Scientists have discovered a brand new flower in Shetland.

It is a beauty.
A delicate golden bell of a flower, its throat flecked with tiny, blood-red spots - colours echoing the Lion Rampant.
It is a discreet beauty, though. Each flower is only slightly larger than a 50p piece.
Discreet and unique, because this is a new flower of Scotland. Or, more precisely, Shetland.
The flower was discovered by a team from Stirling's department of biological and environmental sciences led by post-doctoral researcher Dr Violeta Simon-Porcar, working with associate professor Dr Mario Vallejo-Marin at Stirling and Dr James Higgins at Leicester University.
It is being referred to as "Shetland's monkeyflower", because it is larger and its flowers are more open than previous monkeyflowers.
Its ancestor was a non-native species introduced to the British Isles just a couple of centuries ago, probably from Alaska.
It was the period in which - not content with possessing large chunks of the globe - Britain tried to bring home much of its flora and fauna.
The results were mixed but the yellow monkeyflower - mimulus guttatus - literally took root and spread rapidly.
Then on Shetland something unusual happened. Mimulus guttatus doubled the number of its chromosomes.
It is a process known as genome duplication or polyploidy.
There lies the reason why the Shetland Monkeyflower has a bigger flower with a wider throat than its ancestors.
A disarmingly simple reason, really: if you have twice as many chromosomes you need bigger cells in which to keep them.
Genome duplication is a common phenomenon in the history of flowering plants.
Many crops - like potatoes, tobacco and coffee - are polyploids.
But that duplication typically takes place far back in evolutionary history.  For mimulus guttatus it happened in what is, on the evolutionary timescale, the blink of an eye: well under 200 years ago.
Dr Vallejo-Marin, who specialises in the evolution of plants, says: "Evolution is often thought to be a slow process taking thousands or millions of years.
"Yet we show that a major evolutionary step can occur in less than a couple of hundred years."
The new plant was discovered by chance during fieldwork near Quarff, south of Lerwick.
The team measured the size of the plant's genome and surveyed 30 populations of monkeyflowers from Shetland and elsewhere in the United Kingdom.
The plants were then grown under controlled conditions and their characteristics were measured to compare the effect of their duplicated genome.
The researchers carried out genetic analyses to investigate the relationship between the new plant and other similar populations in Shetland.
Genome duplication seems to be particularly common in hybrids between different species.  But the new plant has doubled its genome without hybridisation - it has the same species as both its father and mother.
The team says a new polyploid plant like this represents an opportunity to investigate the early stages of an important evolutionary process.
Dr Vallejo-Marin says: "Human activities are transporting all sorts of animal and plant species well beyond their native habitats.
"This raises the possibility that non-native species may increasingly participate in major biological processes, including the formation of new types of plants and animals."


Appointing "cheeky little Yorkshireman" Joe Root England captain too soon could make him "half the player", according to former team-mate Graeme Swann.

Root, 24, hit an unbeaten 118 on day three of the second Test against West Indies in Grenada and is tipped as a future skipper of the national side.
But Swann said: "If they do it too soon, it will take that little edge away.
"If he tries to be too serious, he will be half the player."
Former England captain Michael Vaughan is also a big fan of Root, who has scored 1,874 Test runs at an average of 52.5, with a highest score of 200 not out.
"He is just becoming the energiser," said Vaughan.
"Whenever he gets to the crease, whatever the position, he seems to arrive with an energy that gets the batsman at the other end going.
"It was a brilliant innings and put England in a real strong position."
The tourists finished the third day on 373-6, 74 runs ahead of the home side's first-innings total.
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Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has said Russia must confirm its air strikes in Syria were aimed at Islamic State or al-Qaeda affiliates.

