Weatherwatch: Beware of the swarms of biting flies at dusk

Tourists in Loch Broom, Scotland are attacked by flies. Photograph: Murdo Macleod, the Guardian

This August will be dark clouds of creatures bloodsucking in Scotland. Swarms of biting midge Scottish enjoyed a large increase in numbers this summer thanks to its ideal climate, as the rains and the Sun have led to the breeding conditions perfect.

It all started in the bitterly cold winter, when the midge larvae survived underground under a blanket of snow. Birds that feed on them gone less well, though, and in the spring of the flies had many fewer predators to worry about. The warm spring and abundant rain brought the larvae in the Earth flying around as adults. And with much more rain this summer, the conditions are ripe for an explosion in numbers midge, appropriate for the school holidays. The signs are ominous, because earlier this summer midge traps collected two or three times the number of flies that have been in the past two years.

Black swarms of flies descend on unwary tourists dare to venture outside in the evening. Only females flies bite, however, that they pierce the skin and sucking blood. And it is traditionally the Western side of Scotland which is riddled with, because the flies require large amount of rain, more than 120 cm by year, moist air and a peaty soil, acid, which is what the Highlands and the Islands offer abundant.

The best advice is to avoid leaving in the evening, or cover from head to the toe and the use of insect repellent.

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