Spring 'arrives even earlier'

Daffodils at the centre opened in mid January - a week earlier than last year - while English Hawthorn is now expected to flower by the end of February - more than eight weeks before it normally would.

The garden's curator, Nigel Taylor, said the early blooms are an indication that climate change is having a greater impact than previously seen.

Since 1952, Kew has recorded the dates on which different flowers open. Around 100 different plants are monitored with year-on-year changes tracked.

The early signs from this year suggest that flowering looks set to surpass even the premature dates recorded in 2007.

The opening of Daffodils occurred on January 16, a week before 2007 and 11 days ahead of the recent average. Crocuses also set a new record, opening 11 days in advance of the last decade's average.

Other flora native to England is blooming weeks if not months before they used to, experts at Kew said.

Nigel Taylor, curator of Kew Gardens, said: "English Hawthorn or 'May' - because it used to flower in May - has leafed out in Kew Gardens in the last week of January, two months or more ahead of when it normally would. It may flower before the end of February.

"Blackthorn, Prunus spinosa, is already leafed out and in flower and Common Ash, Flaxinus excelsior, is in flower.

"These are months earlier than the norm and given that they are species that have evolved in the vagaries of the English climate, the more remarkable because one would expect them not to react so easily to milder weather in winter. This suggests the changes in our climate are more far reaching than previously seen."