Half of UK butterfly species show numbers up on last year

Experts feared butterfly numbers would plummet in wet summer weather but nationwide count shows some improvements on 2014

Butterflies did better than feared in the wet and miserable weather across much of the UK in July and August, experts have said.

More than half of the 20 species recorded by the public in the Big Butterfly Count showed better numbers than they did last year, although people braving the soggy conditions saw fewer butterflies on average than in 2014, charity Butterfly Conservation said.