‘False autumn’: stressed trees drop leaves early after scorching English summer

Season will be less vibrant with trees such as birches, which usually offer a striking burst of yellow leaves, already bareAmong a canvas of copper, red and purple autumn leaves on display at Wisley garden in Surrey, south-east England, one tree stands conspicuously naked. “The birch has lost all its leaves,” says Guy Barter, the chief horticulturist at the Royal Horticultural Society. “That’s the effect of drought, so it’ll have no autumn colour this year.”