It was very important that Russia should show the attacks were not on moderate opponents of President Assad, he told the UN Security Council.
Russian defence officials say their aircraft targeted IS.
But an unnamed US official told Reuters that so far they did not seem to be targeting IS-held territory.
Russia's strikes reportedly hit rebel-controlled areas of Homs and Hama provinces, causing casualties.
Mr Hammond told the UN Security Council that it was "very important" that Russia was able to confirm that the strikes were directed at IS - also referred to as ISIL -and al-Qaeda affiliated targets only and not at moderate opponents of President Bashar al-Assad.
He said: "Actions in support of the [Syrian] regime are incompatible with the effective prosecution of the war against ISIL in Syria."
Meanwhile, Prime Minister David Cameron said if Russia's action was in defence of President Bashar al-Assad then that would be a "retrograde step".
Speaking on a visit to Jamaica he said: "We'll need to look very carefully at the reports and exactly what has happened.
"I have a clear view, which is that if this is part of international action against ISIL and that appalling terrorist death cult outfit, then that is all to the good."
Earlier, Mr Hammond said the UK would continue to bomb the extremist group Islamic State for "as long as it takes".
He told the UN General Assembly the people of Syria were facing the "twin evils" of IS and President Assad's "murderous regime".
He also spoke about the need to offer sanctuary to Syrian refugees.
Two years ago the House of Commons voted against UK military action in Syria, but last September it approved British participation in air strikes against IS targets in Iraq only.
Earlier this the month, Prime Minister David Cameron revealed the UK had carried out its first RAF drone attack against one of its own citizens, when it killed Cardiff-born Reyaad Khan, 21, in Syria.
Delivering the UK's national speech to the General Assembly, Mr Hammond described Iraq and Syria as the "crucible of human civilisation" where current events meant "our collective values and our will to act are being most immediately challenged".
He told world leaders at the gathering in New York that they must work together to "crush" IS - which took control of large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.
"We share a responsibility to act to end the bloody civil war and create an inclusive political process, and to work together to crush IS and banish its ideology from the face of the earth," he said.
"The UK will continue to be a leading member of the international coalition against Isil, including carrying out more air strikes in Iraq than any other country except the US, for as long as it takes to prevail in what will ultimately be a generational struggle against the Islamist extremist ideology that drives it."
Mr Hammond went on to praise the "extraordinary generosity" of Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan for their humanitarian efforts taking in Syrian refugees.
"It is incumbent upon all of us to support them as they bear that burden; to ensure that the UN appeals for Syria are fully funded.
"And I am proud that the UK is making the second largest contribution of any country to the humanitarian mission in the region."
The UK has pledged to take in 20,000 refugees from camps bordering Syria by 2020.


Thirty years after he went on trial at London's Old Bailey for staging an act of simulated male sex in the play The Romans in Britain, the renowned British theatre director Michael Bogdanov, says he is proud to have been "among those people willing to stand up and be counted".

