Flamingos living in a British wildfowl reserve have laid eggs for the first time in 15 years after the heatwave mimicked conditions they would normally experience in the wild.

The rare flock of Andean flamingos at WWT Slimbridge in Gloucester last produced eggs in 2003, when conditions were similarly stifling.

This year’s record-breaking temperatures sparked six of the birds to lay nine eggs, but as they were all infertile, the expectant mums were left without chicks to rear.

So to stop the flamingos feeling glum about their empty nests, experts at the reserve swapped them for Chilean flamingos to hatch and look after as their own.