On one August day Britain sees weather of all four seasons

Spring daffodils were in bloom in the North, autumn conkers were ready to drop in the South and wintry storms were lashing parts of Scotland.

With millions also enjoying some much-needed summer sunshine in the south-east, many felt Britain was experiencing four seasons in one day.

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For a country obsessed with the weather, there has been no shortage of things to talk about in recent months.

April was the hottest for England in 348 years, but May, June and July the wettest. June saw giant hailstones splatter London and torrential floods submerge Yorkshire.

And last month's deluges were the worst England has seen in 60 years.

While the impact of the freaky weather is clear to see in the flooded homes, ruined businesses and homeless families, it is also playing havoc with nature.

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The strangest evidence came from Aberdeenshire, where spring daffodils are in full bloom.

Botanists believe the warm spring and chilly summer fooled the dwarf bulbs into appearing seven months early.

Charlotte Donald, 58, a retired pharmacist from Torphins, said: "I did a double take when I saw my daffodils for the first time. It came as a total surprise because they're not supposed to be there."

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Daffodils usually flower at the start of spring before dying off in June. The bulbs then remain dormant in the soil before coming back to life the following year.

But this year, following the mild winter, flowers appeared weeks early. In places, daffodils burst into life in February.

While Aberdeenshire enjoyed its early spring, southern England is showing signs of a premature August.

Apple trees are heavy with fruit in Kent, holly berries are bringing colour to Hampshire's hedgerows and conkers are ready to drop in Essex.

A spokesman for the British Independent Growers' Association said: "The apples are a couple of weeks early this year.

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"Early varieties such as Discovery are on the market now. Normally they would be appearing in the second or even the third week of August."

Meanwhile, the Met Office issued a severe weather warning as blustery winds and heavy rain swamped the North-West of Scotland.

Some areas were told to expect two inches of rain in 24 hours.

After the miserable downpours and grey skies of the last few weeks, much of the UK is finally experiencing some warm, sunny weather.

According to the Met Office, much of England will have some good weather over the weekend.

Leylandii trees are turning an ugly shade of brown as the worst outbreak of cypress aphids for 26 years sees millions of the insects swarming over them.

The aphids survived the unusually mild winter and are now sucking the sap from leylandiis, whose leaves are turning brown before eventually dying and falling off.