1. Watch H is for Hawk
Anyone who’s read Helen Macdonald’s remarkable memoir H is for Hawk – about grief, nature and training a goshawk – will be aware of its powerful impact. The book has now been turned into a film starring Claire Foy, and it’s already picking up festival accolades. Much of the filming took place in Cambridge and Wales. It was released in the UK on 23 January.
2. Witness Wuthering Heights reimagined
Few tales evoke the wilds of the British outdoors more vividly than Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights.
The tortured lovers and windswept moorlands of the novel have now been reinterpreted for the big screen, with Barbie star Margot Robbie and Saltburn’s Jacob Elordi in the leading roles, with music by Charli XCX. Yorkshire Dales locations feature heavily.
The film is already dividing opinion but is set for a Valentine’s Day release – and if the trailers are anything to go by, it’s likely to be racy.
3. Reflect on the Sea Empress disaster
The 15th of February 2026 marks 30 years since the Sea Empress oil spill, when 72,000 tonnes of crude oil flowed into the sea from a grounded Texaco tanker at Milford Haven in Wales.
In an episode of Countryfile set to be screened in February, the television team returns to the scene of the natural disaster to discover the community’s recollections of the event, the clean-up operation, and the lasting impacts on the precious ecosystem of Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.
4. Be amazed by Calanais
Neolithic sites can boggle the mind. The magnificent Calanais Standing Stones are a case in point, having stood tall on the Isle of Lewis for some 5,000 years.
Older than Stonehenge, they tower to a height of 5m. The visitor centre, closed for redevelopment, will reopen in spring.
5. Walk the Isles of Scilly
Exploring the Isles of Scilly by any means is a joy, but seeing them on foot is definitely in keeping with the archipelago’s unhurried pace.
The 20th edition of local festival Walk Scilly, from 10–19 April, gives you a chance to savour the islands’ springtime flora and fauna through expert-led walks and other outdoor experiences. For a host of water-based adventures, set sail for the Ocean Scilly Festival, 22–30 August.
6. Join in at Wander Wild
If you’re keen to experience Ireland’s outdoors with all five of your senses, the Wander Wild Festival could be for you. Blending sunrise swims, mountain hikes, lakeside saunas, kayaking, local food vendors and much more, it takes place from 17–19 April in Killarney, County Kerry.
7. Hike the English coast
Work has been underway on the King Charles III Coastal Path since 2010, but it’s now nearing completion. This year should see the formal unveiling of this mammoth 2,674-mile route around the entire English coastline.
8. Read The Book of Birds
Writer Robert Macfarlane and illustrator Jackie Morris have long created beautiful books together. The Lost Words delved into the fading vocabulary of the natural world, while The Lost Spells interwove poems and art. They return with The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder & Loss, out on 7 May.
9. Celebrate Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday
Sir David Attenborough will turn 100 on 8 May 2026 – and his phenomenal legacy still continues to grow. After narrating the spectacular Kingdom series in late 2025, next up is Wild London, an urban wildlife film focused on his home city.
Also in the pipeline for the year ahead is Blue Planet III, and while it remains to be seen what involvement Sir David will have, the series will undoubtedly be must-watch TV.
- David Attenborough’s new BBC film showcases the wildlife found in the ‘greenest city in the world’
- An English estate the size of Athens is up for sale – and David Attenborough is supporting a pioneering proposal to save it
10. Experience Monumental Nature
Henry Moore’s fluid, abstract sculptures have a way of sitting seamlessly in the landscape, and the summer of 2026 sees the largest-ever outdoor installation of the artist’s iconic works.
The once-in-a-generation Monumental Nature exhibition will take place across two sites concurrently: London’s Kew Gardens (9 May – 27 September) and the wild botanic gardens of Wakehurst in the heart of West Sussex (5 June – 27 September), which is also home to the world’s largest seed conservation project, the Millennium Seed Bank.
11. Take part in the Festival of Nature
Organised by the Natural History Consortium, the Festival of Nature is the country’s largest free celebration of the natural world.
It returns in 2026 from 6–14 June, with events taking place in Bath and Bristol as well as online.
Expect screenings, walks, talks and plenty of opportunities for both young and old to engage with the great outdoors.
12. Make a splash at Paddle UK
Stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) has burgeoned in popularity over recent years as a sport for all ages and abilities. Gentle paddle? High-octane race? Your choice.
The Paddle UK SUPER Festival is scheduled for 24–28 June on the English Riviera in Devon, with the aim of encouraging more people onto the water – alongside the small matter of hosting the SUP World Cup, the international event’s first time in the UK.
13. Take a trip to the Horniman Museum
The capital abounds with notable museums, and the Horniman Museum & Gardens in Forest Hill, south London, is very much among them.
