North Yorkshire’s moors in their glory

A combination of adverse factors combined to make the 2018 grouse season the worst in more than 30 years and led to an estimated 75% of let days across the uplands of Northern England and Scotland being cancelled. The winter was unremittingly long, cold and wet but at the end of February, just when the hours of daylight were lengthening and ground temperatures beginning to rise, the Beast from the East struck, bringing high winds, drifting snow and unusually low temperatures. On high ground, below-freezing weather and snow cover lasted well into the middle of March when there was another blizzard, followed by a further fall of snow at the end of the month.

Heather would normally begin to green up in mid to late April, providing vital nutrition and energy for hen grouse, but due to the exceptionally cold spring there was no new growth for birds that were already in very poor condition when they went to lay. Inevitably, the lack of proper sustenance had an