Some prefer not to dwell on the exact moment we will depart this Earth, others are morbidly curious.

But science has unearthed several distinct patterns around when people tend to die.

Just as you have a ‘body clock’ which helps to dictate when you wake and sleep, it also influences the time of day when you die – with a distinct ‘spike’ in the morning.

Other studies have shown that certain days of the week are far deadlier – and one day of the year in particular sees more deaths than any other.

Some of this is due to factors such as drug overdoses and firearms – but other ‘spikes’ are more difficult to explain.

What time of day are you most likely to die?

Your body clock doesn’t just make you feel hungry and sleepy – it also influences when you die, according to science.

The time people are most likely to die is 11am, according to Harvard Medical School research published in 2012.

Professor Clifford Saper, the lead author of the paper, said: ‘Virtually all physiological processes have a circadian rhythm, meaning that they occur predominantly at certain parts of the day.

‘There’s even a circadian rhythm of death, so that in the general population people tend on average to be most likely to die in the morning hours. Sometime around 11am is the average time.’

But the picture is actually slightly more complex than that.

Saper’s research, which involved 1,200 healthy people aged 65, found that people with a certain genotype (the genetic variants a person carries) have different sleeping patterns – and a different average time of death.

People with the G-G genotype (guanine-guanine) tend to sleep around an hour later, generally speaking, and die at around 6pm instead of the 11am most people die at.

Saper said: ‘There is really a gene that predicts the time of day that you’ll die. Not the date, fortunately, but the time of day,’

What day of the year are you most likely to die?

More people die in the cold winter months than any other time of year, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

January and December tend to be the deadliest months of the year – but analysis by Professor David Philips of 57 million death certificates between 1979 and 2004 pinpointed one day as the deadliest.

Philips found that New Year’s Day is the deadliest of the year – and the reason isn’t due to celebrations, alcohol or traffic accidents.

Philips said: ‘This pattern turns up in every natural cause of death, but not for external causes like auto accidents. It’s hard to understand why that would be.’

More recent research highlighted Christmas Day as the deadliest day of the year (when it comes to heart attacks at least), with a significant spike between Christmas and New Year.

Dr Donald Lloyd-Jones, volunteer president of the American Heart Association, said, ‘The holidays are a busy, often stressful, time for most of us. Routines are disrupted; we may tend to eat and drink more and exercise and relax less. 

‘We also may not be listening to our bodies or paying attention to warning signs, thinking it can wait until after the new year. All of these can be contributors to increasing the risk for heart attack at this time of the year.’

What day of the week are you most likely to die?

Analysis of 39 million deaths between 1999 and 2004 found that there is one day of the week where you are most likely to die – Saturday.

Researchers at LiveScience analysed CDC data for all deaths and found a small but significant rise in deaths on Saturdays.

Some of the reasons behind this are fairly simple: deaths from drug overdoses, car accidents and firearms all peak on Saturdays.

More recent research in 2018 found that you are still more likely to die when admitted to a hospital at the weekend.

The research, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found that, among patients with cardiac arrest, 25.2 percent survived on week days, while 21.9 percent survived on weekends and week nights.

Men really can laugh women into bed – with a good sense of humor making men seem more intelligent and more likely to be big-earners.

A study recruited 162 women for a speed-dating style experiment where they were shown photographs of six men.

Each man was said to have provided a statement as an ‘icebreaker’, which was a funny joke, an unfunny joke or a bland statement about their favorite color or pizza.

The men were all similar-looking, having been chosen because women rated them as averagely attractive.

But when women thought the man in the photograph had made a funny joke, they were significantly more likely to say they would give him their phone number.

Sadly, for men not blessed with killer wit, unfunny men were no more likely to get a woman’s phone number than those who made no attempt at humor, the study found.

A follow-up experiment showed why funny men may get the girl.

When 81 women were asked to judge photographs of eight men, half of whom had made a funny joke, while half had made an unfunny joke, they typically rated the funny men as more intelligent.

They also rated them as having higher earning potential than unfunny men.

Dr Mitch Brown, who led the study from the University of Arkansas, said: ‘Funny men may appear more competent to women, as shown by them perceiving them to be more intelligent in their study.

‘If women believe that to be the case, they might believe men will do better in their careers, know more people, know how to play the game, and earn more money.’

