Energy & Climate
29 December 2025
Despite this year’s extreme weather, some species thrived – or partially bounced back after 2024’s very wet conditions.
Generalist species such as seals, carrion crows and speckled wood butterflies did well thanks to their ability to adapt to warmer temperatures and survive on a varied diet.
‘While adaptable species are coping, those with specialist needs – like the wood white butterfly – are in steep decline. The homogenisation of the wider countryside and the loss of diverse habitats across the countryside is accelerating this trend. Protected sites such as SSSIs can no longer act as a safety net; they’re too small and too fragmented to form an effective ecological network. Without urgent, joined-up effective action, nature will continue to decline and government will miss its legal targets.’
BEN MCCARTHY
National Trust’s head of nature conservation
The calm, frost-free spring powered a spectacular blossom season followed by a bumper fruit harvest at places like Cotehele in Cornwall and Hughenden in Buckinghamshire.
This particular weather pattern and the dry summer also pushed other trees to produce seeds early and in abundance. The result was an extraordinary mast year, with trees and hedgerow shrubs yielding bumper crops across the country feeding jays, squirrels, deer and countless other species.
Although good news for wildlife it remains unclear what the impacts of climate change are on the synchronisation of mast years and the natural regeneration of tree species.
The long spells of warm dry weather suited hazel dormice; they stayed active longer and fattened up on autumn’s glut of nuts and berries prior to hibernation.
The warm, dry nights over the summer months were also ideal conditions for moth activity – and at Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire it was one of the best years for moth recording on site.
Surveys turned up new species including the L-album Wainscot, indicating a northward spread linked to climate change.
Pumpkins in Trust gardens ripened six weeks early at Buckland Abbey in Devon, with yields up 50% on last year.
Autumn rains brought a dazzling display of fungi, including including fly agaric at Dartmoor in Devon and Penrhyn Castle in north Wales, where numerous waxcap species were recorded.
Grey seals continued their upward trajectory at Blakeney Point, Orford Ness and the Farne Islands, with pup numbers expected to break records again.
Various species of bird also showed resilience where habitats were well managed: kingfishers and cranes bred successfully at Wicken Fen, nightjars and Dartford warblers thrived on Purbeck heathlands and Brownsea Island recorded its highest-ever spoonbill count.
At Dunwich Heath numbers of Dartford warblers also rebounded dramatically after previous drought damage to the heathland. On the Longshaw Estate in the Peak District, the pied fly catcher had a successful breeding season.
But for many species, 2025 was brutal. Wetland and ground-nesting birds lost breeding sites as ponds and streams dried.
Amphibians suffered, with Formby’s natterjack toads producing no toadlets. Fish such as trout and salmon struggled in shrinking rivers and overheated waters, and otters found hunting harder as their prey dwindled.
Newly planted trees faced up to 40% losses, far above the expected 10–15%, while mature trees showed stress through early leaf loss and limb drop.
Other UK wildlife experienced mixed fortunes. Butterflies seem to have rebounded from 2024’s wet spring and summer, with species in flight earlier than normal due to the warm and settled spring.
At Hatfield Forest in Essex, surveys recorded the highest butterfly numbers in nearly 20 years. Marbled-white and small heath butterflies were particularly abundant, and sightings of the elusive purple emperor increased.
Heath fritillary numbers surged at Holnicote in Somerset, and in Eryri in Wales, good numbers of brimstone and silver-studded blue were recorded, though still below 1990s levels. Long-term trends still remain fragile.
Raptors like barn owls and kestrels suffered where vole numbers crashed in parched grasslands at Mottisfont in Hampshire and Sherborne in Gloucestershire, though marsh harriers bred successfully at Orford Ness and Pembrokeshire.
There was also good news for other birds such as the pied flycatchers at Chirk Castle in Wales and Longshaw in the Peak District, with good numbers fledging largely thanks to the dry and more settled weather in the spring. This allowed adults to forage for longer and the young to stay warm and less exposed.
Seabirds also faced a tough season: Arctic tern nests fell 30% at Long Nanny, and puffin numbers fell by a quarter (23%) on the Farne Islands, even as fulmars and razorbills numbers rose. This is an encouraging sign after the devastation caused to some species by bird flu.
Dragonflies thrived at Wicken Fen and Anglesey Abbey but vanished from dried-out ponds in the Peak District. Pollinators boomed in spring then dropped sharply in summer heat.
Wildflower meadows struggled in many drought-hit areas like the Cotswolds and Somerset, with seed yields down by 50%. Yet restoration and moisture retention delivered bright spots in Wales and Carmarthenshire, where common spotted orchids flourished.
At Purbeck in Dorset at Hartland Moor, stress-tolerant wildflower species such as stork’s bill and common centaury did well and adaptive grazing created unexpectedly rich habitats for pollinators.
High on the slopes of Eryri, rare Arctic alpine plants are clinging to survival as rising temperatures reshape their fragile habitat.
Among them is the tufted saxifrage – with just seven known plants left on the mountain. This year’s drought sparked fears of extinction, but thankfully north Wales escaped the worst of the dry conditions, and all seven plants endured.
‘These species once thrived in Eryri’s freezing winters and cool summers, but prolonged heat is becoming the norm. Over the past decade, the number of hot years has surged, pushing these plants to the edge.
‘Their survival now depends on growing plants in nurseries to restore the population and reducing other threats, from grazing and trampling. But the key thing is how quickly we can reduce our impact on the climate. Species like the tufted saxifrage are like the canary in the coal mine, telling us that they’re struggling under a changing climate. This year they came very close to disappearing from Wales altogether, this should be a wake-up call for us all.’
SIMON ROGERS
Countryside manager for the National Trust in Eryri
New plan sets course for cleaner rivers and air, as well as more nature and wildlife in England.
Dozens of bird and bat boxes installed at nine TransPennine Express stations to provide new habitats for wildlife.