"It was extraordinary to have found yourself a symbol of freedom of expression, though for the wrong reasons," the 73-year old Bogdanov tells the BBC World Service's Witness programme on the 30th anniversary of his trial.
Accused of procuring an act of "gross indecency" likely to cause offence for his production of The Romans in Britain at London's National Theatre, Bogdanov says he felt "enormous relief" when the case collapsed and the prosecution withdrew its evidence on the third day of the hearing.
He also says he felt "very angry" that the private prosecution brought by the morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse had been allowed to happen at all.
Mrs Whitehouse, he says, "confused reality with an illusion" on the stage. If he had been convicted, Bogdanov could have been jailed for up to three years.
Written by the playwright Howard Brenton, The Romans in Britain, which opened in London in October 1980, was always likely to provoke controversy.
With vivid imagery, strong language and violence, the play sought to draw graphic parallels between the Romans' invasion of the British Isles and the presence at the time of British soldiers on the streets of Northern Ireland.
But it was one short scene involving the attempted rape of a young Druid called Marban by a Roman soldier ("a metaphor for the rape of one culture by another," according to the director), that eventually landed Bogdanov in court.
When he was first handed the play by the National's then artistic director, Sir Peter Hall, Bogdanov says he thought it contained some of the best new writing he had read. The attempted rape scene, to be performed with naked actors in full light and centre-stage, was "brilliantly written".
But though nudity was not uncommon on the stage - and Bogdanov was careful that no sexual contact was actually made between the actors (the Roman used his bunched up fist and thumb as a substitute for his erect penis) - Sir Peter was clearly worried. He asked Bogdanov to consider moving the scene upstage, in half light.
The director stood his ground, arguing the scene's artistic merit. Sir Peter eventually acceded, but not before warning that there could be trouble ahead.
Though playing to packed audiences, the play's nudity and strong language attracted fervent media attention. But more ominously, it quickly came to the notice of Mrs Whitehouse, then head of the National Viewers and Listeners' Association.
She refused to attend a performance in person but in December 1980 sent her solicitor to watch the play in order to collect evidence. He came back convinced there had been a sexual act on stage likely to cause offence.
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Having tried and failed to force the Attorney General to initiate a prosecution against the National, the morality campaigner then began her own proceedings under the 1956 Sexual Offences Act, accusing Bogdanov of being the "pimp" who had allegedly procured the act on stage.
Three decades on, Bogdanov's memories of those days are still vivid. He and his colleagues had initially dismissed the possibility of being taken to court, believing their defence of dramatic effect would be enough to discourage a prosecution. But a magistrate and then an Old Bailey judge both ruled that the case should be heard.
Bogdanov became increasingly concerned: "I can't pretend it was easy, it felt like some huge juggernaut rolling over me, especially when they spent hours discussing whether I should be kept in the cells overnight," he says.
Anonymous letters arrived at the family home, while his children became the object of unwanted attention at school. "At one point I was the only thing on the front pages."
The collapse of Bogdanov's trial three days after it began was one more act in the long-running drama of The Romans in Britain.
Keen to establish what Mrs Whitehouse's solicitor, and chief prosecution witness, had actually seen on stage, Bogdanov's defence team asked him to tell the jury where he had been sitting in the theatre. "At the back," came the answer - much to everyone's amazement.
Lord Hutchinson, lead defence counsel, leapt up: "What if I told you that what you thought you saw was not an erect penis, but a thumb?" And he proceeded to bunch up his fist and thumb under his robes, pulling them aside to reveal his hand to the witness and jury.
Bogdanov, looking on from the dock, says members of the jury burst out laughing, while the prosecution barrister went pale and immediately requested an adjournment. The prosecution withdrew its evidence, and the court set Bodganov free.
Outside the court, Mrs Whitehouse claimed victory. The case, she said, had set an important legal precedent that the Sexual Offences Act could be applied to events on stage and that simulated sex could amount to gross indecency.
But for Bogdanov, the play that got him into trouble has left other lessons. The Romans in Britain, he says, is just one in a long line of stage productions down the years that have caused controversy.
"The thing that gives me most pleasure is that the theatre still has the power to shock," he says.
Mike Lanchin spoke to Michael Bogdanov for the BBC World Service programme Witness. Listen to the programme at 0950 GMT on the BBC World Service,via i-playerordownload the podcast.


Stephen Thompson has apologised "unreservedly" to Dundee United fans following relegation to the Championship, but manager Mixu Paatelainen's future remains unclear.

The owner says he takes full responsibility for the club's problems.
However, he did not clarify whether Paatelainen would stay on.
"In the near future many radical changes will be made to try to ensure our quick return to the top league," a United statement read.
Relegation from the top flight was confirmed after a 2-1 defeat by city rivals Dundee on Monday.
Thompson has promised sweeping changes to ensure an immediate return to the Premiership.
"Dundee United have let you, the supporters, down this season," his statement continued.
"I apologise unreservedly to all of you for our relegation. As the chairman the buck stops with me and I accept full responsibility for what has happened. The big decisions were mine and I got some of them wrong.
"I have backed managers with the third biggest budget in the league but the results have not been acceptable.
"Further changes will see increased fan representation as well as boardroom changes to revitalise and re-energise the club."
Former Finland boss Paatelainen, 49, replaced Jackie McNamara in mid-October, signing a two-and-a-half year contract.
United were bottom of the table at the time of his arrival, having picked up one win in their first 10 Premiership outings.
But Paatelainen, who had spells in charge at Hibernian and Kilmarnock, has overseen just five wins from 25 league matches.


