Excessive heat and drying wetlands across the continent are pushing them northward, an expert says.

A flock of rare black-crowned night herons have migrated to a North Yorkshire nature reserve after the recent heatwaves pushed them away from mainland Europe.

Bolton-on-Swale Nature Reserve is currently hosting one of the UK’s largest flocks of the birds, with one also spotted at North Cave Wetlands Nature Reserve near Hull for a third consecutive year.

Jonathan Leadley from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust said they were finding “more and more of these birds pushing north looking for suitable places to live”.