: Learning

Hi Bulb Buddies – Happy 2026!

Well done for continuing to log your data last month before your break, it has been great to read your comments and observations about what kind of weather you had coming into December. I have also read lots of comments logging that you are starting to see your bulbs growing – amazing!

Overall December was wet and windy, but mostly mild for usual UK weather, with temperatures getting colder at the end of the month. 

We had Storm Bram passing closely around the 8^th of December, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to northern Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of Wales. This resulted in flooding, power outage and road closures in many areas, as reported on by the Met Office.

Once Storm Bram had passed, the weather began to change for the last 10 or so days of December, when it became dryer, but colder.

The colder temperatures have carried on into 2026, with some snow and ice warnings, and some school closures! I am interested to read your comments on these colder temperatures as January continues.

Let’s look at some of your comments from last month!

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Temperature and Weather observations:

Henllys Church in Wales School:

This week was a rainy and cold week

Irvinestown Primary School:

We had so much heavy rain on Friday that we didn’t get outside to play and we were very sad

Ysgol Pentreuchaf:

Mae wedi bwrw glaw mawr yma wythnos yma ond tydi hi ddim yn oer yma.

Professor Plant:

Well done for adding these details to your data – even when you weren’t able to go outside to play! It is important to notice the changes in weather and temperature, and to consider how this might affect your bulbs. The rain and mild weather might mean that the bulbs could flower a bit earlier than expected!

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Plant Growth!

Gavinburn Primary School:

We have attached a photo of our bulbs which are beginning to peek through the soil. We've seen lots of roots underneath too!

Cornist Park C.P:

It has been very cold this week. We had lots of rain in the middle of the week. We are beginning to get very excited because our first spring bulbs have started to come through the soil.

Mountain Lane School:

Green growth noticed in our bulb planters.

Pil Primary School:

-It has been cold this week. Our spring bulbs are shotting up.

-It has been raining a lot this week. We like checking the rainfall and temperature.

Llanmartin Primary School:

Our bulbs are starting to grow, approximately 1.5cm of growth.

Professor Plant:

Wow! How exciting that you are reporting seeing your bulbs grow! Well done for logging this and keeping watch over your plants. Over the next couple of months, you may be able to start logging your flowering data, if you notice any flowers opening!

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How is the project going?

Pinehurst Primary School:

We love going and checking our data every day.

Professor Plant:

I am so glad to hear that you are enjoying collecting data! Your observations are very valuable, so keep up the brilliant work. Great job!

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I have loved reading through your data and observations over December. Keep up the amazing work Bulb Buddies, I look forward to seeing what happens next over January!

Professor Plant

Hi Bulb Buddies,

I would like to say a huge thank you to all schools who have been uploading their weather data to the website so far! There has been very mixed weather this November, so it is interesting to see what you have all logged.

The MET Office has noted that November 2025 has brought very variable weather across the UK, with higher-than-average rainfall. This month the UK rainfall was 31% above average for November, making it the wettest month of 2025 so far!

This November Storm Claudia brought heavy rainfall, especially to England and Wales, with the MET Office reporting that the Midlands, Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire saw more than double their average November rainfall. This rainfall resulted in flooding and disruption in some areas, which is reflected in your comments!

The temperature this November was also varied, where the month began warmer than usual but very quickly dropped in temperature during the second half of the month. Many schools have mentioned this change in their comments, with some seeing frost and short bursts of snow!

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Many Bulb Buddies have made some great weather observations:

Church Cowley St James CE Primary

Bitter cold week but glorious sunshine on Friday.

Church Cowley St James CE Primary

14/11/25 - Storm Claudia yn cychwyn

Cornist Park C.P

The start of the week began really mild. As the week has gone on the rain has become more persistent resulting in 12mm of rainfall while we were in school on Friday.

Mary Immaculate R.C. School

On Tuesday 4th November we had really heavy rain. Resulting in our playground flooding and lots of children and staff struggling to get home after school One of our teachers in Tenby had no water in her house for the evening.

Pil Primary School

There has been a lot of rain this week.

