National Trust.
‘As the world continues to get hotter, this trend hides a world of extremes – both deluge and drought and shifting patterns.’
‘This is not ‘new’ news in that these are patterns which we previously predicted – but the reality is now playing out in real time, impacting landscapes, nature and the places we look after.’
‘With global temperature rise, scientists have previously said that the UK is likely to see wetter weather, and this was certainly true this year.’
‘In a warm and wet year such as 2024, it’s the outliers – the unusual sightings that become the warning beacons for what’s happening to our wildlife and seasons.’
‘Due to the cool and wet start to the year, bluebells flowered 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.’
Late autumn colour at Anglesey Abbey. Image: Mike Selby / National Trust Images.
‘Due to the mild temperatures in September and October, autumn arrived later too with some unusual sites including the reflowering of brambles and garden shrubs such as roses.’
‘These conditions stimulated grass growth resulting in our ranger and gardening teams mowing lawns later into the year than is typical.’
‘Some of our garden teams have also witnessed early flowering with camelias out in Cornwall, snowdrops out two weeks ahead of time in Dorset and last month blossom was even starting to peak through on the apple tree in my back garden.’
‘Our unpredictable weather is resulting in confusion for our wildlife and the slow loss of what once were ‘predictable’ seasons.’
‘Our landscapes need to be in a fit or in a favourable condition to better withstand these changes.’
‘Countries across the world must do more to drastically cut carbon emissions, to ensure we can still avoid the very worst consequences of an overheating world.’
Peatland: an effective carbon store
The National Trust says that the UK is home to 12 per cent of Europe’s peatland habitats. It adds that healthy peat is 90 per cent water and is a very effective carbon store which holds 20 times more carbon than UK woodlands.
It goes on to explain 80 per cent of UK peatland is degraded in some way and that means it emits carbon (contributing to climate change).
Experts say that nature based solutions, such as peatland restoration, help ‘hold’ more rainfall in our landscapes and that aids in reducing flood risk. They add that the rising water table reduces wildfire risk and keeps carbon locked away in the peaty soils.
In 2024, The National Trust continued its work to restore blanket bogs, restoring more than 3,700 hectares. It cares for a total of 25,000 hectares.
The charity says that more than two thirds is degraded in some way. It points to historic reasons for the damage, including air pollution, drainage, over-grazing, climate change and wildfires.
Restoration is largely focused on raising water levels by blocking gullies with peat bunds or leaky dams and planting Sphagnum mosses that flourish in these wetland habitats.
The moss holds 20 times their weight in water which helps to hold back water as well as locking in new carbon into the peatlands.
Wildlife spotted this year at sites where restoration is taking place included the UK’s smallest dragonfly (the black darter). This was seen on Dartmoor.
Sphagnum moss holds 20 times its weight in water which helps to ‘lock in’ carbon. Image: Bethy Bell / Shutterstock.
Moors for the future: attracting wildlife back
And at Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire, an area of lowland fen, the first ever Common crane chick fledged. The team also had a very good number of dragonflies this year coinciding with its designation as a Dragonfly Hotspot by the Dragonfly Society.
At Holcombe Moor, in Lancashire, restoration work with the Moors for the Future partnership has been ongoing since 2019.
It’s resulted in attracting breeding Dunlin back to the moorland with eight of these red listed birds recorded in 2024 along with other species including golden plover, lapwing, snipe and curlew.
Another nature-based solution which can have huge benefits for nature is through restoring rivers and creating wetlands. Through its river restoration projects, The National Trust says it’s seen water quality improve.
At Holnicote on Exmoor, the National Trust team blocked up a 1.2km historically straightened section of the River Aller and let the river find a new route through the landscape.
Seven hectares of waterscapes resulted, holding water in the landscape to benefit both nature and people with flooding risk reduced for communities downstream.
The charity says that nature returned with a greater variety and increased number of wetland species including waterfowl, water voles and grass snakes.
They noted eels, river lamprey and trout appeared in the new river channels. In the wider waterscape, experts say swallows, swifts and sand martins are benefiting from flower rich grasslands with ragged robin and meadowsweet attracting pollinators such as bumblebees and moths.
Benefits of nature-based solutions
‘We are witnessing first-hand the increasing benefits of nature-based solutions and these are vital for building resilience into our landscapes,’ says Ben.
‘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.’
