There have been alarming declines this year in some insect species including bees, butterflies, moths and wasps, while many seabirds have also been “hammered” by unstable weather patterns caused by the climate emergency, a conservation charity has said.

In its annual report on the impact of the weather on flora and fauna, the National Trust highlights that numbers of bees and butterflies have “crashed” in some areas of the UK in 2024.

It describes the apparent decline of birds such as the globally threatened Arctic tern as “very shocking” and mentions diseases that are striking the white-clawed crayfish and sycamores.