Penguins in a British sanctuary are so fed up with the miserable winter weather they are being given antidepressants.

Wild Humboldt penguins are used to withstanding inhospitable weather in the coastal areas of South America, but those living in captivity in Scarborough are struggling with the constant wind and rain lashing the country.

Staff at the Sea Life Centre there have become so concerned they have started to administer the medication as a pick-me-up.

The centre's display curator Lyndsey Crawford told the Guzelian news agency: "Humboldts in the wild on the coast of Peru and Chile can be subjected to some pretty wild extremes of weather. What they don't get though is weeks of almost daily downpours and high winds.

"After the first week out birds were just a bit subdued, but after over a month now, they are thoroughly fed-up and miserable, much like the rest of us."

Three years ago the animals became similarly stressed and anxious when they were chased by a trespasser who broke into their enclosure. The experience left the animals, which are particularly vulnerable to any change in routine, frightened and it took some time for them to produce eggs again.

According to staff, misery can lower the penguins' natural defences even more easily than in humans. That has lead them to prescribe "uppers" to try and head off any more serious symptoms.

"They're doing the trick so far, but we are all praying for the weather to change and at least a few successive days of sunshine to give the penguins the tonic they really need," said Crawford.