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Peacock Butterfly. John Murray/Butterfly Conservation
What did the Big Butterfly Count 2026 reveal?
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This summer, we partnered with Butterfly Conservation for the Big Butterfly Count 2026. An incredible 101,565 people took part, recording almost 1.4 million butterflies and day-flying moths across the UK.
The results made 2026 the second-best year in the Count’s 16-year history, with many widespread butterflies benefiting from the hot, sunny weather. However, Butterfly Conservation has warned that the summer’s drought could spell trouble for the next generation.
The butterflies you spotted most
The Small White topped the national table, with 281,634 recorded. It was followed by the Gatekeeper, Large White, Red Admiral and Meadow Brown.
There was particularly good news for the Holly Blue and Gatekeeper, which both achieved their best-ever Big Butterfly Count results. The Small Copper had its third-best year, while the Painted Lady rose by 335%compared with 2025, making this its second-best year since the Count began.
Painted Ladies undertake one of the natural world’s most remarkable migrations. Successive generations travel from Africa, across the Sahara Desert and Mediterranean Sea, before reaching the UK.
But not every species fared so well. The Small Tortoiseshell recorded its second-worst result and has declined by 66 per cent since the Count began. Speckled Wood, Green-veined White and Ringlet butterflies were also seen in below-average numbers.
Why a good summer may hide a bigger problem
Butterflies thrive in warm, sunny weather, which helps them fly, feed and breed. But the same hot, dry conditions can be much harder on their caterpillars.
During the drought, many of the plants caterpillars depend on withered or died before they had finished feeding. This means the full effect of the extreme weather may not become clear until 2027, when this year’s caterpillars should emerge as adult butterflies.
With 80 per cent of the UK’s butterfly species having declined since the 1970s, many populations are already vulnerable. Making our gardens and outdoor spaces more resilient to drought could give butterflies, moths and their caterpillars a much-needed helping hand.
How to plant up for butterflies
Choose a selection of plants for butterflies that flower in different seasons and provide nectar all year round. Flat, daisy-like blooms as well as plants with long, tubular flowers are ideal for butterflies, so make sure you grow plenty of these. Plants in the borage family such as echiums, borage, comfrey and lungwort replenish their nectar quickly, so are also excellent choices.
Catering for the larval stage is vital too; that way butterflies have food throughout their lifecycle.
Make your plot butterfly-friendly
Butterflies will visit any garden, however small, if they can feed on nectar-rich plants. Choose sunny, sheltered spots for planting as butterflies like warmth, and grow open, single flowers from early spring to late autumn to provide nectar throughout the year.
A shallow dish of water or damp mud in your garden gives butterflies somewhere to drink – an important resource. Click on the link to find out more about how to make your garden butterfly-friendly.
Three ways to help butterflies during dry weather
Plant more trees and shrubs
Trees and shrubs provide shade, shelter and food, and their deeper roots can help them cope with dry conditions once established.
Holly and ivy support Holly Blue caterpillars, while ivy flowers provide late-season nectar for Red Admirals, Commas, bees, moths and hoverflies. Buckthorn is a food plant for Brimstone caterpillars, while oaks, hawthorns, birches, apples and willows support the caterpillars of many native moths.
Install a water butt
Collecting rainwater during autumn and winter gives you a reserve for key plants when summer rainfall is scarce or hosepipe restrictions are in place.
Prioritise watering newly planted trees and shrubs, nectar-rich flowers and the plants caterpillars feed on. Keeping these plants healthy during prolonged dry spells can make a real difference.
Let part of your lawn grow
Longer grass develops deeper roots and stays green for longer than a closely mown lawn. It also creates cooler, damper shelter and provides food for the caterpillars of species including the Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper.
Research by Butterfly Conservation found that gardens with a patch of long grass saw up to 93 per cent more butterflies, as well as a wider variety of species. It’s a simple, free change that can have a big impact.
How to identify butterflies in your garden
Species of butterfly that regularly visit UK gardens include the brimstone, peacock, holly blue and red admiral, but you may well see more species than this in some places. Peacock and red admiral butterflies are easy to see with their bright markings, whereas smaller species like holly blue can be harder to spot and identify. Visit our garden wildlife identifier on butterflies for more information on which species to look out for.
The best late-summer flowers for butterflies
To avoid a gap in nectar production after mid-summer, add some late summer flowers for butterflies to your borders. Many UK butterflies are on the wing from midsummer to autumn, but some species can still be out and about as late as October. So, it's important to provide nectar in autumn with late-flowering plants like single-flowered dahlias, rudbeckias, asters and sedums. Also, keep deadheading your plants, to promote flowering for as long as possible.
Late summer flowers for butterflies
Brimstone butterfly. Ian Leach / Butterfly Conservation
How to spot butterflies
You can see butterflies in any green space, although different species enjoy different habitats, so venture out of your garden if you can to local playgrounds, parks, churchyards and cemeteries to see what you can spot. The following tips might help increase your chances of seeing a wide range of species:
- Take a pair of binoculars with you when butterfly-spotting
- Keep in mind that although spotting is easiest on still, sunny days, butterflies can be very active and won’t settle for long, which can make identification tricky
- Use mornings and evenings for spotting roosting butterflies. Butterflies are most active around midday
- Station yourself near nectar-rich plants or by grassland they love
- Try to keep calm. Butterflies are easily startled by sudden, jerky movements, so if you spook one, just stand quietly until it settles down
- Position yourself carefully as casting a shadow over a settled butterfly may frighten it off
- Start with the easy-to spot ones if you’re new to butterflies
- Relax and don’t give up your search too soon!
Butterfly Conservation's guide to spotting butterflies
Download Butterfly Conservation's species identification guide
The Big Butterfly Count will return
The Big Butterfly Count will return from Friday 9 July to Sunday 1 August 2027. The sightings submitted by citizen scientists across the UK will help Butterfly Conservation understand the true impact of 2026’s extreme weather.
Until then, the changes you make in your garden can provide vital food and shelter for butterflies, moths and their caterpillars throughout the year.