Slug numbers appear to shrivel after UK heatwave

Zoologists say they have never seen this low a number, after unprecedented hot weather

As dewy dawns break across the UK's pumpkin patches and allotments, gardeners across the land are waking up to the absence of at least one slippery pest. Slug numbers appear to have shrivelled as a result of the ongoing drought.

I went to survey a woodland site last week and it took me over 30 minutes to locate a slug. Usually, I would expect to find them under almost every log in that habitat," said Jake Stone, a zoologist at the University of Cambridge. I thought that there would be fewer around, but I've never seen this low a number. But I suppose that's to be expected, because it's rarely been this hot and dry."