Merge pull request #5858 from trexfeathers/v3.8.1.mergeback

`v3.8.1` merge-back

docs/src/whatsnew/3.8.rst

@@ -42,6 +42,22 @@ This document explains the changes made to Iris for this release
    any issues or feature requests for improving Iris. Enjoy!
 
 
+v3.8.1 (04 Mar 2024)
+====================
+
+.. dropdown:: v3.8.1 Patches
+   :color: primary
+   :icon: alert
+   :animate: fade-in
+   :open:
+
+   The patches in this release of Iris include:
+
+   #. `@stephenworsley`_ fixed a potential memory leak for Iris uses of
+      :func:`dask.array.map_blocks`; known specifically to be a problem in the
+      :class:`iris.analysis.AreaWeighted` regridder. (:pull:`5767`)
+
+
 📢 Announcements
 ================