How climate change is laying a deadly trap for Scotland's bumblebees

As wildfires cause death and destruction in Los Angeles in the depths of winter, Scotland is experiencing subtler effects of our rapidly changing climate.

Scotland experienced its warmest Christmas Eve night on record, with temperatures at Kinloss remaining at 12.1 degrees Celsius or above, surpassing the 10.6C recorded at Dounreay in 1971.

Unfortunately, such balmy conditions were enough to convince some species that spring had arrived, an evolutionary adaptation that has stood the test of time for thousands of years – until recently. And that can be a deadly problem when cold snaps like the present one arrive.

Bumblebees have evolved to end their winter hibernation in response to mild temperatures, but climate change means this is no longer a reliable guide (Picture: Christopher Furlong) | Getty Images

According to charity Buglife, bumblebees were observed starting to build nests in Aberdeen over Christmas, when they should have been hibernating as flowers are scarce. Similar false starts as far north as Thurso have been spotted in the last few years.

As Californians grapple with their new reality – with Governor Gavin Newsom saying, "there's no fire season, it's fire year” – Scotland’s bees must hope they can evolve a new method of dating the arrival of spring before it’s too late.