The UK's natural world was pushed to its absolute limits in 2025, as a rollercoaster of extreme weather events tested the resilience of wildlife, plants, and landscapes like never before in modern times. This is the stark conclusion of the National Trust's annual Christmas audit, which paints a picture of a year defined by fierce heat, devastating drought, and destructive wildfires.
A Year of Alarming Extremes: From Fire to Flood
Bookended by the storms Éowyn and Bram, the nation experienced a sun-soaked spring and summer that baked the land. This led to intense heath and moorland fires, followed later by autumn floods. Ben McCarthy, head of nature conservation at the National Trust, stated that heat, drought, and fire were the defining headlines of the year. He emphasised that while weather extremes are not new, the compounded impact of several drought years in quick succession – 2018, 2022, and now 2025 – is placing untold strain on habitats.
"These are alarm signals we cannot ignore," McCarthy warned. "We need to work faster, smarter and in a more joined-up way." Human-caused climate breakdown is supercharging these events, making severe disasters more frequent and deadly across the globe.
Habitat Destruction and Species in Peril
The wildfires had a particularly dramatic impact. In April, a huge blaze on Abergwesyn Common in mid Wales scorched over 5,000 hectares of precious peatland. This fire destroyed critical habitats for a host of species, including:
- Birds such as golden plover, skylark, raven, and red kite.
- Reptiles and amphibians like the common lizard and common frog.
- Small mammals including field voles.
- Rare insects like the black darter dragonfly.
National Trust rangers fear the ecological damage from this single fire will be felt for decades. Further north in Wales, conservationists held their breath for the survival of the tufted saxifrage on the slopes of Eryri (Snowdonia), where only seven known plants clung on. They narrowly survived the intense heat.
Even where flames did not spread, the parched conditions took a heavy toll. Numbers of raptors and owls crashed in dried-out grasslands at estates in Hampshire and Gloucestershire. Ponds vital for great crested newts in Lincolnshire and for natterjack toads on the Merseyside coast at Formby dried up completely, with the latter producing no young at all.
Wider Impacts on Trees, Seabirds, and Seasonal Cycles
The extreme weather placed unprecedented strain on trees across the country. Newly planted saplings suffered loss rates of up to 40%, far higher than the expected 10-15%. Mature trees showed severe stress through early leaf loss, dropping branches, and faded canopy colour. Oaks, already battling acute oak decline, became increasingly vulnerable, especially in the drier Midlands and east.
It was also a tough year for seabirds. The National Trust reported a 30% decline in Arctic tern nests at Long Nanny in Northumberland, and puffin numbers fell by a third on the Farne Islands.
Confused seasonal signals triggered unusual behaviour. A mild, wet autumn caused a second flowering for plants like woodland holly in Gloucestershire and summer-flowering harebells in the Peak District. Apple trees blossomed in September and October, and roses were seen in bloom in December. Bats and brimstone butterflies remained active in Suffolk in November, while jackdaws and rooks began rebuilding their rookeries in Northern Ireland many months early.
Glimmers of Hope and a Call for Action
Despite the overwhelming challenges, there were some positive notes. "Generalist" species with adaptable habits, such as grey seals, carrion crows, and speckled wood butterflies, fared better. It was also a bumper year for berries and nuts in many regions, with Dunham Massey in Cheshire recording its largest acorn crop in living memory.
Targeted conservation work showed promising results. A "stage 0" river restoration project on the Holnicote Estate on Exmoor created a lush wetland, helping water voles, great white egrets, and goldfinches to thrive. There, one of the UK's rarest butterflies, the heath fritillary, enjoyed a dramatic resurgence, with over 1,000 individuals recorded, up from around 600 the previous year.
However, Ben McCarthy stressed that these successes are fragile. "While adaptable species are coping, those with specialist needs are in steep decline," he said. He warned that protected sites are now too small and fragmented to act as an effective ecological safety net on their own. "Without urgent, joined-up effective action," he concluded, "nature will continue to decline." The report stands as a powerful testament to a year where the UK's natural environment was stretched to its breaking point.
