Out in the rain....

Last night the weather was really foul, and this morning everywhere was flooded yet again! Some of the teachers were late in as roads were closed, and the traffic jams huge as cars struggled through the massive puddles. On top of this we had a power cut in one of the 3 phases serving the school...oh joy!
I had a training course from 11- 4.30, so getting a blip was going to be a bit of a challenge, then I remembered one of my colleagues had brought in this lovely Large yellow underwing (Noctua pronuba) caterpillar she had found on her way in this morning sitting on the path. He was very cold, and looked half drowned, so I put him in a pot with some leaves and warmed him up.
This evening he looks a little better, though I am not sure he will make it.
The Large yellow underwing is a common British moth, with a wingspan of 50 - 60 mm. The forewings are quite variable, from light brown to almost black, but the hind wings are always bright orange yellow, with a black sub-terminal band. This combination of appearing drab when resting, with a bright flash when disturbed is primarily to confuse potential predators.
The larvea come in two forms, brown or green as in this one and is a notorious garden pest.