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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Patrick Barkham

Last summer was second worst for common UK butterflies since 1976

A butterafly with dark-veined greeny-white wings on a blue flow
The green-veined white is one of the nine species that suffered the worst year on record in 2024. Photograph: Iain H Leach/UKBMS

Last summer was the fifth worst in nearly half a century for butterflies in Britain, according to the biggest scientific survey of insect populations in the world.

For the first time since scientific recording began in 1976, more than half of Britain’s 59 native species are in long-term decline.

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