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December 27,2021

Anna Murray 

According to the National Trust's annual evaluation of UK wildlife winners and losers, the climate crisis created major environmental issues across the United Kingdom in 2021. A warm winter, minimal rainfall, and gale-force winds compounded multiple natural disasters, wreaking havoc on critical landscapes and the species who rely on them.

Despite the fact that the weather was average at times, animals in the United Kingdom had a terrible year in 2021. Extreme weather events and unexpectedly warm temperatures wreaked havoc on the ecosystems of moorland, coastal, and woodland. According to Ben McCarthy, the National Trust's Head of Nature Conservation and Restoration Ecology, climate change is making some extreme weather events the new normal. Furthermore, heat waves and torrential rains are increasing in frequency and intensity.

The rare angular orbweaver (Araneus angulatus) was sighted in a damp woodland at The Vyne in Hampshire, as were seals and seal pups at the Farne Islands in Northumberland and at Blakeney Point in Norfolk. Rodborough Common in Gloucestershire was covered with pyramidal orchids, and the Golden Cap estate in Dorset was home to a plethora of bee orchids. In addition, a grassland fungus with 17 waxcap species was discovered in a Shropshire meadow, as well as a slew of new waxcap species near Hardcastle Crags in Yorkshire.

Wildfires in the north of England and Northern Ireland displaced many losers, including endangered birds and animals. Due to ash dieback, at least 30,000 ash trees will be removed. Due to an outbreak of the disease Phytophthora ramorum, tens of thousands of larch trees will be felled across the Lake District. In November, Storm Arwen uprooted hundreds of trees across the north of England and Wales, destroying many of the country's most prized trees. The worst-affected areas included Bodnant Gardens in North Wales, Wallington in Northumberland, and parts of the Lake District in Cumbria.