Researchers at Rothamsted in Hertfordshire have been monitoring the earlier arrival of spring by studying insects. They do this with a huge vacuum that looks like a tall flagpole. This sucks passing insects from the air and aphids are one of the more common insects trapped by this means. Their findings reveal that aphids are now appearing three weeks earlier.

The best time for a mushroom collecting is, of course, autumn. Or is it?

Recent studies have found that some fungi are producing their fruiting bodies above ground twice a year – in spring and in autumn. This is thought to be due to our milder, wetter winters.

Green lizards live in mainland Europe, but a small number were spotted on the Bournemouth coast just over five years ago. These lizards incubate their eggs for 18 weeks and, until recently, British summers were too short for them to breed successfully and expand their range. Now, the lizards are breeding very well and spreading out along the Bournemouth coast.