www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

It was small and a very vibrant pink, and the very tips of its wings were purple. I looked online, and I'm even more intrigued to find what it is because on a few sites I have read that pink butterflies aren't native to the UK! Unfortunately I don't have a picture as I spotted this in my garden whilst I was bringing the washing in.

Hi Lauren,
There are a few day-flying moths on the wing at the moment and they often confuse people. I would imagine your little butterfly could have been a Cinnabar moth (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnabar_moth ). They actually appear much more pink in real life than those photos suggest. Does that look like what you saw I wonder?

Trev

One possibility is the day-flying moth Pyrausta aurata, also known as the 'Mint Moth', or the similar P.purpuralis. These are very small and can look bright pink in sunshine. There's a photo at the bottom of this page on my website: http://home.btconnect.com/mike.flemming/butterfl.htm or try Google Images.

Mike