People across the UK are being urged to take part in an annual butterfly count after nature experts declared an "emergency" last year due to record low numbers.
The Big Butterfly Count, organised by wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation, gets members of the public to spend 15 minutes recording the butterflies they see in their garden, park or countryside.
This year, the charity is urging people to take part in what it describes as a "nationwide rescue mission" for the UK's ailing butterfly species.
The data helps scientists understand where butterflies are thriving, struggling or moving due to habitat loss or restoration.
Last year saw the lowest numbers spotted in the count's 14-year history, with a record number of counts logged as seeing no butterflies at all.
Familiar species such as small whites, common blues and small tortoiseshells had their worst summer ever.
While 2024's lows were in part down to the wet spring and cool summer, and this year's warm sunny conditions are much better for butterflies, conservationists warn they come on top of long-term declines in the UK.
More than 80 per cent of butterfly species have declined since the 1970s, with experts warning they have been hit by damage to their habitats, climate change and the use of pesticides.
They say that taking part in the Big Butterfly Count can be a small action that contributes to the larger effort to save butterfly species and the natural systems they support.
Dr Richard Fox, head of science at Butterfly Conservation, told the PA news agency: "Butterfly numbers fluctuate from year to year in response to the weather, and the warm, sunny conditions over recent weeks have been much better for butterflies than the wetter, cool conditions last year, which resulted in one of the worst years for UK butterflies on record."
He added: "How much butterflies have bounced back will only become clear if people get out, in their thousands, to take part in the Big Butterfly Count."
Fox also warned that while "it's lovely" to see more butterflies around, one better summer would only go a little way to reversing the long-term declines.
(PA) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
