A string of fires<\/a> have erupted around the country in the past month, including devastating blazes on Suffolk heathland,<\/a> in the New Forest, <\/a>and in the West Midlands<\/a>.<\/p>\n Drought<\/a> has been declared in around 70 per cent of England<\/a>, leaving rivers<\/a> and fields dried up, and the UK is on course for its hottest summer on record<\/a>.<\/p>\n Europe is the continent hit hardest by rising temperatures<\/a>, and as the climate crisis<\/a> deepens, the UK will be faced with even hotter, drier summers in years to come.<\/p>\n Experts say the changes \u2013 affecting towns and cities, wildlife<\/a>, parks, farms<\/a> and even our culture \u2013 will be so profound that they will harm people\u2019s health and hit Britain\u2019s economy<\/a>. <\/p>\n Trees and hedges<\/p>\n The most obvious change to the landscape will be physical gaps in tree cover in towns, villages and the countryside<\/a>, says Emma Gilmartin, senior technical officer at the Arboricultural Association.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will feel the effects daily \u2013 when we cross the road to get relief from the sun or drive around the car park looking for shade,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Experts agree that more frequent, long, dry spells will weaken trees, cause canopy dieback and tree deaths, and leave hedgerows more vulnerable.<\/p>\n A \u201cfalse autumn\u201d, when tree leaves die, turn brown and fall off, has been noticeable this year, and ecologist Sam Durham, who works in nature restoration, says people will see species dying earlier and the UK\u2019s variety of tree species will narrow. <\/p>\n \u201cTrees can only do that so many years in a row before it stresses it too much and it dies,\u201d he says. \u201cYou will see chunks of hedgerows yellowing and dying off.\u201d<\/p>\n Long periods of hot, dry weather also increase the risk of \u201csummer branch drop\u201d, when a seemingly healthy branch suddenly snaps. <\/p>\n \u201cThis often happens on a still, hot day with no wind or storm to blame, caused by drought stress,\u201d says Jamie Pratt of environmental consultancy Tyler Grange.<\/p>\n Drought-tolerant species such as field maple, hornbeam and holm oak will be increasingly important, he says.<\/p>\n Trees are also one of the best tools for combating climate change<\/a> and urban \u201cheat islands\u201d, where temperatures in towns and cities are concentrated. <\/p>\n Trees reduce those temperatures by several degrees, and without them, the effects on human health of high temperatures will be even worse.<\/p>\n But experts say the UK already faces a crisis in tree establishment. A study commissioned by Fund4Trees<\/a> found that fewer than half of planted urban trees were in a good condition, and one in five was already dead. <\/p>\n Dr Gilmartin warns that establishing new generations of trees will be increasingly difficult. <\/p>\n \u201cToo many fail to thrive because they do not receive the aftercare they need in the years following planting,\u201d she says, so the environmental, social and economic benefits that motivated their planting are not realised. It can take 40 years or more for trees to grow to maturity that will benefit society.<\/p>\n Drought amplifies all other stresses trees face, such as pests, diseases and urban construction that compact roots, according to Ed Pyne, a senior tree conservation adviser at the Woodland Trust.<\/p>\n Using data from Norway, he calculates that within 60 years England may lose half its 3,000 ancient oaks <\/a>that are over six metres wide.<\/p>\n He warns of a vicious circle in which trees die so they no longer capture carbon. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re creating conditions where it’s less likely that trees will regenerate and we don\u2019t have the cooling effect, so their loss is driving the loss of even more trees.\u201d<\/p>\n Wildlife<\/p>\n Much-loved garden songbirds will be vulnerable in the future, warns Mr Durham.<\/p>\n \u201cTrees are fruiting so early, but when true autumn arrives, when birds and small mammals and other creatures start to really need that food, it\u2019s been and gone,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n He predicts slow population declines of species, including blackbirds and robins, which forage in damp soil and leaf litter for insects and earthworms.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re unavailable when the ground is baked hard,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cSo you will see those declines, and also in charismatic ground-nesting birds of the countryside as well \u2013 things like lapwings. The heat stress they\u2019re exposed to through sitting on nests on the ground in incredible heat will means there\u2019s brood failure. And they need damp habitats for their chicks to forage.\u201d<\/p>\n A report from the RSPB in July <\/a>said climate change is already impacting wildlife in the UK and could cause \u201cunprecedented impacts to birds and nature more widely\u201d unless a number of solutions, such as prioritising high-risk species, are widely implemented across the UK.