Winter 2011-12 was generally fairly mild apart from frost and snow for about a week in early February.
The last fortnight of March was unusualy warm and April and May were cool and showery. By mid June wildlife was about 2 weeks behind its usual dates. North facing brambles had not started to flower, no Skippers or Meadow Browns had been seen. June to mid August remained extremely wet with just a few brighter days. It was extremely dry from late August to late September.