CCTV images of men wanted in connection with the death of a man after a "single punch" on a night out in Manchester have been released by police.

Police said Michael Carter, 49, from Salford, got into a row about football with two men on King Street West at about 03:10 BST on 31 August.
He was punched and fell to the ground, hitting his head on the pavement, said police. He died on 10 September.
The images show the two suspects outside Revolution Bar, Southgate.
The pictures were taken at about 1.50 BST on 31 August, before the incident.
A post-mortem examination concluded Mr Carter, who had four children, died from a head injury.
Det Ch Insp Richard Eales said: "It appears he was punched once in the face during, or after, an argument over football.
"We believe that two men came across Michael and his friend in the minutes before the incident and had football-related banter."
He added: "We know that Michael received a blow to the head outside the Cotswold Outdoor store on the corner of Deansgate and South King Street."
Police said one of the men was white, 6ft (1.8m) tall and of slim build while a second man was possibly Asian/mixed race, 5ft 7in (1.7m) tall and of medium build with black hair.
They said the suspects ran off towards Bridge Street after the incident.
A third man, not involved in the incident that led to Mr Carter's death, was with both men outside the Revolution Bar.
He was described as black with short dark hair.
Det Ch Insp Eales asked for anyone who recognised the men, including anyone working for a taxi firm that may have picked them up, to contact police or Crimestoppers.


Part of the M6 in Staffordshire which was closed when heat from a burning lorry melted the road surface, has reopened, police said.

The southbound section between junction 13 (Stafford south) and junction 12 (Cannock) was closed following the accident about 01:30 BST.
Traffic officers tweeted a picture of the HGV surrounded by flames which had spread across the carriageway.
Five miles of queues were reported and some people were stuck for six hours.
Long delays were also expected on all surrounding routes, police said earlier.
Earlier Highways England said the "intensity of the fire has caused extensive damage to the carriageway and resurfacing is required".


Mark Cooper's short-term deal as manager of League Two Notts County will become permanent if he hits a points total agreed with the club's owner.

The former Swindon boss, who succeeds Jamie Fullarton, has initially been appointed until the end of the season and takes over with the team 19th.
"Should he get things moving in the right direction his deal will become permanent," said owner Ray Trew.
County are on 40 points, 13 above the relegation zone with 10 games left.
Fullarton was sacked after winning three of 12 games in 70 days as boss.
Cooper, 47, has been out of work since leaving League One side Swindon in October, just five months after they lost the play-off final at Wembley.
Trew has appointed Cooper despite agreeing to sell the Magpies to an American company less than 48 hours earlier.
"What we need now, as a club, is stability, as we look to resolve the change of ownership and that is why I have turned to Mark to bring his experience and knowledge to the club to help turn things around on the pitch," Trew told the club website.
"To be fair to Mark and to reward him, I have agreed a points total with him, which will remain confidential, at which point his deal will become permanent."
Cooper's first game in charge will be away to promotion-chasing Portsmouth, with a home game against Wycombe Wanderers following three days later when the new boss has the chance to end a seven-game winless run at Meadow Lane dating back to 12 December.


More than two million Nigerians have been forced from their homes by this year's floods, officials say.

The National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) says the heavy rains killed 363 people since July.
The worst floods in five decades have affected many areas of the country - especially near the River Niger.
The BBC's Will Ross in Lagos says waters are now receding but there are fears over food supplies as some farmers saw all their crops destroyed.
President Goodluck Jonathan last month called the floods a "national disaster" but said it would not cause a food crisis, reports the Reuters news agency.
Our correspondent says that poor drainage in Nigeria's cities makes flooding likely after heavy rainfall.
In some rural areas people said they were frightened after seeing crocodiles, snakes and even hippopotami inside flooded homes.


