Skomer Island not seeing decline in puffins despite trends

Pembrokeshire's Skomer Island has not seen the same decline in puffin numbers as elsewhere in the UK and northern Europe, a wildlife charity has said.

The Wildlife Trust said despite puffins being at risk of extinction in the UK, Skomer was still the best place to see them in southern Britain.

It added this was due to monitoring of numbers and breeding success.

Its puffin monitoring this year counted more than 21,000 on Skomer - up 3,000 from last year.

"The only impact we have seen locally that may be attributable to climate change is the effect of heavy storm events causing increased mortality, events such as these may be increasing in frequency," a spokesman said.