Professor Plant:

It is great to see so much detail in your comments, noting how much the weather has changed in just one week. The rainfall over November has been great for helping your bulbs grow!

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You have also been commenting on changes in the temperature:

Pil Primary School

It has been very cold this week, and we have had hardly any rainfall.

St John's Primary School

Light snow and frost on Wednesday Thursday

Irvinestown Primary School

We had lots of ice this week and it was very cold There was even a little bit of snow

Gavinburn Primary School

Very cold week

St Peter's CE Primary School

A flurry of snow fell for 10 minutes today

Ysgol Pentreuchaf

Y tywydd wedi oeri lot wythnos yma.

Professor Plant:

We have even had some Bulb Buddies reporting on some plant growth already:

Rhayader Primary

Our mystery bulbs have started growing, as have some of our other pots.

St Patrick's RC Primary - Newport

The temperature dropped immensely over the weekend. We also have begun to see early growth in our crocus plants.

Professor Plant:

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I have loved reading through your comments and observations and seeing all of your data being uploaded. Keep up the amazing work Bulb Buddies, and I look forward to seeing what happens next over December!

Professor Plant

To celebrate 20 years of the Spring Bulbs for Schools Project we are hosting four virtual workshops that will explore painting, climate change, the industrial revolution, and much more!

English: Book your ticket

Welsh: Book your ticket

Hi Bulb Buddies,

I want to say a big thank you to all of the participating schools who worked hard planting bulbs for the project. Together we planted over 18 thousand bulbs across the UK and from the photos I’ve seen, it looks as though everyone had great fun doing it! 

All schools taking part in the project will be collecting weather data from the 3^rd of November until the 27^th of March. They will be uploading these records regularly to the Amgueddfa Cymru website, along with comments and weather observations. We'll be learning a lot together over the school year!

Step 4: Keeping weather records (November - March)

Resources are available on the website that explore different aspects of the project, including ideas for additional experiments and guides to making short videos for the Bulbcast competition!  

Step 3: Optional hands-on weather and gardening themed activities

Bulbcast competition

I'll be sure to share more photos and comments from schools to the Blog in the coming weeks. 

Keep up the good work Bulb Buddies,

Professor Plant

It’s Planting Day for 178 schools across the UK today!
More than 18,000 bulbs will be planted by over 7,000 primary school scientists as part of this exciting outdoor investigation exploring how a changing climate affects the flowering dates of spring bulbs.

Follow the project and the experiences of our Super Scientists through this blog or on X at @ProfessorPlant.

Project team members are visiting several schools today to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Planting Day, and we look forward to receiving updates and photos from schools across the country.

Competitions and Creative Projects

Schools are invited to share their photos and creative media for our Planting Day Photo Competition. We’ll showcase the winning entries here next month!

We’re also running the Bulbcast Competition, where participating schools create short videos highlighting their favourite parts of the investigation. Resources to support this can be found here.

And for this special anniversary year, we’re thrilled to launch a Name the Daffodil Competition! Participants can suggest names for a brand-new daffodil variety commissioned to mark the 20th year of the investigation. You can see what our daffodil looks like in the attached image and find inspiration and guidance in the resource linked here. We can’t wait to see your entries!

A Special Display at St Fagans

The fantastic Gardening Team at St Fagans National Museum of History have been joining in the celebrations too! They’ve planted a commemorative display and created a beautiful woven planter for the project, which you can see in the attached images.

Get Involved

Feeling inspired? Why not plant some bulbs this October and share your images with us!
We’ll also be hosting free planting activities for families at St Fagans National Museum of History and National Museum Cardiff, where visitors can learn about plants and adopt their own baby bulbs. Find out more about how to join these sessions on our website.

Once schools have adopted and planted their bulbs, they will set up outdoor weather stations. From 3 November, they’ll collect daily weather readings every day that they are in school and upload these weekly to the Amgueddfa Cymru website. You can follow their progress here.

We’re so excited to get this year’s project underway and to share the journey with you all.

Here’s to another year of discovery, teamwork, and blooming science!

Professor Plant & Baby Bulb