A grey blur with flashes of yellow streaks across the sky at speeds of 200mph - a "pure muscle assassin" chasing down its prey one minute, a doting parent feeding three chicks at the top of a wind-buffeted cathedral spire the next.

The daily wildlife drama surrounding the Norwich Cathedral peregrine falcon family has become addictive viewing for millions of people watching online around the world and for thousands of visitors to the cathedral's watch point.
For one man, observing the chicks' progress has become a labour of love as he spends hours in his "den" recording them via a live web stream to tell their story.
"I really try not to get paternal - but I probably do," said Dave Gittens, a volunteer with the Hawk and Owl Trust (HOT) who is responsible for the live nest-cams.
"I try really hard to be objective, they are wild animals, they are doing things we might find distasteful or difficult to watch - and when they die naturally, to watch a chick go through its last moments of life is terrible."
Mr Gittens said he spends what "feels like 90 days" watching the breeding season - but quickly adds "it's not an arduous task, it's a real privilege to be in a position where you can see these birds."
The peregrine falcons, nesting on a special platform on the cathedral spire 246ft (75m) above the ground, have been breeding in Norwich since 2011 as part of an urban peregrine breeding programme managed by the Hawk and Owl Trust.
This year's chicks, among the first in the city for more than 200 years after the pair's first successful clutch in 2012, hatched at the end of April.
Mr Gittens said the moment was exhilarating.
"The excitement of seeing the first chick hatch, watching with trepidation as they walk up and down the nest ledge.
"Your knees go weak, you get bouts of vertigo for them, you can almost hear the people screaming on Facebook - at this stage they are right on the cusp of being flight ready - but they're only just ready.
"Until you see them flying around and all the rest of it - it's heart-stopping," he said.
Mr Gittens describes himself as "a cog in the wheel" with more than 100 volunteers working on the urban peregrine project.
While he watches the birds in their nest from the comfort of his den, others tackle the elements to take a more "hands-on" approach to capturing images of them.
"I quickly became addicted to these superb and charismatic birds," said Norwich-based photographer Andy Thompson, who can spend more than 270 hours taking pictures of the adults and their chicks during the breeding season.
"It can be quite cold and bleak... but any activity gets the adrenaline going as you follow them around the skies."
"Fledging time is often the most exciting period... but it can also be quite an upsetting time as unfortunately the birds do have accidents and may get killed," said Mr Thompson.
"This is a natural thing that happens in urban and rural nesting areas, but it is still somewhat a blow when a bird you have watched for many weeks is suddenly no more."
The birds are the fastest thing on earth with an ability to fly at more than 200mph (322km/h) when diving for prey, making them faster than a cheetah and on-par with a Formula 1 car.
Wildlife presenter Chris Packham, who returns to RSPB Minsmere in Suffolk for the new season of Springwatch on 25 May, is a big fan of the peregrine and the urban projects.
"They are the fastest things on earth... which struck me as almost unbelievable when I was 10 and still does now," he said.
"They look pure muscle assassin, brutal, totally hard, it's the eye and the moustacial stripe and the massive feet - their weapons.
"If I was re-incarnated as another species of animal there is only one I'd be... and it isn't a pigeon."
The wildlife expert and conservationist is also a keen supporter of the urban peregrine scheme. There are a number of nesting projects on buildings across the country including Bath, Derby and Nottingham.
"If you own a tall building... you should be putting up nest boxes," he said.
The hours Mr Gittens spends watching the peregrines needs an "understanding" from his wife Caroline.  She says she is "very proud" of the work as it brings "so much pleasure to millions of people".
"I totally support him... it's something we both enjoy and get a kick out of," she said.
"They are just such a fantastic bird - it's great we have the technology to be able to see them 24/7 - to see the body language and the things they get up to - it's a privilege."
Peregrine falcon numbers declined during the 19th and 20th centuries due to illegal shooting and use of certain pesticides on farms.
The species became almost extinct in the 1960s but became protected in 1981.
There are about 1,500 breeding pairs in the UK, according to the RSPB. The Norfolk-based British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is currently collating data from a peregrine survey recorded last summer with the results expected later in the year.
Early analysis shows "more peregrines are now breeding in lowland England than during the last survey in 2002, especially in the urban environment," said Dawn Balmer from the trust.
Despite the long hours and heart-stopping moments, Dave Gittens said he would never change his hours of watching.
"It's rewarding - it makes you feel you've provided a service to people to bring them closer back to nature."


