Getting out and about is once more becoming more complicated but local day trips to woodlands, coasts, hills or parks seem necessary, just to get outside. Will the weather be okay with half term looming?
With half-term holidays this month and further COVID restrictions, plans are once more being altered with an eye to local outdoor day trips. The autumn countryside can be beautiful and busy at this time of year with harvest well underway but the weather can be unreliable. A mixture of gorgeous sunshine and crisp frosty morning, Atlantic storms or damp greyness that seems to soak through many layers.
This week starts off unsettled but as high pressure builds to the north things quieten down, it becomes drier with more sunshine and light winds. So frost and some fog are likely as this week will stay cool. Later this month the clocks will change, giving lighter mornings but quite a change for the evenings.
Woodland walks, trips to wetland sites, a cycle ride on paths or downhill, a hike along a coastal or mountain path or just a dog walk at the beach: all low-cost ways to get outside, get some Vitamin D, a bit of fresh air and move about. With so many travel restrictions and much uncertainty even looking towards Christmas, the need to get outside and have a different view seems vital.
And the leaves are beginning to turn.
As the amount of daylight shortens and the air temperatures begin to drop, the green leaves change to yellow, orange, red and pink.
After the very wet start to October you may well need your wellies if heading out and hat, scarf and gloves will soon be coming out of the cupboards as those frosty mornings appear more often. The quest for conkers, or late unfound blackberries, there are rosehips for syrup, sloes and fungi if you know what you are looking at.
Skipton Castle woods, North Yorkshire
“Skipton Castle Woods is open to local visitors for health and wellbeing - please adhere to the one-way system on Springs Canal towpath to ensure social distancing. Hidden behind one of Britain’s most popular medieval castles, the Woodland Trust's Skipton Castle Woods is a rare ancient woodland habitat straight off the high street”
Solway Firth, south-west coast of Scotland, between Dumfries & Galloway and England. A huge estuary with coastal dunes, salt marshes, beautiful beaches and agricultural land. The stunning coastline also includes Caerlaverock National Nature Reserve , where thousands of barnacle and pink-footed geese arrive in autumn to winter in Britain.
Ystwyth Forest is near the coastal town of Aberystwyth and sits within a spectacular landscape which is characterised by river valleys. Spectacular landscapes and walking trails of the forests of Ceredigion, bordered by the Mid Wales coast to the west, and sheltered to the east by the Cambrian Mountains.
Not far from Devil’s Bridge, the car park at the Hafod Arch is the starting point for a number of attractive walks offering some of the best panoramic views in mid Wales.
Next weekend a lingering low pressure will brush past SW England, away to the Bay of Biscay and then looks to move back over the UK bringing unsettled weather for next week. More wind and rain after a more settled few days later this week.
