Swallows, blackcaps and chiffchaffs have stayed in Britain for the winter. Lawns need cutting, sheltered trees are still in leaf, thrushes and blackbirds have started to sing. People in Central London yesterday were walking around in short sleeves and pavement cafés were as busy as summer.

This is all a far cry from a typical November day described in the poem by Thomas Hood in 1844 which had “No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees, No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds!”

The autumn of 2006 has been a phenomenon and the Met Office is to announce that it has been the warmest in Britain since 1731, when the average autumn temperature was 11.8C (53.2F). The same warm autumn also occurred in 1730, according to records which go as far back as 1659, the longest reference held anywhere in the world.

This year the autumn average has been 12.6C and weather experts now expect the mild westerly winds predicted for the first half of this month will push 2006 into the record books as the warmest year since 1999 when the average was 10.6C. A Met Office spokesman yesterday also confirmed that 2006 is the warmest growing season — April to October — since 1959 when average temperature was 14.2C. This year the average was 14.6C.

This has come as no surprise to Gavin Hall, manager at Brocksbushes Farm, Stocksfield, Northumberland. Most of the fruit and vegetable crops such as squash and spinach are over, with the first sharp frosts before the end of October. But this year he has continued to hire farm workers because there are raspberries to pick.

Mr Hall said: “What is even more surprising for us, though, is the blueberries. We will still be able to pick a few in December. We only started growing the fruit three years ago and we would have expected the fruit to end at the beginning of October. We’ve still got blackberries and a few more strawberries. Even spinach is growing and that too would have been over in October.”

Tim Sparks, who co-ordinates the UK Phenology Network, which monitors nature’s calendar, confirms the unusual patterns this year. He said: “We have got horse chestnut trees and apple trees still flowering. There are hundreds of butterflies all over the country. Records for butterflies normally stop at the end of the September because there aren’t any, but this year there are frequent sightings of red admiral, Small tortoiseshells and peacocks. There are lots of dragonflies and even mosquitoes.”

Dr Sparks, who collates the sightings data for the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the Woodland Trust, said:

“People are still having to cut their grass. Normally grass closes down when temeprature dip below 5C (41F), but the night-time average has been 10C. Even bird singing is evident. This usually is an activity in the spring, but blackbirds and thrushes are singing.”

November

No sun — no moon!

No morn — no noon —

No dawn — no dusk — no proper time of day.

No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,

No comfortable feel in any member —

No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,

No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! —

November!

Thomas Hood (1844)

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