Highland midges warning
A MIDGE expert has warned that this summer could be a bumper year for the scourge of the Highlands.
Dr Alison Blackwell believes that the conditions have been ideal for the tiny pest to prosper.
Dr Blackwell commented: "The weather leading up to the emergence of the first midges each year – which usually happens in June – is crucial.
"A warm, damp spring leads to a large emergence. Although we have had relatively windy weather at the end of May, Britain has experienced the warmest spring since records began in 1659 and we’ve had a rather wet June so far. So if this continues and summer turns out to be hot and wet, we could be set for a bumper year."
Dr Blackwell, industry expert on the insect, is this year using modern technology to help her team create the annual Midge Forecast (www.midgeforecast.co.uk) which predicts the level of midges across Scotland.
She continued: "We calculate the midge levels for our forecast by the amount of midges we are able to catch using the Calor Predator Dynamic Midge Trap.
"We are awaiting our first big peak this year, but the amount we are currently catching is more than the same time last year and the year before, so the signs for a tough year are already there."
Midges cost the Scottish tourism industry millions of pounds each year with many people reporting ‘swarms’ of the little blighters affecting the worst-hit areas.
