Unusual weather has turned 2025 into a ‘mast year’ – what is it?

The first day of meteorological autumn is forecast to be warmer than the last August holiday - (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

A summer of sun followed by a spell of rain has set the UK up well for a bright and colourful autumn, as a bumper crop of acorns, conkers and berries arrives across the country.  

National Trust experts have called it a “mast year”; a crop phenomenon occurring once every four years in which certain trees produce an abundance of nuts and berries.