Wildlife enthusiasts have been given yet another reason to fire up their tow car and take the caravan out over the coming months, as the National Trust claims that this will be the best summer in more than 30 years for spotting butterflies.
June is halfway through the butterfly season, the wildlife organisation says, and these beautiful insects have seen their numbers increase strongly in the UK.
The warm spring period has resulted in the earliest sighting of a White Admiral on Bookham Common in Surrey for nearly 120 years.
Matthew Oates, wildlife adviser and butterfly expert at the National Trust, said: “The populations of spring butterflies are as good as they can be. It’s all gearing up to what could be the best butterfly summer for a generation.”
This blockbuster butterfly summer is expected to culminate in August, when around 40 species should be in flight across the UK.
To co-incide with this, the National Trust will be running its first annual Love Butterflies weekend from August 6th to 7th.
