Is it OK to release butterflies in cloudy weather?

[BlizzardNole]

Happy Labor Day folks! I had five monarchs eclose yesterday, and 21 more coming today -- I've been watching them come out one after another this morning. I will have about 100 hatch over the next few days.

We have been enveloped in a marine weather pattern where the flow will be from the east giving us cloudy, cool weather until at least Thursday. It won't rain all that much, maybe a patch here and there, but it will look and feel like England.

Is it OK to release these guys (I like to keep them 24 hours...), or do I need to break out the nectar and keep them until it's sunny again? They do have butterflies in England and Scotland, right?

THANKS!

[Wyvern]

releasing in cloudy weather is fine. Most will just hang out or go up into a tree until the weather clears. I had about 50 that more or less hung out in the garden and then went up into the trees shortly before it started drizzling. Only a couple "braved" the rain out in the open.

[BlizzardNole]

Thanks! I did get a few breaks in the clouds earlier so I let 'em go. I have 23 to let go tomorrow. Sadly one of them (a chrysalis that fell and was flattened on one side) is malformed and will have to stay as a pet.