Bluebells are flowering, swallows are returning and orange-tip butterflies are flying in what could become Britain\u2019s earliest recorded spring.<\/p>\n
Records for early spring occurrences are being smashed as 2026 looks to be the earliest this century for frogspawn laying, blackbirds nesting, brimstone butterflies emerging and hazel flowering, according to Nature\u2019s Calendar<\/a>, which has logged citizen science records of seasonal change since 2000.<\/p>\n This spring has had the earliest egg-laying in an 80-year study of great tits<\/a> in Wytham Woods, Oxfordshire, with the 23 March sighting beating the previous record by three days. The birds\u2019 average egg-laying has moved forward by 16 days since the 1960s, with these tits and other species needing to ensure their chicks are fed on caterpillars emerging with the new spring leaves.<\/p>\n Dunsford Woods, in Devon, has logged its earliest tit egg \u2013 in the nest of a coal tit \u2013 since records began in 1955. Record-breaking early tit egg-laying has been seen in the Netherlands as well, reflecting dramatic climatic shifts across northern Europe.<\/p>\n A brimstone butterfly seen in Oxfordshire \u2013 one of a species emerging earlier in spring, according to records. Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n While some scientific studies<\/a> have highlighted the risk of \u201cphenological mismatch<\/a>\u201d, whereby one species synchronised to another cannot keep pace with the climate-induced changes of others, the earlier-laying tits offer hope that species are adapting<\/a> to early emergences.<\/p>\n Caterpillars are particularly advanced, with the naturalist Matthew Oates finding relatively large caterpillars of midsummer butterflies, including purple emperors, white admirals and silver-washed fritillaries.<\/p>\n \u201cThe latter caterpillars should be so small you don\u2019t even notice them,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need a ministerial statement on the state of the nation\u2019s caterpillars!\u201d<\/p>\n The first orange-tip butterfly \u2013 a harbinger of true spring \u2013 was spotted on 18 March this year. Oates saw his first in the Cotswolds on 31 March. Fifty years ago, Oates recorded the typical first emergence as being on 16 April.<\/p>\n An orange-tip butterfly on a forget-me-not. Photograph: Iain H Leach\/PA<\/p>\n He predicts midsummer butterflies could emerge in May this year, which would be the first time since the freakishly hot and dry summer of 1893.<\/p>\n Nature\u2019s Calendar, run by the Woodland Trust and funded by the Postcode Lottery, collects data from volunteers across the country who record any of up to 150 seasonal events.<\/p>\n Alex Marshall, a citizen science officer for Nature\u2019s Calendar, said: \u201cSpring is looking pretty early, and the broad trend is one we see year on year \u2013 spring is happening earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n Last year, only one of its spring events \u2013 the first sighting of a red-tailed bumblebee \u2013 was not earlier than average. \u201cIt\u2019s looking like it will be similar to last year, if not a bit earlier again,\u201d Marshall said.<\/p>\n According to provisional figures for Nature\u2019s Calendar, the first frogspawn was laid on average on 23 February, well before the previous earliest average of 5 March; blackbirds were nesting by 4 March and hazel was flowering on 14 January \u2013 eight days before the previous earliest average of 22 January in 2024. These averages could change as more records are submitted.<\/p>\n Flowering hazel. Photograph: Flowerphotos\/Universal Images Group\/Getty Images<\/p>\n This spring\u2019s growth has been turbo-charged by a relatively warm winter, one of the wettest ever Januaries in many places<\/a>, and Britain\u2019s joint 10th warmest March on record.<\/p>\n Fears that global heating could jeopardise wildlife, with cold snaps killing off frogspawn and insects and blossom tempted out prematurely by early sunshine, have not come to pass so far this year, although spring species could yet get a battering from Storm Dave<\/a>.<\/p>\n Grahame Madge, a spokesperson for the Met Office, said the cold spells during the warm March were typical for the month. \u201cMarch is in effect a transitional month between winter and spring. The month can lean into either direction. Getting the odd cold spell in March isn\u2019t unusual; nature is well cushioned to be able to deal with the odd cold spell here or there and I wouldn\u2019t be too alarmed with that being a sign of climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n