The current hot weather is making reptiles difficult to spot. In hot weather, reptiles don't need to spend much time basking, and we lose our best chance of seeing them.

With daytime temperatures finally back where they should be in the British summer, the sunny weather is not to everyone's liking. For reptile ecologists, cool and cloudy weather over the summer is essential for reptile survey and capture, for example in development-related mitigation projects. The current hot weather is therefore presenting difficulties for reptile detection, especially for time-sensitive projects. 

We have become used to cool, wet and changeable summers over the last few years in the UK. The summers of 2008, 2009 and 2010 were all 'bad'. However, this has been a boon for reptile surveyors and consultant ecologists, as surveys and capture exercises have generally been able to continue throughout the summer. However, it is a salutory reminder for all of us that any significant period of hot and dry weather is not only a spanner in the works for tight timetables, but it should be expected at any time, in any summer.

During periods of hot weather, reptiles can be almost undetectable, giving the appearance that they have disappeared - or worse - that they were not present in the first place. Experienced surveyors will know this, and remind themselves that there is nothing to do but sit tight and wait for the weather to break. Roll on that rain, and cool cloudy weather!