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 | | Saturday, 17 November, 2001, 11:29 GMT Autumn trees leave it late  The colours at Westonbirt are brighter than usual Trees at the national arboretum in Gloucestershire, England, are providing a late burst of autumn colours after the warmest October since records began. Chief forester Tony Russell said the late arrival of autumn had prolonged the growing season at Westonbirt Arboretum, delaying the leaves turning red and brown. "There is no way we should be having autumn colour at this time of year," he said. "Normally the trees would have dropped their leaves weeks ago with the traditional autumn peak in mid-October, but here we are in mid-November. It is phenomenal. "I have worked at the arboretum for 12 years and I have never seen anything like it." Last few days The stunning autumn displays at Westonbirt attract thousands of visitors to the park, near Tetbury.
The colours are brighter because the warmer weather encourages the leaves to store more sugars and starch than normal. Mr Russell said that with cold weather now forecast for the next few days, the displays may not last much beyond next weekend. "If people can get here in the next 10 days they are going to see something they have never seen before," he said. Largest in Europe The arboretum opened its much-loved illuminated trail for the first time this year on Friday. The evening event enables visitors to tour the arboretum in the dark, with the trees illuminated by more than 1,000 spotlights. Westonbirt, the largest arboretum in Europe, has more than 18,000 trees and shrubs of 3,600 different types. Each year, more than 300,000 visitors go to the attraction, which dates back to 1829. | | See also:  Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top England stories now:  Links to more England stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||
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