Anthropology and the natural world are its key areas of focus. It’s been 125 years since it opened in 1901, and the attraction is marking the occasion by – among other things – launching new trails and family play areas in its 6.5-hectare gardens this summer. Its natural history gallery, currently being refurbished, will reopen in 2027.
14. Party on at WOMAD
Dancing shoes at the ready – there’s a new home for the long-running world music festival WOMAD, co-founded by Peter Gabriel in 1982. After a year off in 2025, it will burst back to life in the grounds of Neston Park in North Wiltshire from 23–26 July.
15. Tune in to Fleadh
The world’s biggest celebration of Irish music and culture – shorthand for a party for the ages – comes to Belfast in 2026. Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann will take place from 2–9 August, with around 700,000 visitors expected across the week.
Thankfully there’ll be more than enough entertainment to go round, with a full roster of marching bands, recitals, street performances, concerts, pageants and pub sessions.
16. Experience Eisteddfod
Billed as the largest touring festival in Europe, the National Eisteddfod of Wales marks its 850th anniversary on 1–8 August, taking place mainly in Pembrokeshire.
Poetry, literature and music all play a starring role, with the festival regularly drawing up to 170,000 people.
17. Witness a solar eclipse
Put your eyes (with certified solar-filtered glasses) to the skies this summer. A solar eclipse will take place on 12 August, when upwards of 90% of the Sun will be obscured from our UK vantage point (Greenland, Iceland and some northern areas of Spain and Portugal will see a total eclipse).
18. View the Bayeux Tapestry
It’s 960 years since the Battle of Hastings, but the conflict will have special resonance this autumn when the Bayeux Tapestry, which retells the battle’s drama across 70m of medieval embroidery, arrives at the British Museum in September.
19. Enjoy Winnie-the-Pooh’s centenary
“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” So run the thoughts of the nation’s favourite bear-cum-philosopher Winnie-the-Pooh, who perhaps reluctantly is set for a busy 2026.
It’s now a full 100 years since the publication of AA Milne’s first Pooh book, and the centenary is being marked by a “legacy programme” of related events in East Sussex’s Ashdown Forest.
What’s more, a new authorised sequel – A Little Boy and his Bear by Jane Riordan – is set to be published this October.
20. Be part of Samhain
The final nights of October weren’t always about pumpkins and bags of sweets. The roots of Halloween lie in Ireland, where the ancient Gaelic festival of Samhain marks the shifting of the seasons: a time when the boundary between our world and the spirit world is at its thinnest.
Samhain dates to the 9th century but is now celebrated in raucous fashion in Derry and over the border in Trim and Athboy, County Meath.
21. Attend the KMF
First taking place in 1980 and now a fixture in the outdoor calendar, Kendal Mountain Festival (19–22 November) is a four-day gathering that pulls thousands of adventure-seekers to the Lake District.
Film screenings and expert talks are a big part of the draw, but there’s a full programme of activities too, from trail runs and cold-water swims to wild drawing workshops and yoga sessions. It’s one of the largest events of its kind in the world. There’s also a UK tour from Feb–May.
22. Stargaze in Galloway
There’s a phoenix rising out of the ashes in Galloway Forest Park. When the Scottish Dark Sky Observatory was destroyed by fire in 2021, it was a devastating blow for the stargazing HQ of Scotland’s first and only gold-tier Dark Sky Park.
Now, five years later, the observatory is returning to the banks of Clatteringshaws Loch, complete with two observation domes and a 360° planetarium. Its reopening is scheduled for late 2026.
23. Visit the National Slate Museum
There was a time when the slate quarries of Wales were responsible for around a third of the global production of roof tiles and architectural slabs.
The National Slate Museum – which itself occupies a disused quarry in Gwynedd – tells the tale of this remarkable era, bringing to life its influence on local landscapes and communities.
It closed in November 2024 for a £21m redevelopment and is due to reopen in 2026 in finer shape than ever.
24. Celebrate the RSA
Art and architecture champion, the Royal Scottish Academy celebrates its bicentenary in 2026. To celebrate, more than 70 cultural institutions around the country – from Stirling to Shetland – will put on talks, performances, exhibitions and events.
25. Head to Portmeirion
The brainchild of eccentric architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, Portmeirion’s cluster of unique Italianate buildings and baroque styling gives it an almost dreamlike presence on the hilly shores of the River Dwyryd in North Wales.
The village and its hotel welcomed its first visitors in Easter 1926, so 2026 is as fine a time as any to visit somewhere that found further fame as the setting of cult 1960s TV drama The Prisoner.
26. Spot pine martens
Following the success of a similar project in Dartmoor, September saw the release of 19 pine martens in several secret Exmoor locations, reintroducing a key member of the area’s woodland ecosystem after an absence of more than a century.