Scientists in Birmingham have found a new way to recycle the very important metals found in almost every type of modern technology.

A breakthrough that could have a huge implications for the tech industry.
Magnets made of "rare earth metals" are a vital part of almost every gadget from mobile phones to computer hard drives.
But most of the world's supply of rare earth metals is found in China. So being able to recycle them wouldn't just be greener it would also secure companies a new source of essential materials that would be outside the control of the Chinese government.
Traditional ways of recycling are pretty destructive.
You tear apart your gadget and then sift through what's left looking for the bits your want.
The problem with rare earth magnets is as soon as you start the shredding the magnet will just shatter and then stick to any bits of metal it can find.
The end result is tiny chunks of rare earth metals that are just impossible to retrieve from the mess.
But Prof Rex Harris from the University of Birmingham has a clever solution to all this.
Years ago, he discovered if you pass hydrogen over a rare earth magnet the magnet expands and the turns into a powder. Usefully the resulting powder isn't magnetic at all. It doesn't stick to anything.
Now for a long time this was just an interesting fact about an interesting group of elements. But as rare earths grew to become such a key part of modern life it became apparent this interesting fact could be the secret to recycling them.
And Dr Alan Walton and his team at the University of Birmingham have now managed to recycle rare earths on a scale where industry have begun to take notice.
At this stage the researchers have been focusing on computer hard drives. We already recycle about 100 million of these a year, mainly to get at the aluminium they contain.
The rare earths, because they just stick to everything, are impossible to recover.
But as part of this work a robot has been created that can identify the corner of each hard drive where the 25g of rare earth magnets are buried and then saw it off.
You then put the corners into a big drum (which actually comes from a washing machine!) and pass hydrogen gas over them. The rare earth magnets turn to powder and since they are no longer magnetic when you tumble the drum out drops all the powder.
The end result can then be made back into the first ever recycled rare earth magnets.
All of this has been proved to work on a commercial scale, so the hope is to get companies interested in the technology and using it within the next year or so. As well as being greener and cutting waste this also offers firms a new revenue stream.
Of course the other benefit is it offers a useful source of rare earth metals from outside China. People have in the past said rare earths are the oil of the twenty first century and China have built a hugely dominate position in the industry.  This would offer an alternative.
Finally, like much of the research I talk about this is a huge project that involves lots of different scientists, companies and groups right across Europe.


Barcelona has struck a shirt sponsorship deal worth £47m a year with the Japanese internet retailer Rakuten.

It is one of the biggest football shirt sponsorships yet seen and could make Barcelona wealthier than Real Madrid, currently the world's richest club.
The deal will begin with the 2017-18 season and last for four years.
It will earn the club at least £188m in that time, with more to come if the team wins the Spanish championship or the Champions League.
"This agreement puts us at the forefront of sports club sponsorships, which has always been an objective for the current board of directors," said the Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
He added that negotiations began in 2015 at a dinner in San Francisco organised by defender Gerard Pique, who is a friend of Hiroshi Mikitani, the chairman and chief executive of Rakuten.
The deal with Rakuten may be extended for a fifth year.
Rakuten is Japan's biggest e-commerce firm and employs more than 13,000 staff in Japan, with a turnover of nearly £15bn in the first nine months of this year.
It already owns the J-League club Vissel Kobe and baseball club Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
Barcelona, with star players such as Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Neymar, will become even wealthier from 2018 when the club starts a new 10-year kit sponsorship deal with the US sportswear firm Nike, which is reportedly going to pay £134m a year.
The Spanish club first accepted sponsorship only in 2006 in a deal with Unicef, which in fact involved the club donating to the charity.
But in 2010 the shirts became sponsored mainly by the Qatar Foundation (replaced by Qatar Airways in 2013), in a £24m per year deal which was at the time the most lucrative sponsorship deal in world football.
Reflecting the massive inflation in football advertising and investment, which has been mainly due to international TV coverage, Manchester United has let its shirts be sponsored by the US carmaker Chevrolet for £47m a year for seven years, alongside a kit deal with Adidas worth £74m per year.
The extra money for Barcelona will help it to pay for the planned expansion of its Nou Camp stadium to 105,000 seats.
According to this year's Deloitte Football Money League, the richest club in the world was Real Madrid, followed by Barcelona and Manchester United.


