As the climate warms, hundreds of wild flowers bloom in midwinter
Thousands of citizen scientists took part in the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland’s fifteenth New Year Plant Hunt to find wild or naturalised plants flowering in midwinter. Their observations are providing us with robust evidence of how our wild plants are responding to a rapidly changing climate, and the implications this may have for all our wildlife.
Here’s a summary of what the plant hunters found:
● 663 different plant species in bloom, the third highest total in the 15-year history of the Hunt.
● More than 25,000 individual plant records – a record number.
● The three most frequently recorded species were Daisy, Dandelion and Groundsel.
● More than half (53%) of the species in bloom were flowering later than expected vs around a quarter flowering earlier than expected.
● More than half (58%) of the species in bloom were native to Britain and Ireland.
Dr Kevin Walker, BSBI Head of Science, said “New Year Plant Hunt results show how our weather is changing, impacting flowering times and other wildlife that depend on our wild plants. Climate change is the chief suspect, as our recent collaboration with scientists at the Met Office confirms, but to be certain we’ll need more data. That’s why we are unrolling a new flowering plant phenology project, starting this spring. Our volunteers will be asked to record the abundance of the wild plants they find in bloom along a fixed route walked at regular – ideally weekly – intervals. This will help us learn more about how flowering times vary from place to place and year to year. The aim is to gain a better understanding of the full impact of changing weather patterns on our wild plants and all the other wildlife that depend on them.”
As in previous years, coastal locations, which are less subject to late frosts, yielded longer lists, as did southern vs northern locations. 110 species were recorded in Swanage, Dorset, compared to single observations of Gorse blooming in frosty Scottish glens. Daisy was, once again, the most frequently recorded plant, with 1,242 observations at locations ranging from Jersey to Westray in the Orkney Islands, and from Norfolk to the Dingle peninsula in the west of Ireland. Urban areas also tended to have more non-native species in flower than rural areas, as there are more sheltered and disturbed places with warm microclimates where alien plants can thrive: the ‘heat-island’ effect.
Two new entries in the Top Twenty list of most frequently-recorded species were Herb-robert and Winter Heliotrope; they displaced Lesser Celandine and Common Ragwort.
Surprising finds this year5 included several familiar garden plants which had not only ‘jumped the garden fence’ and become naturalised, but were also managing to bloom at New Year. These included Yucca/Spanish-dagger, Algerian Iris, Osteospermum, Hedge Hebe and Rosemary, all in Cornwall; Rue in Devon; Japanese Quince at Llandybie in South Wales; Rosy Cress in Stirlingshire and Broom near Kirkwall on Orkney.
Native plants recorded in flower included Common Reed in Norfolk – its usual peak flowering period is July and August – and the flowers of Wild Cherry, a familiar tree of parks and woodlands which usually blossoms in April and May, were seen at Dolwydellan in North Wales.
Perhaps the most surprising find of all was Mediterranean Nettle (Urtica membranacea), an alien plant; the first official record of this species anywhere in Britain was from Warwick in 2006, but just two decades later, during the 2026 New Year Plant Hunt, it was spotted for the first time not only growing but also flowering in Jesmond, a suburb of Newcastle.
Prof Paul Ashton, BSBI President, said “The New Year Plant Hunt provides a marvellous example of the collective power of the individual to collect meaningful data. We saw the highest number of people taking part this year (3,652) as well as a record number of organised Group Hunts (88). This demonstrates the increasing appeal of combining science data collection with a head-clearing midwinter excursion. If a regular stroll alongside being part of a national science project appeals to you, then I would encourage you to sign up for the forthcoming flowering plant phenology project”.
Julia Hanmer, BSBI Chief Executive Officer, said: “All these findings are helping us track the effect of changing weather patterns and climate change on our wild plants, offering us a glimpse into how this affects the other wildlife – birds, bees, butterflies, and pollinators – that rely on them. The New Year Plant Hunt project gives everyone who cares about the natural world a way to get involved, and if they want to develop their skills further, we also offer opportunities for training (including grants), events and activities throughout the year.”
ENDS
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