Southern England is parched. This patch of baked earth is usually a pond with ducks. Beyond, the wheat has been harvested early. Officially we are in a period of "prolonged dry weather" with the accompanying hosepipe bans. The next legislative measure will be to declare drought which is what it is.

 March/April/May were warm, sunny and dry, barely a third of average rainfall in the South. We had flaming June in May, the first heatwave. Early June was cooler with some rain followed by successive heatwaves and no rain at all.

 What I have noticed in gardens and the countryside is that many plants have flowered several weeks earlier than 'normal' and for shorter periods than 'usual'. For example the borders at the music school look like it's late August rather than the end of July.

 I have always taken the view that plants native and naturalised in the UK will have seen a lot of weather: scorching, freezing, drought and deluge. And will cope with it. That is still the case but I observe that many species are now at the margins of their survival zone heat-wise. The definition of "hardy" used to have as much to do with winter cold which is not really a consideration anymore.

 I am bound to say the past five years reflect the predictions made concerning global warming a couple of decades ago. Saharan temperatures will shift northwards across the Mediterranean and Northern Europe will experience heat more like the Med.