This amazing summer has already been picked and packed into jars
SIR – I am afraid that Gary Read (Letters, July 27) gains no record by picking a punnet of blackberries this week. The seven and a half pounds we picked at the beginning of the week are already jarred in the form of blackberry jam. Andrew Waterfield
Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire
SIR – I, for one, am tired of being patronised by those who give out all their nanny advice about what to do in a heatwave. They seem to believe that because I am older I must be gaga. Denise Taylor
Glossop, Derbyshire
SIR – You report that the Environmental Audit Committee expects heat-related deaths to treble to around 7,000 a year by the 2050s (report, July 26).
There was an excess of 34,300 deaths in England and Wales in the winter of 2016-17 (Office for National Statistics Bulletin).
Presumably, if the committee is correct in predicting warmer weather, we can expect that the consequent reduction in winter deaths will more than compensate for the rise in heat-related mortality. Good news, then. Dr John Stabler
Fakenham, Norfolk
SIR – Each morning I pass the village dry cleaner on the way to collect my Telegraph.
Glancing in the window I notice that the shelves are packed with freshly laundered duvets.
To the cleaners, an unexpected bonus of the heatwave. Julia Hoadley
Farnborough, Kent
SIR – Alan Thomas (Letters, July 26) reports a lack of slugs in his garden during the hot spell. I know where they are – on my allotment. About half my potatoes are inedible due to slug damage. Bill Mason
Eccleston, Lancashire SIR – Slugs have not perished, nor have snails; they are hiding. They can climb.
Seeing something shining in the light from the front door one night, I discovered it was caused by a cluster of very large snails wrapped round a feeder containing fat balls for the birds, several feet from the ground.
Such water-dependent creatures hide by day and creep out to feed in the cool of darkness. My dahlias bear sad witness to their nocturnal activity. George K Mcmillan
Perth
SIR – This may sound silly, but we have a pet wasp. During the hot weather, we have eaten al fresco most evenings and promptly at seven o’clock our stripy friend Willy arrives.
He seems partial to small pieces of ham or cold chicken, but not cheese.
It is fascinating to watch him cut off tiny portions, which he then departs with, later returning for more. He has even posed for the phone camera. Roy Wilkinson
Nantwich, Cheshire