Latest news with #southEast
BBC News
4 days ago
- Science
- BBC News
Tiny transmitters on Asian hornets a 'game-changer'
Tiny tracking devices, weighing less than 160mg, are being hailed a "game-changer" in the fight against the invasive Asian National Bee Unit has begun trialling this ground-breaking technology, fitting transmitters to hornets in a bid to help find their Asian hornet nests have been discovered so far this year, the vast majority in the south-east of England. It's a record number for this time in the season. Genetic tests on hornets discovered in Kent and Sussex have revealed for the first time that second-generation hornets are being produced in Great Britain. Tracy Wilson, from the Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA), called the new trackers "game-changers" in their work and said the speed at which nests could now be found would mean resources were freed up to find more Etheridge, from the National Bee Unit, has been experimenting with the transmitters in the UK over the past week. "We've already used six tags and we've found six nests, so it's going to speed things up dramatically for what we do in the field," he nests can be very high up and hard to spot. One of the nests found using the trackers was in dense woodland. Finding a nest in this environment using traditional tracking methods, timing a hornet's return to a bait stations and looking at flight lines, can take hours if not Mr Etheridge said by using the transmitters the nest was found "in no time at all". "We were able to go under the nest and point the receivers around a few trees... and then we slowly narrowed it down," he said. Fitting the tracker is delicate work. A female worker hornet is captured from a bait station and weighed to check she is large enough to carry the transmitter - ideally over 400mg. She is then encouraged to crawl up a long tube and a plastic pen-shaped tool is inserted into the tube to hold the hornet by her abdomen. The transmitter is then hooked onto the petiole, or waist, of the hornet before she is released, in the hope that she flies back to her the receivers bee inspectors can track the hornet up to 1km (0.6 miles) away. 'Major threat to honeybees' The transmitter trial has been so successful that APHA has ordered three more kits from the manufacturers in Holland. The new technology has come at a crucial moment in the UK's fight against these invasive predators, which are seen as a major threat to honeybees and other 53 nests found so far this year numbers are considerably up on last year and look set to break 2023 records when 72 nests were the nests that are found are sent to Fera Science laboratories near York, where scientists analyse the hornets' DNA. Recent DNA testing has shown that four queens discovered in the South East this spring were likely offspring of two nests destroyed in Udimore near Rye, East Sussex, and Coldred near Dover, Kent, last autumn. Those nests were themselves offspring of nests found in is the first evidence of second-generation Asian hornets, also known as yellow-legged hornets, being produced in the UK. However, the discovery is not considered strong evidence of an established population. Ms Wilson said APHA was still hopeful it could eradicate the Asian hornet."We would have to have much, much higher numbers where we see clear DNA links from year to year, for us to have any evidence that says that this is now established in the UK," she said it was unlikely the four queen Asian hornets discovered this spring were the only second-generation hornets to have survived. There are miles of open countryside between their original 2023 nests and where the second-generation queens were found this she said they could not make policy based on speculation as "for all of our controls, we have to have that science backing, we have to have the evidence to deal with it".She called the new trackers "game-changers" in their work and said the speed at which nests could now be found would mean resources were freed up to find more nests. The National Bee Unit is entering its busiest time of year in the fight against the yellow-legged Asian hornet. Queen hornets will be growing their colonies and establishing large secondary is vital the secondary nests are found before the next generation of queens emerge and disperse in the small team of hornet detectives in the unit say they rely on the public to provide them with credible spotting one is asked to take a photo and report it on the Asian Hornet Watch app.