The study, published in the journal Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, says men use humor as a way to signal to women that they are interested and to connect with them by laughing together.

Women also seem to appreciate an attempt at humor from men, even if it falls flat – with the study finding they rated funny and unfunny men similarly highly for friendliness.

However, the experiment with 162 women found females expected men to be more successful in attracting a partner if they were funny.

Women were asked to rate men’s friendliness, likely dating success, and how likely they would be to give them their phone number after seeing the photographs and the statements the men had apparently made.

There is a risk with men making jokes, that this could make them seem warm, kind and like good boyfriend material, or it could backfire and make them look like untrustworthy show-offs who are interested in playing the field.

To test which view women had, researchers asked 108 women to rate the men with funny and unfunny statements on whether they would choose them for a long-term relationship.

Funny men were preferred for long-term relationships, suggesting they are seen as good, committed partners.

They were also preferred by women for short-term relationships – although with less of an advantage over unfunny men.

The ‘funny’ men in the study were given statements which women were previously found to judge amusing, such as ‘The past, present and future were having an argument. It was tense.’

Another example included: ‘Cremation – my only hope for a smoking hot body.’

The unfunny men were given jokes like: ‘What do you call a tiger with glasses? A scientist tiger.’

Women do seem to like a good sense of humor, but good looks appear to still be important, as a group of 141 women typically ranked funny men as even more desirable when their photograph was attractive rather than unattractive.

If you’re unfortunate enough to experience a flight delay or cancellation, you could be entitled to compensation.

Here we reveal the circumstances that trigger a cash pay out. 

FLIGHT DELAYS

New data from the Civil Aviation Authority shows one in three trips were delayed by at least 15 minutes last year.

Delayed passengers could be entitled to free meals and compensation of up to £520 – and this section helps you understand how.

ASSISTANCE

Airline passengers delayed by two hours or more could be entitled to assistance such as two free phone calls or emails, free meals and refreshments, free hotel accommodation and hotel transfers, according to Which?, outlining the following:

Short-haul – Passengers flying up to 932 miles (1,500km) with a delay time of at least two hours are entitled to assistance.

Medium-haul – Passengers flying between 932 miles (1,500km) and 2,175 miles (3,500km) with a delay time of at least three hours are entitled to assistance.

Long-haul – Passengers flying more than 2,175 miles (3,500km) with a delay time of at least four hours are entitled to assistance.

Delayed passengers who meet the above criteria can contact their airline or approach staff at the airport for further information.

SEVERE DELAYS

Passengers whose flight has been delayed by more than five hours are ‘entitled to choose between being rerouted on a different flight or getting a refund’, Which? says.

Passengers can also request flight delay compensation, according to the watchdog, ‘if the delay is not due to extraordinary circumstances’. These include bad weather, strikes unrelated to the airline, such as with baggage handlers, acts of terrorism or sabotage, drone disruption and long security queues.

Claims are valid for up to six years after the flight if it flew in or out of the UK, it adds.

COMPENSATION 

Passengers of delayed flights are protected by the Denied Boarding Regulation if their flight departs from the UK or Europe or is operated by a UK or European airline, Which? says.

‘If you’re travelling with a non-EU based airline flying from a non-EU destination, the airline doesn’t have the same duty to look after you,’ it adds.

‘But you can check the airline’s ‘conditions of carriage’ to see what compensation you are entitled to.’

HOW TO CLAIM COMPENSATION

‘If your flight arrives at its destination more than three hours late, each affected passenger is entitled to claim flight delay compensation,’ Which? says.

The total value of compensation depends on the length and distance of the delayed flight as well as the reason for the delay, it adds.

Passengers can make a claim under the EU Denied Boarding Regulation if they meet the criteria, listed in a table by Which?, below.

HOW MUCH ARE YOU ENTITLED TO?

Short-haul – Passengers flying up to 932 miles (1,500km) who are delayed for more than three hours are entitled to £220, according to Which?

Medium-haul within the EU – Passengers flying more than 932 miles (1,500km) within the EU who are delayed more than three hours are entitled to £350 compensation, the watchdog says.

Medium-haul outside the EU – Passengers flying between 932 miles (1,500km) and 2,175 miles (3,500km) who are delayed more than three hours are entitled to £350 compensation, Which? explains.

