Visitors to Normanby Hall Country Park have been urged not to sit under trees during the current heatwave. The park warns that prolonged hot weather has weakened mature trees, even those that appear healthy, and they can suddenly shed entire branches, putting anyone underneath at serious risk.
Trees under stress from lack of water
Liam Dent, a parks and gardens officer at the 300-acre Normanby Hall Country Park in North Lincolnshire, said: "They're under a lot of stress at the moment. Due to a lack of water, the trees are basically going into survival mode. [They are] trying to protect the main trunk and [their] system. Any branches that are untoward or have cracks in them, they're just shedding them."
Four of the park’s five “veteran” trees have lost branches in recent weeks. One oak tree was considered such a risk that the area around it was closed by park authorities before anyone could be hurt.
Hotter climate increases tree failures
Dent added: "The hot weather hasn't helped the trees. They're definitely lacking in what they need to survive. As the climate is getting hotter, we're more likely to see more trees coming down, more branches coming down, more trees potentially dying, which is really sad to see."
Another staff member, Brad Canfield, noted that while park officers check trees for precarious branches, they “are human and can miss things” that aren’t visible from the ground.
Heatwave warnings in place
The Met Office has issued a yellow alert from 9am on July 28 to 9am on July 31 for the east and West Midlands, the southeast, southwest, and east of England. Yorkshire and the Humber also received the warning. WXCharts forecast four counties in England would see 34C this weekend, with temperatures exceeding 30C across much of the south of England on August 2.
The UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) issued a warning of potential “significant impacts” on health and social care services due to the hot weather. This follows weeks of hosepipe bans in many southern English counties, and North Wales and the Upper Severn declared a drought on July 23.