<\/p>\n Populations of the much-loved bumblebee could plummet<\/a> in the south of England as temperatures rise, Mr Durham predicts. <\/p>\n \u201cPeople will probably stop finding bumblebees because they overheat really easily in these conditions. They\u2019ll slowly shift north,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd people will slowly stop finding frogs and tadpoles in ponds.\u201d <\/p>\n Frogs, newts and toads will be unable to reproduce as their larvae will not survive dry waterways, he says. Even Atlantic salmon will die off in shallow, hot, oxygen-depleted water, he fears.<\/p>\n Farms<\/p>\n Tree shade is vital for cattle and sheep in fields on hot days, so will suffer the consequences of a dying landscape.<\/p>\n \u201cAnimals also need shade,\u201d says Dr Gilmartin. \u201cThey also need to forage. Trees are a really crucial part of farming, and increasingly so. Government has recognised that. Fewer trees will prevent animals moving across the countryside.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you lose hubs of old trees, you start losing species associated with them \u2013 crop pollinators, for example,\u201d says Pyne. \u201cNatural pest predators are associated with trees.\u201d<\/p>\n From insects upwards, populations of all parts of nature\u2019s food chain will shrink. <\/p>\n The economy, life and culture<\/p>\n A landscape that\u2019s unnaturally hot and dry will have costs for the economy<\/a> in many ways, says Ms Gilmartin.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople benefit from trees to shade the streets they walk along to work, school and the shops; these are required for an economy<\/a> which we know will suffer even under heat projections less severe than what we\u2019re already experiencing.\u201d<\/p>\n Harmful health effects of heat will add to the NHS\u2019s burden. One study even found that patients recover from injuries more quickly if they see trees throught their hospital window.<\/p>\n Considering a plethora of benefits of trees, from carbon capture to noise reduction, a 2021 study by the government and Forest Research estimated the value of UK trees at up to \u00a33.83 billion a year.<\/p>\n People\u2019s everyday lives will be poorer for being hotter, the experts agree.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll see that children won\u2019t be able to go into playgrounds because the tarmac is too hot and there’s no shade. Walks to work will become more difficult. People won’t be able to go visit their high streets for long periods of the day or for weeks at a time because we won’t have that vital green infrastructure,\u201d warns Dr Gilmartin.<\/p>\n Mr Pyne says the cultural value of trees and hedges is immense. \u201cImagine going to a National Trust site and it not having large beautiful old trees with fantastic romantic vistas and landscapes.\u201d<\/p>\n He says ancient trees inspired much folklore and mythology, from the Sycamore Gap<\/a> tree to the Major Oak, which sheltered Robin Hood but died this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[6855,6856,5,6],"class_list":["post-104709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uk","tag-bestof","tag-topix","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117107168998859046","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Firefighters](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/f98e3e3570c071262339e9e4249d54dfY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzg1NTE4NDEw-2.85452449.jpg\")
Firefighters at the scene of a wildfire at Dunwich Heath, near Leiston (PA Media)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2290420288...jpeg\")
The depleted Rushmere Pond on Wimbledon Common in London (Getty)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1242685355...jpeg\")
A ‘false autumn’ is underway, where trees drop their brown leaves because they are so dry (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n![\"Woodhead](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/_4Bl7zCvxICiOXUd-p6ekfOt3DP6j_0iQq0BWtJ-ssXtZiaHtYhiWndl4lXppKSglp_UBIdz3GO2YyUIk1jEkta1iCgHEj6Jqx0V.jpeg\")
Woodhead reservoir near Manchester, as more than two-thirds of the UK suffers under drought conditions (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)<\/p>\n![\"Dried](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/iUtM3bkckr8VEHu8iUG3hhrDT9HCHdTTB2zzIbKxbCvE9YW0a9aiia3IuyCeusLHTi6DhJsGpeUrYxqDUg06L8wR4YycU0GfGDBf.jpeg\")
Dried vegetation is seen surrounding the All Saints church in Blackheath, south London (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)<\/p>\n![\"Much-loved](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2282981022...jpeg\")
Much-loved robins could start to die out as the ground dries up (Getty)<\/p>\n![\"Bumblebees](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2283613685...jpeg\")
Bumblebees will move north (Getty)<\/p>\n![\"Sam](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Sam-Durham.jpg\")
Sam Durham says more large grazing animals would reduce fire risks (Sam Durham)<\/p>\n