Long-haul – Passengers flying more than 2,175 miles (3,500km) are entitled to £260 in compensation if they are delayed between three and four hours, or £520 if they are delayed longer than this, according to the site.

CONNECTING FLIGHTS

‘Passengers flying with a non-EU airline are entitled to compensation if a flight departing from the UK is delayed by at least three hours at the final destination,’ says Which?

The ‘final destination’ of a connecting flight refers to the last airport listed on the passenger’s ticket, it adds.

OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSES

As well as compensation, some passengers are entitled to claim ‘extra out-of-pocket expenses under the Montreal Convention’, Which? says.

Examples are if you miss a night of pre-booked accommodation, miss a concert you have bought tickets to, or a day of car rental you have paid for, it adds.

FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS

COMPENSATION

Passengers travelling with a UK or EU-based airline, or flying from a UK or EU airport, should receive help from the company if their flight is cancelled, Which? says.

‘This is because your flight is protected by the Denied Boarding Regulation,’ it adds.

Depending on the circumstances, passengers could be entitled to ‘a refund or alternative flight, food, phone calls and accommodation, and flight cancellation compensation’, the watchdog further explains.

HOW TO CLAIM COMPENSATION

Which? says passengers can claim compensation for cancelled flights unless it is affected by ‘extraordinary circumstances’, as explained earlier in this article.

But even if extraordinary circumstances apply, you are ‘still entitled to meals, refreshments, accommodation and hotel transfers depending on the length of your flight and delay’, the consumer watchdog adds.

HOW MUCH COMPENSATION ARE YOU ENTITLED TO?

Short-haul – Passengers travelling less than 932 miles (1,500km) whose new flight takes off more than one hour before their original flight and arrives less than two hours after it are entitled to £110 in compensation, according to Which?.

If the passengers’ flight arrives more than two hours after the original flight, they are entitled to £220 in compensation, it adds.

Medium-haul – Passengers travelling 932 miles (1,500km) to 2,175 miles (3,500km) whose new flight departs more than one hour before their original flight and arrives less than three hours after it are entitled to £175 in compensation, Which? says.

If the passengers’ flight arrives more than three hours after their original flight, they are entitled to £350 in compensation, it adds.

Long-haul – Passengers travelling more than 2,175 miles (3,500km) whose new flight departs more than one hour before their original flight and arrives less than four hours after it are entitled to £260 in compensation, Which? says.

If the passengers’ flight arrives more than four hours after their original flight, they are entitled to £520 in compensation, it adds.

The figures above are for flights cancelled less than seven days before departure. 

CONNECTING FLIGHTS

‘If a connecting flight during your journey is affected by a delay and you departed from the UK or an EU country, you can still claim compensation,’ Which? says.

‘For example, if you were flying from Manchester to Sydney, connecting in Singapore, but your Singapore to Sydney flight was delayed, you’d still be entitled.’

HOW TO APPEAL A DECISION

Unresolved complaints about an airline can be escalated to an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme and a list of approved providers are listed on the Civil Aviation Authority website, Which? says.

Airline passengers can also gain extra peace of mind at the airport by taking out travel insurance, says Quotezone.

CEO Greg Wilson said: ‘Depending on the type of policy, some travel insurance providers will offer cover for a delayed flight of over 24 hours, or if an alternative travel option hasn’t been offered.

‘Insurance policies for missed or delayed flight departure will pay for costs incurred from delayed flights or if travellers miss the trips because of a situation out of their control – such as getting into a serious accident and being taken to hospital.’

He adds: ‘In the case of an airline going bust before passengers are able to get home, taking out the right travel insurance before jetting off will help give travellers protection.’

Sun and sea can play havoc on a girl’s hair. Fortunately, taking a dip in the Dead Sea, one of the saltiest stretches of water in the world, has its advantages.

With a salinity ten times that of the Atlantic it’s easy to float sitting up, keeping my hair dry. I’m just miffed that I’ve left my paperback on the lounger.

Mind you, it’s not only the chance to avoid holiday hair that draws visitors to this, the lowest point on earth. Located in Israel’s Judaean desert, the Dead Sea is the world’s oldest natural spa thanks to its mineral-rich waters and inky, therapeutic mud.

There’s something else too – an absolute stillness that prevails over this geographical anomaly. For as I bob along, there are no crashing waves, tangly bits of moss or skittering fish. Only a bather’s occasional yelp – because salt water is murder on cut skin.

