Fourteen consecutive days of air temperatures over 30°C. The water temperature of the lowland River Rother was 20°C, over my limit of 18°C. The trout were not active, they were in deep, fast, weedy water waiting for darkness when they might take the odd shrimp.

The Leconfield lakes were 21°C and looked beautiful but dead, no fish moved. It was even too hot for carp fishing. I returned to Devon.

The temperature of the Dartmoor rivers varied from 23°C to 18°C. The fast water, shallow riffles and tree lined banks kept the water temperature down on the Tavy. I fished for a couple of hours and had three takes but failed to connect.

The fourteen day heat wave was followed by a further two weeks of hot weather. I visited Burrator one evening but the water level had not dropped as much as I had hoped and I had a frustrating couple of hours snagging the large boulders that lined the edge of the reservoir. The trout were offshore in the deep water, nothing moved.

In Devon during 2024 the prolonged rain in the spring and regular spates throughout the summer, meant that the rivers were full. 2025 had the driest March since 1961 and the summer was the warmest on record.

According to the Met Office, the mean maximum summer temperature in England has increased steadily since 1960 from 19°C to 21°C in 2020. Since 1960 the annual winter rainfall in England has also steadily increased by 13%. The summers are getting hotter and the winters wetter. Global warming is here.

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