The Independent
26-06-2025
- Climate
- The Independent
Heavy showers and thunderstorms to hit UK before warm weather returns
Thunderstorms could hit parts of the UK on Thursday as hot and humid weather looks set to continue, forecasters said. It follows heavy showers and thunderstorms in some areas on Wednesday, with the worst of the stormy weather predicted in south-east England. Significant rain could fall in the north and west of the country, the Met Office said. Warm, humid air is set to linger in the south and east, with maximum temperatures of 27C in eastern England. But temperatures are unlikely to feel 'quite as muggy', Met Office presenter and meteorologist Honor Criswick said. 'For the first part of the day, it is set to be unsettled (with) outbreaks of quite heavy rain at times, particularly across Scotland,' he said. 'But it's fairly fast moving, so by the time we reach the afternoon, particularly from the west, we're going to see the return of those bright and sunny spells. 'And behind this area of rain, a much fresher feel to the air as well.' On Friday, forecasters said the unsettled conditions look set to continue. According to the Met Office, rain could be heavy in the west, while the east of England could remain dry, escaping with some sunny intervals. Parts of the south and east may also remain very warm, with highs potentially reaching 28C as the muggy air returns. Mr Criswick said: 'For the rest of the week, we do have a ridge of high pressure building to the south, so once again pushing in a return of that warmer air. 'So, that fresher feeling day as we head into Thursday, it's going to be quite a brief interlude. 'And low pressure is never too far behind, so still some rain on the cards to finish off the week and as we head into the weekend.'
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
UK twice as likely to have hot summer this year, says Met Office
The UK is twice as likely as usual to have a hot summer this year, the Met Office has predicted, warning that there is also an increased risk of heatwaves. The predictions follow the country's sunniest spring on record, with the UK clocking up 630 hours of sunshine since the start of March, in what has also been the driest spring for more than a century. Temperatures soared to 8C above the average for the time of year on Saturday – the last day of meteorological spring – before a potentially hot summer season. Heathrow, in west London, experienced the hottest weather on Saturday, at 26.7C, while levels of grass pollen were very high in the south-east of England. The Met Office said: 'While the current three-month outlook shows an increased chance of a hot summer, the temperature signals for this summer are similar to those for recent years and consistent with our warming climate.' The predictions come from the Met Office's three-month outlook for June, July and August, which provides risk assessments for unusual temperatures, rainfall and wind for government contingency planners and businesses. It is based on an assessment of broad weather patterns across the whole of the UK and factors in recent global weather trends. Nicola Maxey, a spokesperson for the Met Office, said: 'It's not produced as a public forecast for people to look at and work out whether we can have a barbecue in August or a garden party in July. 'At this time of year, global signals influencing UK weather are typically weak,' she added. 'However, consistent with our warming climate and as we have seen over recent years, the current outlook indicates an increased likelihood of above-average temperatures this summer. This is not a guarantee of prolonged hot weather or heatwaves; while we could see more hot days and warm nights than usual, we could also see a mix of cooler days and less extreme warmth.' The outlook shows it is 2.3 times more likely than normal that the UK will be hot over meteorological summer, which begins on 1 June and ends on 31 August. The average temperatures across the UK over those months range from 10-17C, with the south-east of England experiencing the higher averages of 16-17C. This would be in line with a recent trend of unusually hot summers. The last time the UK experienced a 'cool' summer was in 2015. The ongoing extreme marine heatwave in north-west European waters – sea surface temperatures around UK coastlines are 1.5-2.5C warmer than average – may further boost temperatures, although the added warmth and moisture in the air could potentially lead to more intense summer storms. The latest outlook also shows the levels of rainfall and wind speed for the next three months are likely to be near average. Many water companies will be hoping for a wet summer to help avoid the need for water usage restrictions. This week, the Environment Agency declared drought status for the north-west of England following the driest start to spring in 69 years, with many reservoirs in the region at historical low levels for the time of year. Summers in the UK have become warmer, wetter and sunnier in recent decades due to climate change, according to the Met Office's State of the UK Climate report. Observations show that extremes of temperature in the UK have been affected much more than average temperature. The number of 'hot' days (28C) more than doubled and 'very hot' days (30C) more than tripled for 2014-23 compared with 1961-90. Extreme weather events such as the 2022 heatwave, when temperatures in England surpassed 40C for the first time, were made more likely by climate change and are expected to become more common in future.
