April’s cold snap: What it means for dormice, snakes, spring flowers – and energy consumption

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “Those sorts of weather patterns have kept things cooler at night, but obviously with clear skies in April, the sun is quite high, so temperatures have been brought up by day, only to crash again the following night because the heat is radiating away into space.” While some rain is forecast over the coming days, “we’re not expecting masses”, Mr Madge said. “Later in the year extended periods of rain could prevent barn owls from flying or extreme warm weather could threaten species like hedgehogs that need water and hunt for things like worms which are hard to come by if the ground dries up.” He urged people to take action to help plants and animals survive. With small actions each person provides a piece of the jigsaw to help us rebuild our broken natural world and support nature’s recovery.” Stuart Edmunds, a mammal expert from the Shropshire Wildlife Trust, said: “Our snakes can be impacted by sudden cold snaps as their breeding patterns could either slow down or stop altogether. They tend to go over quickly if we have a warm spring.” However, he warned recent frosts have probably done “serious damage to fruit trees including cherries, pears and plums, but apples just coming into flower may well escape the worst of the frosts according to current weather forecasts.” Meanwhile, farmers said the cold dry weather could result in less grass for grazing animals.