Mount Stewart, a National Trust estate in Northern Ireland, will be the first location in the region to host the BBC’s winterwatch program in 2026, showcasing how nature is thriving even after losing over 10,000 trees in Storm Éowyn.
A Storm’s Legacy: Wildlife Finds a Way
The BBC’s Winterwatch is heading to Northern Ireland to document the resilience of nature at Mount Stewart.
- Winterwatch will broadcast live from Mount Stewart for four nights in 2026.
- The estate suffered important tree loss during Storm Éowyn in 2024.
- Despite the damage, the area is experiencing a surge in biodiversity.
- Climate change is prompting the National Trust to proactively adapt the estate’s gardens.
A year after Storm Éowyn unleashed winds up to 100mph across the Ards Peninsula, Mount Stewart is demonstrating remarkable recovery. Presenters Chris Packham, Michaela Strachan, and Iolo Williams will document the estate’s natural world, alongside stories of winter wildlife from across the UK.
Area Ranger Toby Edwards explained that while the storm was devastating, fallen trees create unexpected opportunities. “Trees don’t live forever,” he said, “but there are positives that happen when trees fall. The root plate and the hollow it creates gives some species a place to live.”
Historic gardens, established by Edith, Lady Londonderry, in the 1920s, are being adapted to rising sea levels.
“With sea level rise, again extreme weather events, water levels in the lower formal gardens are changing,” Edwards said. “They’re possibly going to become more saline…So we’re looking to move the whole collection steadily inland.”
The Trust acquired the surrounding lands ten years ago, and since then, Edwards and his team have documented a remarkable increase in biodiversity. “We have discovered a number of new species that haven’t been recorded in Northern Ireland for decades,” he noted, including the aptly named screech beetle.
Winners and Losers in a shifting Ecosystem
The changing climate is influencing which species thrive. “As the weather systems and average temperatures are changing, some species are moving north and others are descending,” Edwards explained. “So there are winners and losers in this, some species are expanding.”
He cited the great spotted woodpecker, little egrets, and great egrets as examples of species that are becoming increasingly common in the region. The estate’s felled timber is also being utilized, providing both income and fuel for the house’s biomass system.
Ultimately, edwards emphasized the importance of long-term thinking and resilience. “We need to think about how we can build resiliency into our landscapes and our habitats,” he said.”But if we can do what we can to help these species and habitats be as resilient as possible to these changing climates, then hopefully we’ll get out the other side of it.”
Worth a look
