National Trust tells of bats in distress and water features drying up in heat

National Trust gardeners planting 2,000 lavender plants, as part of a strategy to adapt the garden of Cliveden House, Berkshire, to current and future climates. Photograph: Hugh Mothersole/PA

The National Trust has reported significant effects across its estate from the recent extreme heat including bats in distress, heather struggling to flower and historic water features drying up.

At Wallington in Northumberland, bats were found disoriented and dehydrated in the daylight during the hottest days this summer, while in Cambridgeshire, a waterwheel that powers a flour mill has had to stop turning due to low river levels.