You may be reaching for fans, sipping iced coffee in a cold shower, and keeping the curtains drawn, but butterflies are revelling in recent heatwave conditions.
The conservators of Chislehurst and St Paul's Cray Commons have reported a healthy increase in butterfly sightings there during sweltering temperatures.
The commons have always been home to butterflies, with 26 of Britain's measly 59 regular species recorded there.
But right now the variety has exploded with purple hairstreak, small copper, and large skipper among the colourful residents on show.
The eye-catching photographs of this trio featured here represent a real summer treat.
The large skipper favours coarse grass fields, while the small copper is often to be found on grass banks and roadside verges.
Purple hairstreak is among my favourite butterflies.
They are the most common British hairstreak, but it is easy to walk beneath an oak tree without realising a whole colony rests in the branches just above your head.
When the wings are closed, the butterfly melts into shade, but in direct sunlight, glorious purple upper-wings are revealed.
Purple hairstreaks will be on the wing until maybe mid-September, so it is worth visiting the commons to see them.
Of course, they are not there by accident.
Careful husbandry of the commons by conservators, staff, and volunteers has helped create ideal conditions.
Work clearing ditches and footpaths almost never stops, as well as other measures to make the commons a green magnet for insects, birds, small mammals, and human beings.
Go visit!
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