Why the summer heatwave means good news for Christmas in Cornwall

• Report by Sam Blackledge

The summer heatwave feels a long time ago now - but record breaking temperatures have had an unexpected impact on one of the South West's best-loved Christmas traditions.

The famous floral garland at Cotehele House near Saltash is back, and this year it's looking brighter than ever thanks to a dry year.

Cotehele's operations manager Richard Burrow said: "This garland is different to those of previous years because it has an extra golden glow.

"We found that some heat resistant flowers grew really well this summer, allowing us to make the garland shine brighter than ever.

"The whole process takes 12 months. The gardeners start in January, sowing all the seeds, then picking what they can throughout the year and drying and stripping them."

The garland, which this year contains more than 25,000 flowers, is fully up and running again for the first time since the Covid pandemic.

Hannah Milburn, gardener at Cotehele, said: "We always say the garland represents the challenges of the growing year, this year is so different.

"Although the hot temperatures meant many young seedlings struggled, we have seen plants such as statice and xerochrysums flourish in the heat which contribute to the garland’s golden glow."