Visit Israel now and you’ll find the country in flux. Yet, ironically, weekly demonstrations against Prime Minister Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul Israel’s judiciary and weaken the country’s supreme court have become something of a tourist attraction. Not least in Tel Aviv, where visitors stand on balmy Saturday nights to watch the sea of Israeli flags flooding the streets as the people chant, sing and unite in protest.

‘It’s carnival like, so much camaraderie – just people demonstrating for their votes. It’s one big “social”, which is what Israelis love,’ my sister-in-law, Fiona, who visited recently explains. ‘That’s why the tourists love to go and watch too.’

And given that Tel Aviv is one of the world’s priciest cities, it’s free entertainment.

Meanwhile, the falafel stands, restaurants and bars are bustling with little care for the mass demonstrations filling the streets.

But, then again, it’s the fiery Israeli character – known as sabra – which also energises this tiny country. The nickname refers to the sabra cactus fruit, spiky on the outside but sweet on the inside.

It shows itself as soon as we step into our cab after flying into Tel Aviv. We have, fortunately, not arrived on a Saturday night when, thanks to the demos, it’s impossible to drive anywhere. In between some hair-raising moves – motorists here work on the principle of ‘don’t mirror or signal before manoeuvre’ – our driver gives us a potted history of the current situation, which ends with him describing the PM as a ‘lunatic’.

Yet Israel is also a place where the welcome is palpable. Its people are inquisitive, direct and just utterly thrilled you want to visit.

‘You’re from Manchester – as in Manchester United?’ wonders Avi, one especially charming waiter. ‘It’s just a place of football and rain, no? So much better to be here.’

We’re here to enjoy trips to three diverse bodies of water – what Israelis often refer to as ‘The ‘Med, the Dead and the Red’. It refers to the country’s Mediterranean coastline, the Dead Sea and the Red Sea at the southern tip.

Thanks to the country’s diminutive size – less than 300 miles from tip to toe – visiting each ‘sea’ is easily done in one road trip.

We begin our watery odyssey on the Med, which takes up most of Israel’s western border. We base ourselves in Tel Aviv, at the Kempinski hotel, which looks out over an expansive seaside promenade.

We hire bikes as there are dedicated cycle lanes – though watch out, the Israelis cycle and use e-scooters like they drive. But we also walk its length to the ancient port city of Jaffa, which bookends the prom.

On another day we take a 50-minute drive to the ancient coastal city of Caesarea. It was here in between 22 and 10 BC that King Herod built a no-expense spared city, the remains of which are scattered by the water.

From Tel Aviv, we recruit a guide, Avraham from the Tours By Locals platform, so we can make use of the two-and-a-half-hour drive to our next watery stop, the Dead Sea.

Along the way we take in sites such as Qumran in the Judaean desert where, amongst the limestone cliffs, a set of writings from 3rd Century BC – known as the Dead Sea Scrolls – were uncovered here in a set of caves.

A tip for visitors to the Dead Sea. It’s vital to stay somewhere with good food as there aren’t many places to eat. Fortunately our hotel, The Nevo, comes up trumps.

There’s also not much by way of diversions here. ‘What’s to do? You have weather, beautiful water, spa treatments. Why drive yourself mad?’ Israelis are world class at asking rhetorical questions.

One morning, we take a 20-minute drive to the base of Masada, King Herod’s desolate cliff-top fortress. Eager climbers can crest the ‘snake path’ which rises 450 metres to the summit. We opt for a cable car to the top to walk the sprawling ruins.

Our final destination is the Red Sea and the resort of Eilat, reached after another dramatic two-and-a-half-hour drive through the jagged mountains and dusty landscape of the Judaean desert.

The resort itself is a classic fly-and-flop sort of place. Our hotel, the luxury Royal Beach, looks out over the shoreline arched by the majestic Edom Mountains beyond.

There’s tons to do if you have the energy, from snorkelling to kayaking. But, feeling lethargic, we limit our water activities to taking a tour on a glass-bottomed boat.

Israel may be a country of personalities and hot-headed politics. But its three seas are a chance to relax and enjoy the natural world’s most exquisite riches. As the locals would say: ‘And why not?’

• William’s advice first appeared in an Instagram post viewed over 14,000 times
• Here he also reveals if it’s bad form to slide sunglasses onto the head
• READ MORE: You’ve been eating spaghetti all wrong!

