The summer of 2014 has been downright odd. Compared to recent years there have been no floods, no droughts, no hosepipe bans, no unseasonable cold snaps and no unexpected mini tornadoes scattering roof tiles across the Midlands.

In fact, for the first time in around seven years, the UK has experienced a ‘normal’ summer – with mild temperatures livened up by the occasional thunderstorm and downpour.

And these gentle conditions have enabled our beleaguered bugs and insects, battered by season after season of weird weather, to mount something of a recovery.

Hoverflies, butterflies, beetles, bees, mosquitoes, midges and horseflies – to name just a tiny selection – have been more and more noticeable as favourable conditions have enabled them to emerge, feed and breed successfully.

Entomologist Steven Falk, from wildlife charity Buglife, says: “Wasp numbers are down in many parts of the UK because the cold springs of 2012 and 2013 probably resulted in high mortality of queens. But numbers of bumblebees, butterflies, moths and hoverflies seem OK, although nowhere like the numbers one might have observed several decades ago.”

The warm southerly and easterly winds are bringing some insect surprises with them.

The Scarce Tortoiseshell butterfly, otherwise known as the Yellow-legged Tortoiseshell, has appeared in southeast counties for the first time since 1953.

Falk said: “There appears to be a bit of immigration this year – Scarce Swallowtails, creating much excitement and a possible influx of the Marmalade Hoverfly which is suddenly abundant. Strange wind directions related to the recent high pressures can carry a lot of continental insects into Britain and thunderstorms can act like hoovers, sucking up insects high into the atmosphere before dumping them hundreds of miles away like Saharan sand.”

The UK’s insects and bugs have suffered huge population reductions over recent decades as a result of climate change and habitat loss, so this year’s ‘normal’ summer is vitally important in helping them to mount a recovery.