Arsenal have become the first Premier League club to reach five million followers on Twitter.

They are now the third most followed team behind Real Madrid and Barcelona.
"We are delighted to have engaged so many passionate Arsenal fans around the world," said Richard Clarke, managing editor of the club's media group.
"The interest continues to grow and we constantly evolve our approach to keep our fans engaged with what is happening across every aspect of the club."
Arsenal are sixth in the Premier League going into Christmas, 12 points behind leaders Chelsea, who have 4.85m Twitter followers.
They play their next fixture at home to London rivals QPR on Friday.
Mesut Ozil is Arsenal's most followed player on Twitter with 8.59m followers.
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo is the most popular footballer in the world on Twitter with 32.1m followers.
Wayne Rooney became the first Premier League footballer to reach 10 million Twitter followers in October.
However, Arsenal may lose the lead in the UK.
Manchester United are adding more than 4,000 new followers every day compared to just under 2,400 for Arsenal.
The London club joined Twitter in April 2009 with Manchester United signing up three years later in April 2012.
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube


New figures indicate that almost 4,000 staff made redundant from the NHS in England, before last year's major restructuring, have since been re-employed.

Labour asked for the data to be released to Parliament.
The government blamed "unacceptably lax" contracts that allow staff to re-join the NHS a month after redundancy.
It says it's working on tough new plans to cap payouts, and has reduced administrative posts overall.
Labour shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said it would be galling for nurses who were battling over pay to see, as he put it, cheques handed out like confetti.
Auditors have previously reported that the average payout was £43,000.
The number of national health service staff estimated to have been made redundant and later re-employed almost doubled in the last year - from 2,200 managers - Ministerial responses to Parliamentary Questions have revealed.
The total now stands at 3,950.
Overall, more than 10,000 full-time workers were made redundant from the NHS in England since the restructuring of the service.
Changes introduced in April 2013 have seen 150 primary care trusts, run by managers, replaced with 211 clinical commissioning groups, led by family doctors.
Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter said: "By reducing managers and administrators by over 21,100, we are freeing up extra resources for patient care - £5.5 billion in this Parliament and £1.5 billion every year thereafter."


Rock-bottom Aston Villa avoided defeat for a third successive Premier League match as they held neighbours West Brom in an uninspiring stalemate.

