It's very worrying Falling leaves and ripening apples - why does it feel like autumn in August?

Science correspondent

- Nicola Davis

According to the poet John Keats, autumn is the "season of mists and mellow fruitfulness" - yet anyone hoping for a glut of blackberries next month may be sorely disappointed. In many parts of the country, brambles have been bursting with fruit since mid-summer, with some now bearing only shrivelled berries.

And it is not the only hallmark of autumn that appears to have come early: trees are dropping their leaves, apples are ripe and acorns are hitting the ground.

But with temperatures still high, experts say this is not simply a case of an early autumn. Instead, they say, nature is under stress.

England has just had its fourth heatwave of the summer, with temperatures reaching up to 33.4C (92.1F), and five areas of the country are currently in drought. Kathryn Brown, director of climate change and evidence at the Wildlife Trusts, said: "A lot of what we are seeing has been caused by a very hot and very dry spring and summer. It's been one of the driest periods on record.

"So it feels like autumn has come early, but it's due to the natural environment reacting to that very extreme spring and summer, which is not average conditions that our species are adapted to in terms of seasonal cycles."