“When we have cold, wet summers we expect butterfly populations to plummet, but that wasn’t the case this year. Perhaps the very mild winter had a negative effect, or the cold spring, or perhaps the impacts of intensive farming and pesticides are really hitting these common species now.”

Bucking the trend, numbers of the red admiral were up 70 per cent compared with 2015. The green-veined white also had a good year, and was seen 58 per cent more than last year. The large white topped the count for the first time, but only because other species fared so badly.

More than 36,000 people took part in this year’s count, spotting around 390,000 butterflies during the three-week recording period in midsummer.

For the full results and to participate in the next count, visit bigbutterflycount.org.