It has been widely recorded that an abundance of berries in the autumn foretells a cold winter ahead.  This year hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna, trees from the Isle of Wight to the Isle of Man are red with berries.  We await the winter of 2023-24 with trepidation.

Holly, Ilex aquifolium, is also producing numerous berries.

Images:  upper, hawthorn, Castletown, Isle of Man, September 2023; lower, holly, planted, Streatham Cemetery, Tooting, London Borough of Wandsworth, October 2023.

Notes

1. According to the Met Office, November 2023 ‘temperatures … were near average over all’.                                                                                                        2.  December 2023, ‘temperatures … were above average across the whole of the UK except northern Scotland’.                                                                              3. January 2024, ‘the  mean temperature in the UK is near average’.                    4.  According to BBC Radio 4 News on 1 March 2024, February was exceptionally warm and wet, with few ground frosts.                                        5.  The Met Office’s Official Blog on 2 April 2024 reported that March was mild and wet.

Updated 9 April 2024.