Britain set for butterfly boom after hot weather

Britain could be on the brink of a "bumper summer of butterflies", an expert has said.

Prof Richard Fox, head of science at the UK charity Butterfly Conversation, in Newton Abbot, Devon, said: "We've had this incredibly warm, dry spring and this ongoing hot weather so that really puts them in a good place to put on a fantastic, colourful show in our gardens and countryside this summer."

Fox said he hoped thousands of people would get involved in the Big Butterfly Count to record the number of butterflies seen in 15 minutes.

"You might just see a handful of butterflies in that time in your garden. "If you come into a big flower-rich place, then you might see dozens or even hundreds."

He said the summer of 2024 was a "bad year" for butterflies.

"Many of them did better last year, not amazing, but their numbers bounced back.

"They are cold-blooded creatures and rely on the warm from the sun.

"On these hot, dry days, they can get on with their lives, particularly finding a mate and the females laying eggs to create the new generation of butterflies later in the year."

"We're hoping to see a big uplift."

Although the hot and dry weather was good for butterflies to lay their eggs, he said he was concerned about what the caterpillars, the next generation of the creatures, would eat with the lack of rain because the grass was dying and plants wilting.

"We don't know yet what the summer holds for our butterflies, that's why we need people to go out and take part in the count."

"What we do know is some of the species that people will see like the Holly Blue and Red Admiral, they had a really good spring, so that bodes well for a bumper summer."

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