内容摘要："Thankfully, no-one was hurt by the incident, and the police are on the scene to manage the site and temporary road closure."

"Thankfully, no-one was hurt by the incident, and the police are on the scene to manage the site and temporary road closure."

The erratic spring weather disrupted some wildlife species including the rare Adonis blue butterfly. Charity The Butterfly Conservation says only 333 examples of this dramatic creature were recorded in one area of west Dorset – a stronghold of the species – compared to 1,459 in 2023.Many bee, wasp and moth species also recorded very low numbers.

"Our unpredictable weather is resulting in confusion for our wildlife and the slow loss of what once were 'predictable' seasons," said Keith Jones, the Climate Change Advisor at the National Trust.The rainy weather helped re-wet peatland ecosystems across the country after two years of very dry weather in 2022 and into 2023. Rare dragonflies were sighted on various bogland ecosystems, including this female Scare Chaser dragonfly at Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire.Many trees benefited too. Young saplings need moisture to build strong root systems, and the wet weather also relieved stress in some older trees which had been suffering during the parched weather.

There was another good news story on the Suffolk coast. Rangers at the Orford Ness National Nature Reserve announced the establishment of the county's first grey seal colony. The seals are believed to have set up home on the secluded beach at Orford Ness because of the low risk of disturbance, and also because thriving colonies up the coast at Blakeney and Horsey Gap have become crowded.Continued warm weather meant autumn came late this year, but it brought an explosion of colour with some spectacular displays ranging from gold through to russet red, like here on the Wallington Estate in Northumberland.

The lack of frost and wet soils meant many trees kept their leaves well into November, a month longer than usual. But autumn displays were brought to an abrupt end in the second half of the month when a cold snap followed by Storm Bert stripped trees of leaves in just a couple of days.

The mild and wet autumn was great for many species of fungi. Gardeners will have noticed that other moisture-loving creatures - including slugs and snails - thrived too. In the picture above, a leopard slug is eating a false deathcap mushroom on the Blickling Estate in Norfolk."The dust that comes across from the big ash pile is a health concern, our youngest daughter has breathing issues so we worry about whether it might be safe and we've had no reassurances."

Mr Blunkett, 44, attended the council committee meeting to voice his objections. He said: "The piles of ash are already getting higher and higher, the machines seem to be getting more industrial and there are more HGV trucks passing through."Mr Blunkett's highlighted the "noise pollution" as his biggest concern.

"We're at the same level as the site across the valley so the sound is amplified, it's like an ampitheatre. You're sat out in the garden or walking to the car, you hear these huge bangs."Chris Rowan, 64, was concerned about the environmental impact of the expansion.