What is a ‘false autumn’ and is the UK currently having one?

Summer has been an absolute cracker here in the UK this year, with heatwaves and prolonged sunny periods lasting throughout the past few months. Lidos have never seen so much business, and our sun tans are well and truly topped up. 

But have all those endless dry, hot days led to a ‘false autumn’ in Britain? Some experts think so. 

What is ‘false autumn’?

Despite it still being August, over the past couple of weeks you’ve probably spotted a lot of brown leaves on the ground. ‘False autumn’ is exactly what it says on the tin – a change in the seasons beginning earlier than expected. Technically, the official start of autumn in the UK is September 22.

However, with many leaves shedding from trees already, the signs of the fall are showing a month early this year. Other signs of the early autumn are the arrival of blackberries – some of which were spotted in London in June – apples that are ready to be picked, and acorns on the ground. 

What causes early autumn?

The premature seasonal change is thought to be a stress response from nature due to the unusually hot spring and summer we've had this year. The Met Office has predicted that this summer will be the hottest on record since 1884. England has had four heatwaves this summer, with temperatures reaching up to 33.4C, and five areas of the country (including northwest England, Yorkshire, the East Midlands and West Midlands) are currently in drought.

‘A lot of what we’re seeing has been caused by a very hot and very dry spring and summer, it’s been one of the driest periods on record,’ Kathryn Brown, director of climate change and evidence at the Wildlife Trusts, told the Guardian. ‘So it feels like autumn has come early, but it’s due to the natural environment reacting to that very extreme spring and summer, which is not average conditions that our species are adapted to in terms of seasonal cycles.’

Brown added that lots of plants had gone into ‘survival mode’ because of the heat and drought, and had stopped growing or photosynthesising. She also warned of the knock-on effects there would be to wildlife, as the early ripening of fruits could mean animals like blackbirds that rely on berries could soon be without food. Badgers and hedgehogs could struggle to find earthworms to eat because of the rock-hard soil, and bees have also shown signs that they are already shutting down for the winter. 

All in all, Brown pointed out that an early autumn could send eco systems into chaos, and could be a sign of worse things to come. ‘I'm very worried about what we're seeing already, and this is just a point that we're passing through on the way to much more extreme conditions,’ she told the BBC. 

‘Species have evolved to exist in a seasonal cycle. If that cycle is breaking down, those species will break down as well. We know it's a real risk we'll lose huge chunks of nature due to climate impacts.’

Britain is getting its first new major reservoirs in 30 years to combat droughts: full list of confirmed locations. 

The English seaside town where people are being mugged by seagulls.