By Ted Thornhill, Mailonline Travel Editor

Published: 11:42 EDT, 10 August 2023 | Updated: 12:26 EDT, 10 August 2023

Six top tips for ensuring you’re not a victim of theft while on holiday (including a cunning hack using Sellotape and a guidebook)

By Laura Sharman

Updated: 05:03 EDT, 9 June 2023

‘You guys realize you’re not in the real world’: Biden mocks reporters for debt ceiling questions and laughs when asked about DeSantis pardoning Trump as he heads to Delaware for one night

• Biden said there was ‘no reason’ why the bipartisan deal wouldn’t pass by June 5 
• He said reporters who asked about it weren’t in the ‘real world’
• He smiled and laughed when asked about DeSantis’ pardon claim 

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor For Dailymail.com

Published: 16:24 EDT, 29 May 2023 | Updated: 18:49 EDT, 29 May 2023

The FCC says the radiation coming from your cellphone is no big deal. A cancer surgeon friend told me he begs to differ.

While public health experts continue to debate the issue and the public’s own worries may be overblown, perhaps the best approach is ‘better safe than sorry.’ 

That’s certainly been the approach of the attorneys for the manufacturers, who have helped craft their mobile phone’s manuals and legal notices. 

Modern iPhones, including the 14 Pro Max and the iPhone SE, recommend that their customers ‘use a hands-free option, such as the built-in speakerphone, headphones or other similar accessories’ to ‘reduce exposure to RF [radio frequency] energy.’

These radio frequency exposures, according to Germany’s Federal Office for Radiation, can be exceptionally high from some mobile devices — with a few energetic Android phones topping the list. 

You have to wonder: What do the manufacturers know that we don’t?

‘People are addicted to their smartphones,’ according to Joel Moskowitz, a researcher in the University of California Berkeley’s School of Public Health.   

‘We use them for everything now, and, in many ways, we need them to function in our daily lives,’ Moskowitz said. ‘I think the idea that they’re potentially harming our health is too much for some people.’

As the director of Berkeley’s Center for Family and Community Health, Moskowitz has made studying the biological effects of the radio frequency energy on the human body a research priority since 2009. 

But he’s picking up where US federal regulators, in his view, dropped the ball. 

‘Cellphones, cell towers and other wireless devices are regulated by most governments,’ said Moskowitz, with one caveat. ‘Our government, however, stopped funding research on the health effects of radiofrequency radiation in the 1990s.’

In 2020, Moskowitz and his colleagues published a review of 46 case-control health studies on the issue of cell phones and health, which they published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

‘Our main takeaway,’ Moskowitz says, ‘is that approximately 1,000 hours of lifetime cellphone use, or about 17 minutes per day over a 10-year period, is associated with a statistically significant 60 percent increase in brain cancer.’

Not every researcher on the topic takes Moskowitz’s grim view, of course. And the UN’s World Health Organization currently maintains that, as yet, ‘no adverse health effects have been established as being caused by mobile phone use.’ 

So, what do I do?

I play it safe and keep my phone away from my body and head as much as possible. (Yes, I’m that person taking calls on my AirPods or speakerphone.)

And I take my cues from overseas agencies, like Germany’s Federal Office for Radiation (Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz) which lists data on each mobile phone’s specific absorption rate (SAR).

Some phones, it turns out, emit more radiation than others. But what exactly are we measuring with the specific absorption rate? 

SAR, which is calculated in watts per kilogram of body weight, quantifies how much energy is absorbed per unit mass by the human body when it’s exposed to a radio frequency. 

Typically, it’s based on an absorption value recorded when when you make a call with the phone up to your ear. In the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) even uses a dummy head to calculate SAR values for cell phones.

But, really you don’t need to know all the details, just that the legal limit is 1.6 watts/kg here in the US.

See where your cell phone falls on the list, compiled by Digital Information World.

These five models emit some of the strongest radiation on the market: Motorola Edge ( 1.79 w/kg); OnePlus 6T (1.55 w/kg); Sony Xperia XA2 Plus (1.41 w/kg) Google Pixel 3 XL (1.39 w/kg); and the Google Pixel 4a (1.37 w/kg) in a tie with the Oppo Reno5 5G (1.37 w/kg). 

