UKH

This morning I looked out my window and saw that my climbing plant had already started budding - on the 24th of December. I assume this is a result of the unseasonably warm temperature (generally ~10⁰C this month). Has anyone else seen similarly startling real-world impacts of the climate crisis this year?

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who knows (as I have no idea) but I was under the impression that around this time of year it is more to do with the amount of daylight than  the temperatures as to when plants do their thing? 

I have an Exochorda shrub which has a bud that looks just about ready to burst.

I thought it was birds that responded to hours of daylight, not plants.

You don't say where.

The outdoor ice rink in Lancaster the other day was more like a swimming pool than my kids or I were expecting.

I live in Northern Ireland - not the Highlands by any means but we usually are between 0-5 this time of year

depends on the species, some seem based on temperature, others on day length.

It was 15° in England in 1920.

E

As always: weather is not climate. 

Saw some cherry blossoms in bloom today down here in Somerset. Very odd!

Was that also an El Niño year?

I know.

E

Definitely seen lots of wild plants flowering well out of season. For example bristly ox tongue and white dead nettle. Garden plants too. Last week heard hedgehog in the garden and they are one of the few British mammals that hibernate.

Daffodils were coming up on the south coast a few weeks ago when I was there. Felt very mild

Leaf fall seemed very late around us with mature oak and ash trees holding on to significant foliage well in to December.

An article about this from the BBC today:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-67705812

Weather, of course, is not climate, and yes, there have been warmer years scattered throughout history, but there are still an awful lot of heads being stuck in the sand in this thread.

Probably because it's a lot cooler down there.

Ah good, collected one downvote already for my above post, just to prove the point. Fairly predictable.

So to you, anonymous stranger, I will mention that the fact that my fingers are cold whilst typing this on a chilly afternoon dog walk does not mean that the planet isn't getting warmer. The fact that I saw a peacock butterfly flapping about yesterday doesn't mean that we aren't in the middle of an utterly catastrophic insect apocalypse. The fact that people are skiing the Vallee Blanche in Cham right now doesn't mean that glaciers the world over aren't disappearing. 

I could go on, but I know that any number of these statements aren't going to penetrate the sand to get to your brain, or maybe your arse cheeks... if you've got your head stuck somewhere else.

Downvote away!