SQUIRRELS are going nuts about the weather!

The dry conditions over the last few months has been bad news for many animals, but the squirrels are not complaining.

While hedgehogs are dehydrated and badgers are venturing into back gardens in their search for food, squirrels are flourishing as trees produce more nuts than usual.

Dry weather has meant trees both in the city and the forests have gone into survival mode, producing lots of nuts.

"If people go for a walk in the forests the ground will crunch with acorns underneath their feet," said Jeremy Gissop, district forester for the Forestry Commission.

The knock-on effect is that we might see a significant increase in squirrels next year, as they have a greater chance of surviving the winter.

During a normal winter, squirrels find it very hard to find food, and survive by living off their body fat and their store of nuts.

Thanks to the increase in nuts the squirrels have bigger food stores and more body fat, so a larger number are expected to survive the winter and breed in April and May.