Orkney

They have long been a feature of the French countryside and have been immortalised on canvas by Vincent van Gogh. But now, thanks to the effects of climate change, a field of sunflowers has sprung up in Orkney, stunning local residents and ecologists.

The seeds were scattered by Richard Herdman on 2½ acres of his dairy farm on Mainland, and have grown to about 5ft (1.5m).

Mr Herdman said: “We put a couple of kilos of sunflower seeds in with the unharvested crop seeds to provide winter food for migrating birds as part of a rural stewardship scheme project. I was convinced that the sunflower plants would grow to the height of the rest of the stuff, about 3ft, because they would have shelter. I never imagined they would flower on the scale they have. I think the weather has allowed this to happen, because we’ve had a good back end to the summer.”

The seed merchant who provided the sunflowers to Mr Herdman hopes to encourage other farmers to add some colour to their fields next summer.However, Ruth Dawkins, Scottish co-ordinator of Stop Climate Chaos, said: “While sunflowers may be brightening up the Orkney landscape in the short term, potential changes in rainfall and temperature mean that the long-term prospects are not so cheerful.”

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