Men, don’t store your phone in your pant pockets. Ladies, keep it out of your bra. 

Not far behind, were the Google Pixel 3 (1.33 w/kg), Huawei’s P Smart (1.27 w/kg) and the OnePlus 9 (1.26 w/kg).

If you’re concerned about your SAR risks, but don’t feel like the hassle of keeping your phone at a distance all the time, these are the phones known to emit the least radiation: the Samsung Galaxy Note10+ 5G (0.19 w/kg); Samsung’s Galaxy Note10 (0.21 w/kg); the Samsung Galaxy A80 (0.22 w/kg); LG G7 ThinQ (0.24 w/kg); and the Motorola Razr 5G (0.27 w/kg).

And given the warnings in the manuals, what about the iPhone? 

Well, it falls somewhere in the middle. That iPhone SE with that warning gives off a SAR or 0.98 w/kg. 

It’s comparable to other popular models: iPhone 11 (0.95 w/kg); iPhone 12 (0.98 w/kg); iPhone 13 (0.99 w/kg); and iPhone 14 (0.98 w/kg).

NATURE

HOW TO READ A TREE 

by Tristan Gooley (Sceptre £22, 312pp)

We all know that trees are a good thing — so good, in fact, that the Government has pledged to plant 30,000 hectares of them every year.

Trees provide a home for wildlife, cool our cities in summer and help reduce flooding when there’s heavy rain. They also remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it into oxygen.

But if you want a deeper understanding of the wonder of trees, then Tristan Gooley is the man for you. He is such a die-hard enthusiast that when he is feeling stressed by Christmas shopping, he goes to stand next to some trees, rather than finding somewhere for a nice cup of tea like the rest of us.

Usually photographed in an Indiana Jones-style hat, he calls himself a ‘natural navigator’ and his motto is: ‘Nature is always making a map for us. Everything outdoors is a clue and a sign.’

Trees, he says, offer all sorts of pointers if you know how to read them. Want to find your way out of a dense forest? Then use them as a navigational aid.

The clues are in their height: if you’re in the centre you’ll be surrounded by towering trees like oaks, which grow slowly and produce thick trunks and high canopies.

To move out of the forest, look for trees which are noticeably shorter.

These ‘pioneer’ trees such as birches, willows and alders will be found on the fringes of a forest where they act as a wind buffer. They are rapid growers but their slimmer trunks also limit their eventual height.

You can also use trees as a kind of compass. They grow towards the light so they produce more branches on their southern side. As a tree grows, it will shed many of these branches; and when a tree loses a branch, it uses resin or gum to form a seal at the junction with the trunk, creating something that looks rather like an eye.

When you see lots of ‘eyes’ on a tree trunk you have a marker showing you which way south is.

If you want to hear particularly good birdsong, head for holly, blackthorn or hawthorn that have spines; small birds make their home in these because they offer protection from larger predators.

Want to locate a river? Look out for a ribbon of pale, broadleaf trees like willows, alders and ashes, which typically grow by water.

Here’s an arboreal brain-teaser. You pass a tree and see that someone has carved their initials in the bark. If you return five years later, will those initials have grown out of reach?

Rather surprisingly, although the tree itself will have grown, the graffiti will still be at the same height. Once bark has appeared, that part of the tree will get fatter but not taller, so anything scratched in the bark will stay exactly where it was.

To estimate the age of a tree, look at its girth rather than height. As trees get older their height starts to lessen, but their trunk keeps getting fatter (rather like most of us).

As a rough guide, a healthy tree will add 2.5cm a year to its circumference, so a tree with a 2.5 metre girth is about a century old.

We tend to admire trees most when they are in full leaf, but Gooley writes that one of the most exciting times to examine a tree is early in the year.

Look closely at it then and you will see flashes of pinks, reds and browns in an apparently bare tree; these are the first signs that the buds are swelling. Buds are a marvel of nature — last year’s energy all packaged up in a bundle which is primed to go off in springtime and release all those fresh green leaves.

Gooley is the sort of man whose idea of a fun day out is tramping up and down hills looking at tree roots.

How To Read A Tree is so packed with information that it’s a book best dipped into rather than read in one go, but it will undoubtedly leave you with a deeper appreciation of trees.

Understanding them, Gooley writes, is to possess ‘extraordinary powers’. Your country walks will never be quite the same again.