Four more strange but true Bank Holiday stories

With the August bank holiday this week, now is a good time to look back at four more of this year’s amazing but true green stories.

Midlands energy expert Ron Fox, of Noreus Ltd on the University of Keele Science Innovation Park, picks four more of his favourite recent environmental tales. 

1 The hot summer had led to grape expectations that this will be a landmark year for vintage English wines. The most recent data from the Food Standards Agency has shown that there are now 779 commercial vineyards and 90 hobby vineyards in the UK, up from 5.8 per cent and 4.7 per cent respectively on the year before. Wine growers say this year’s sunshine has made a big difference in helping to kickstart the vines to produce good ripeness and sugar levels leading to great flavours. Amazingly, it could help the English sparkling wines beat the bubbly from the Champagne region of France which has announced their lowest ever yield this year after severe droughts and heatwaves.

2 Now even garden centres are having to adapt to climate change with some of them moving to drought resistant plants from Australia, Africa and the Mediterranean. A spokesman for Blue Diamond, which employs around 4,700 staff across more than 50 UK garden centres, said the hot weather has shortened the shelf life of plants and led to a decline in footfall. Gardening sales in June for the sector showed a 5 per cent decline year on year and a 13 per cent drop compared to June 2024. As well as changing its type of plants Blue Diamond is also redesigning its beds to include water reservoirs and using peat-free compost that is better at retaining moisture.

3 Britain’s Network Rail is continuing its green journey as its mainline stations will now use solar power. The 14-year fixed-price deal, which has been signed with EDF Renewables, will provide enough electricity to power all 20 Network Rail-managed stations in London, as well as the main stations of Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds and Bristol. This ground-breaking deal will provide 15 per cent of all Network Rail’s energy in running offices, depots and stations. Ten years ago, Network Rail built a new Blackfriars station on a bridge over the Thames in London with a roof of 4,400 photovoltaic panel, which provided the premises with 50 per cent of its annual need. Although this new deal will not lead to solar panels at these main stations, Network Rail has agreed to pay for the output of a solar farm which EDF Renewables is building in Norfolk.

4 If you thought there was more dust in the air this summer, you are absolutely correct. Researchers have found that the amount of Saharan desert sand carried by winds from northern Africa to UK and Europe has increased by at least 50 per cent in the last ten years. In their study, published in the journal Nature, the scientists said it causes red sunsets and leaves car roofs covered in sand. But more worryingly it was hindering efforts to hit air pollution targets set by the World Health Organisation and the European Union. It harms people’s health with problems such as asthma from inhaling the dust. They believe the increase in this pollution has been made worse by climate change drying out the north Africa land, causing deserts to expand and allowing more sand into the air. However, the dust plays an important part in ecosystems by fertilising oceans and leading to phytoplankton, which provide vital food for fish and whales. But researchers are worried that the amount of dust is being transported in greater amounts because the southerly winds are intensifying. This trend is offsetting some of the progress the UK and Europe have made in cutting pollution from power stations and petrol and diesel cars.

“It just shows how climate change can bring good news with better English wines and hardier plants at garden centres and greener railway stations,” said Ron. “But there are many down sides, including more dust in the air and its effect on people’s health.”

This article raises some interesting questions, he added. Do you buy English wines and have you noticed an increase in local wines in the shops? Have you noticed the change to hardier plants from abroad at your garden centres? Are you aware of more dust in the air? Send your views to Ron Fox at [email protected]

Ron added: “If you want any green energy advice, call me on 0845 474 6641. In the meantime, have a happy Bank Holiday week.”

Caption: Cheers! It’s going to be a vintage year for English wines. Picture: John Butterworth