Daisies and dandelions are among hundreds of native plant species blooming in the UK, in what scientists have called a “visible signal” of climate breakdown disrupting the natural world.
A Met Office analysis of data from the annual new year’s plant hunt over the past nine years found an extra 2.5 species in bloom during the new year period for every 1C rise in temperature at a given location during the previous November and December. This year’s hunt started on Thursday and runs until Sunday.
In 2025, citizen scientists recorded 310 native plant species in flower, which the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) said far exceeded the 10 species they would typically expect for this time of year. Including non-native species, they counted 646 flowering species.
This is one of the saddest signs of climate change. And it's visible to anyone willing to look.
You see them bud and bloom in november/december, then get knocked back when it finally gets properly cold.
Knowing full well they've used up part of the energy store they needed for actually blooming in the spring.