Heatwaves: why British trees are shedding branches and dying

If you visit the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, on the edge of London, you will see a brightly painted skeleton of a dead oak tree. The tree, known as the climate changed oak, succumbed in the heatwave of 2022. Instead of removing it, Kew left it in place as a reminder that climate change is already taking its toll on Britain’s trees.

The 2022 heatwave killed 400 of Kew’s trees and predictions show that up to 50% of Kew’s existing 11,000 trees could be vulnerable to climate…

© La Conversation - jeudi 9 juillet 2026