It ain't arf 'ot, mum

[ernie f]

I thought I'd like to point out for forum posterity really that its blooming hot in the summer of 2018. North-east Hampshire (where I live) has seen no real rain for over 6 weeks now to my recollection (as of 18th July) and I don't see any forecast for it soon either. Apparently it was the driest June on record - as my garden lawn will testify - and we have been hitting 30 degrees quite often.

What has this meant for our butterflies round here? Well, all the species that emerged around the beginning of this heat-wave and lived through it seem to be doing well. The Silver Studded Blues had an excellent year round here as did the Purple Emperors and Purple Hairstreaks. The heat brought the Purple Hairstreaks down quite a lot too. But there are worries about those that appear later in the year, for example the latter-brood Small Coppers, because their larval food plants seemed to have turned to hay.

If you have any updates from your area, especially which species have been impacted and how, it might be nice to keep track so we know what to expect in future if climate change is heading us in that direction...

[David M]

Well, ernie, I can report that the Gower in Swansea has been equally arid - no rain to speak of since around 10th June. That's particularly unusual for the UK's wettest city and the result is that the grass is brown everywhere and things are looking tired.

I sincerely hope we can get some rain fairly soon, otherwise the progeny of the myriad of butterflies currently on the wing are going to be condemned to a harsh upbringing!

[petesmith]

It's a similar story from central Lincolnshire - White Admiral, Purple Emperor and Purple Hairstreak all having a great year, although it feels like the grass-feeding skippers and satyrids are around in significantly lower numbers than usual at most sites. Vegetation at many sites is scorched off. My lawn is well and truly non-existent, and has been burnt dry for several weeks. Even the local woods, which are mainly on clay soil, are looking very dry and cracks are appearing even in areas that usually remain damp throughout the year.There will no doubt be casualties, especially for species dependent on low growing plants. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the summer pans out...