Forestry Commission - News - will we be awash with colour?

With the amount of rain that's fallen throughout August, are we in line for water colours rather than autumn colours this year?

No matter where you live August has been pretty dismal. Plymouth had double its average month's rainfall by August 19 and Glasgow had 129 mm of rain in 72 hours - more than three times the amount that fell in all of August in 2003!

With all that water sloshing around, Forestry Commission experts reckon this year's autumn colours might be a bit later, but that an early frost might change all that. The only way you can be sure of catching this year's display is by watching the changing colours on the Forestry Commission's website www.forestry.gov.uk/autumn when it goes live on September 12.

John Weir, Director of National Arboreta at Westonbirt in Gloucestershire, doesn't think this year's colour will be washed out. "People in Britain are always talking about the weather and, after August, I can't really blame them. But it's not all doom and gloom as far as autumn is concerned.

"Westonbirt has faced bad weather before and still had glorious colours for people to see. Having such a diverse range of trees in the collection means there's always a chance of something looking spectacular.

"For example, maples thrive in these wetter conditions and are looking particularly healthy just now so I'm expecting a great display of colour. "

The same can be said of other forests the Commission manage, as they stretch almost from Land's End to John O'Groats and contain a huge variety of trees from oaks in the south to birch in the north.

John said: " Last year, Westonbirt was just one of more than 130 woods in Britain featured on the Commission's autumn website.

" Our people check the colours daily and update the website so everyone knows exactly when to go out and see this marvellous display. Even if you can't get to Westonbirt, keep an eye on the website and don't miss one of Mother nature's most impressive sights.

"Bedgebury, for example, has an amazing collection of swamp cypress trees, and these are deciduous conifers so the needles change colour. It's very impressive.

"And if you can't wait to see the colours here, look north as the colours in Scotland change much earlier than in the south of England."

NOTES TO EDITORS

The website www.forestry.gov.uk/autumn goes live on September 12 and local offices will track the changing colours until the end of autumn.

The Forestry Commission picture library can supply images of autumn to go along with this story.

Media contact: Willie Cairns, tel: 0131 314 6443, mob: 07771 730510, email: willie.cairns@forestry.gsi.gov.uk