Highlights of the year for weather and wildlife

January - A mild first half of the month before a cold snap and then warmer conditions resumed. Bumblebees started to appear towards the end of the month;

February - It was the ninth warmest February in records dating back to 1910. Bats and insects appeared to have hibernated well, undisturbed by unseasonably mild weather.

March - A mild and dry month, joint fifth warmest March since 1910. The mild weather was good for nesting birds and many spring flowers blossomed early.

April - A fantastic start to the month saw bluebells peaking over Easter before the weather turned. A project to revive corn buntings in Cornwall celebrated a good nesting season at West Pentire.

May - Three nights of intense frost blackened many trees and scorched off early bracken fronds. A high number of breeding pairs of buzzards recorded on the Sherborne Estate, Gloucestershire.

June - There was a very warm period with the hottest June day for 40 years. The purple emperor butterfly was spotted at the National Trust’s Bookham Common, Surrey, on June 11, its earliest appearance since 1893.

July - In the middle of the month the weather changed and a good summer deteriorated into a cool and variable one. Breeding purple emperors were found in Sheringham Park, Norfolk, where they had not been seen for more than 40 years.

August - Another August without the anticipated sunshine, as the UK has not had a good August for over a decade. More than 500 Arctic terns, and five internationally threatened little terns, fledged at Tughall Mill, Northumberland.

September - The annual emergence of the common cranefly, known as the daddy-long-legs, and important food for birds and bats, largely failed again.

October - Storm Ophelia affected the survival rate of several colonies of grey seals on the Welsh coast and in the South West. There was a vast acorn crop, and the good weather in the spring meant a bumper autumn harvest for seeds, fruits and nuts.

November - Autumn rains meant a very good year for grassland fungi, with great displays on the south Devon coast and Tyntesfield near Bristol. As a consequence of the storms in October, there was an influx of the jellyfish-like Portuguese man o’ war to UK waters.

December - Feral goats and feral Soay sheep at Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, were reported as being in very good condition as a result of strong grass growth. Deer and small mammals look ready for winter due to the good autumn harvest and the strong grass growth.