BRIGG THUNDERFLIES ALERT AS HOT WEATHER CONTINUES

Watch out for those annoying thunderflies in Brigg - the airborne pests which are quick to settle on light-coloured clothing and exposed skin.
With windows kept open because of the current hot weather, the little black insects will come inside  homes and offices and then - before too long - expire!
This results in carpets of thunderflies on windowsills.
Weather observers recorded temperatures in North Lincolnshire touching 30C at some spots yesterday. That's 86F if, like us, you still prefer Daniel Fahrenheit's scale.
We had a very light shower of rain in Brigg about 8.15am today (Wednesday) but could possibly catch a heavy downpour later, accompanied by thunder.
Brigg's early morning shower was so light that it will probably fail to register on anyone's rain gauge. Decent sized spots fell on the pavements but soon evaporated.
There were some particularly bad summers for thunderflies in Brigg during the late 1970s. We think very hot 1976 - the Year of the Drought - was one of them. 
July and August are the main months for thunderflies. Their pest rating is directly linked to higher temperatures, and the fact that windows are more likely to be kept open during hot weather, giving them easy access to properties.
We've seen butterflies about, mainly white varieties, but not as many as you'd have seen in such sunny weather decades ago.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, "Bigby Swings" -  the Davy Memorial Playing Fields - was awash with colourful species. The margins of the field, particularly the slope down from Bigby Road, were wild flower territory. 
Here endeth the nature lesson!