These were the autumnal-looking scenes in Green Park yesterday, with many trees shedding their leaves early in response to the recent record breaking temperatures and drought.
Why is autumn coming early?
“It’s giving the appearance that we’re already in autumn, but the days are too long for those natural autumn processes to begin,” explained senior horticultural advisor at the Royal Horticultural Society Leigh Hunt.
“Physiologically, the plants are not responding to autumn conditions; that’s why we term it loosely as ‘false autumn.’”
“The trees are enacting the hormones they use in autumn to just retract and ensure their survival,” added Rosie Walker of the Woodland Trust conservation charity.
“They’ll keep going like this for a few years but it is going to start impacting our trees if we’re not very careful,” she told BBC radio.
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