natjtan Did you know the UK has rainforests!
Similar type of rainforests to the North American inland temperate rainforests of British Columbia, Canada and Washington, Idaho and Montana in the USA along with The Appalachian temperate rainforest USA. Instead of being hot and humid like rainforest of the Southern Hemisphere, temperate rainforests are located in the Northern Hemisphere fed by colder North Pacific and North Atlantic rain. Think moss, lichens and ferns. High humidity, colder temperature.
UK rainforests can be found in Scotland, Wales, South West England and Northern Ireland fed by Atlantic rain being part of the Costal Rainforest Biome. In addition to moss, lichens and ferns, oaks, hazel, birch, ash and pine trees are at home. Galicia and the Basque Country in Spain also have similar temperate rainforests.
A few years ago my parents moved the South West of England near where the forests are located. Or rather fragments of them. Many have been felled over the last few centuries for land. In some parts of the UK, the only old forests (not rainforests) that remain are those that once belonged to Royalty for hunting. I didn’t realise until visiting them last, that they live on the outskirts of the temperate rainforest zone. On my runs, ferns and horsetail ferns were everywhere, growing from branches, gates or ditches.
Sometimes after it rains and the sun comes out it’s beautiful. Even the clouds are different to where I grew up. Here they’re like big ocean clouds. Where I grew up in Suffolk, they’re smaller North Sea clouds. I notice straight away the difference as now I’m used to smaller Mediterranean clouds similar to North Sea clouds. Driving through the South West UK is amazing. You drive through small road side forests before emerging to windy hilly countryside. Sometimes so high or clouds so low you can drive through the clouds. The photos are a mix of my phone and camera on my last visit. Some are out of focus, however wanted to include them anyway.
Thank you for stopping by!