Helena Horton Environment reporter
THE GUARDIAN
Mon, 29 July 2024
A large white butterfly. Many people have noticed the lack of fluttering insects in their gardens.Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine/Rex/Shutterstock
Butterfly numbers are the lowest on record in the UK after a wet spring and summer dampened their chances of mating.
Butterfly Conservation, which runs the Big Butterfly Count, sounded the alarm after this year’s count revealed the worst numbers since it began 14 years ago.
Many people have noticed the lack of fluttering insects in their gardens. Experts say this is due to the unusually wet conditions so far in 2024. Climate breakdown means the UK is more likely to face extremes in weather, and the natural rhythms of the seasons that insects such as butterflies are used to can no longer be relied on.
The UK had its wettest spring since 1986 and the sixth wettest on record, as an average 301.7mm (11.87in) of rain fell across March, April and May, nearly a third (32%) more than usual for the season. The Met Office has said recent decades have been warmer, wetter and sunnier than those of the 20th century.
Dr Dan Hoare, the director of conservation at Butterfly Conservation, said: “Butterflies need some warm and dry conditions to be able to fly around and mate. If the weather doesn’t allow for this there will be fewer opportunities to breed, and the lack of butterflies now is likely the knock-on effect of our very dreary spring and early summer.”
The extra rain is not the only problem; the charity said 80% of butterfly species in the UK had declined since the 1970s, with habitat loss, climate breakdown and pesticide use being the main causes. Butterfly populations already hit by these issues would be less likely to be able to cope with extreme weather.
“The lack of butterflies this year is a warning sign to us all,” said Hoare. “Nature is sounding the alarm and we must listen. Butterflies are a key indicator species. When they are in trouble we know the wider environment is in trouble too.”
Butterfly Conservation said there was still a chance of some butterflies emerging late if the weather got drier and sunnier.
There is one week left of the 2024 Big Butterfly Count, which asks people to go outside for 15 minutes and record the number and type of butterflies they see – and to submit their results even if they see very few or no butterflies.
Record low butterfly numbers so far in annual count as wet weather hits breeding
Mon, 29 July 2024
A large white butterfly. Many people have noticed the lack of fluttering insects in their gardens.Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine/Rex/Shutterstock
Butterfly numbers are the lowest on record in the UK after a wet spring and summer dampened their chances of mating.
Butterfly Conservation, which runs the Big Butterfly Count, sounded the alarm after this year’s count revealed the worst numbers since it began 14 years ago.
Many people have noticed the lack of fluttering insects in their gardens. Experts say this is due to the unusually wet conditions so far in 2024. Climate breakdown means the UK is more likely to face extremes in weather, and the natural rhythms of the seasons that insects such as butterflies are used to can no longer be relied on.
The UK had its wettest spring since 1986 and the sixth wettest on record, as an average 301.7mm (11.87in) of rain fell across March, April and May, nearly a third (32%) more than usual for the season. The Met Office has said recent decades have been warmer, wetter and sunnier than those of the 20th century.
Dr Dan Hoare, the director of conservation at Butterfly Conservation, said: “Butterflies need some warm and dry conditions to be able to fly around and mate. If the weather doesn’t allow for this there will be fewer opportunities to breed, and the lack of butterflies now is likely the knock-on effect of our very dreary spring and early summer.”
The extra rain is not the only problem; the charity said 80% of butterfly species in the UK had declined since the 1970s, with habitat loss, climate breakdown and pesticide use being the main causes. Butterfly populations already hit by these issues would be less likely to be able to cope with extreme weather.
“The lack of butterflies this year is a warning sign to us all,” said Hoare. “Nature is sounding the alarm and we must listen. Butterflies are a key indicator species. When they are in trouble we know the wider environment is in trouble too.”
Butterfly Conservation said there was still a chance of some butterflies emerging late if the weather got drier and sunnier.
There is one week left of the 2024 Big Butterfly Count, which asks people to go outside for 15 minutes and record the number and type of butterflies they see – and to submit their results even if they see very few or no butterflies.
Record low butterfly numbers so far in annual count as wet weather hits breeding
Emily Beament,
PA Environment Correspondent
Mon, 29 July 2024
Mon, 29 July 2024
Record low numbers of butterflies have been spotted so far in an annual citizen science survey, as a charity warns the weather this year may have affected the insects.
People taking part in Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count are seeing just over half the number of butterflies they were spotting this time last year, the charity said.
As the count enters its final week, members of the public are being urged to get outside for 15 minutes and record the number and type of butterflies they see – and to enter their results even if they see very few or none – to help experts understand more about how the insects are faring.
Experts say the unusually wet and windy spring, coupled with colder than usual temperatures so far this summer could be contributing to the absence of butterflies.
While they say there could be a late emergence of the insects if there is a prolonged sunny spell, numbers are currently the lowest recorded in the 14 years of the Big Butterfly Count.
And it is not just the weather this year that is a problem, with 80% of butterfly species declining in the UK since the 1970s, mainly due to habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change.
Because populations are already depleted, they are less resilient to bad weather, Butterfly Conservation warns.
Peacock butterflies are usually seen throughout Europe (Andrew Cooper/Butterfly Conservation/PA)
Dr Dan Hoare, director of Conservation at Butterfly Conservation, said: “Butterflies need some warm and dry conditions to be able to fly around and mate.
“If the weather doesn’t allow for this there will be fewer opportunities to breed, and the lack of butterflies now is likely the knock-on effect of our very dreary spring and early summer.”
And he said: “The lack of butterflies this year is a warning sign to us all. Nature is sounding the alarm and we must listen.
“Butterflies are a key indicator species. When they are in trouble we know the wider environment is in trouble too.”
He urged people to record what they were or were not seeing in the way of butterflies as part of the annual count to give experts the evidence to take “vital action” to conserve species.
The Big Butterfly Count ends on Sunday August 4. For more information and to take part people can download the free Big Butterfly Count app or visit www.bigbutterflycount.org
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