Villa should have been awarded a first-half penalty when Jordan Ayew was fouled by Albion defender Jonas Olsson.
Albion failed to register a single shot on target, although Craig Dawson headed over and Stephane Sessegnon slashed wide after the break.
Villa rarely threatened with Ashley Westwood's low shot their best effort.
Villa have been written off as relegation certainties by many onlookers, cut adrift at the bottom of the table following a miserable first half of the Premier League campaign.
The Midlanders had earned just eight points after 20 matches, but have managed to give themselves - and their beleaguered fans - a modicum of hope in recent weeks.
A home win against Crystal Palace - their first victory since the opening day - has been followed by successive draws at Leicester and Albion.
But they still remain nine points adrift of safety with 15 matches remaining.
Villa are the league's lowest goalscorers, having netted just 18 times this season, and their lack of cutting edge hampered them again at The Hawthorns.
Remi Garde's men enjoyed more than 60% of possession and managed 15 attempts at the Albion goal, but home keeper Ben Foster was rarely stretched.
Albion were aiming to clinch a top-flight double over Villa for the first time in 51 years, having won 1-0 at Villa Park in September.
England Under-21 striker Saido Berahino was their match-winner on that day, but he has rarely made an impact since amid uncertainty about his future at Albion.
Berahino was introduced with about half an hour left against Villa as Tony Pulis tried to add some much-needed attacking impetus to his team.
But Berahino, like the rest of the home side, failed to seriously trouble Villa keeper Mark Bunn.
Albion did not manage a shot on target when they lost at Southampton last weekend - and failed to do so again.
However, the point did move Pulis' side - who are 13th - seven points clear of the bottom three.
Aston Villa manager Remi Garde:
"I'm a little bit disappointed because we wanted three points. In another situation we might be happy with a point but we need more points than that. We tried, we did our best, especially in the second half, but they defended well.
"If you see the team playing now, we look more like a team now than we used to. Players have the right attitude, but sometimes we miss talent or quality to score goals.
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"Should Jordan Ayew have been awarded a first-half penalty? Maybe.
"I talked with the referee and he told me he didn't see it like that. Even without a penalty we created many chances and with more accuracy could have scored."
West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Pulis:
"We had to grind it out, it was a typical derby game, very ferocious, with effort and commitment. We've had eight games in four weeks and although people might be disappointed, the effort and commitment put in was first class.
"We need every point to maintain our Premier League status - and that's what we've done.
"I don't think Villa should have been given a penalty. Jonas Olsson might have touched him, but the ball is rolling out and the lad's gone down too easily."
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A break from the Premier League. Both teams will now prepare for FA Cup home ties next weekend, with Albion hosting League One side Peterborough and Villa entertaining Manchester City.


The traditional Par 3 curtain-raiser to the Masters tournament in Augusta, Georgia, has been cancelled because of severe weather warnings.

A tornado threat in the area forced officials to close the course for the rest of the day on Wednesday.
The event, held each year on the eve of the opening round, often sees family members or celebrities serving as caddies to the professionals.
Bad weather has affected practice sessions at the course all week.
"The safety of everyone on our grounds was the determining factor in our decision to close the course and cancel the Par 3 contest," Augusta National chairman Billy Payne said.
"We share in the disappointment of our patrons, but the safety of everyone on our grounds is always our primary concern."
It is the first time in the history of the Masters that the Par 3 event has been cancelled.
"Augusta is now in a 'Particularly Dangerous Situation' tornado watch, which means there is a high probability of tornadoes in the area," said BBC meteorologist Simon King.
Earlier on Wednesday officials closed the course for two and a half hours because of thunderstorms and weather warnings, and when players returned to the course for the Par 3 tournament, just 55 minutes of play was possible before being abandoned.
The weather is expected to affect the opening round of the 81st Masters on Thursday, with 40mph winds forecast during play.


Catherine Zeta-Jones has led tributes to The Darling Buds of May actor Moray Watson, who has died at the age of 88.

The actor's family confirmed he died in London's Hillingdon Hospital on Tuesday after a short illness.
Zeta-Jones, who co-starred with Watson in the 1990s ITV drama, described him as a "true gentleman".
"Such sad news that the wonderful Moray has passed away. We shall all miss him. He was and is a national treasure," she said.
Viewers saw Watson appear as local retired army officer the Brigadier in The Darling Buds of May, which ran from 1991 to 1993.
Broadcaster Gyles Brandreth said: "People loved him because, as a person, he was very witty, very droll. He had a fantastic sense of humour, and he would bring out these wonderfully amusing anecdotes.
"He was also extremely kind to people, and he was in every sense a gentleman. He really was a safe pair of hands, and a calming influence to have on stage and on set."
Watson's acting credits include appearing alongside Cary Grant in the The Grass Is Greener and a role in the 1960s soap Compact.
He also starred in two episodes of Doctor Who in the same decade and played Mr Bennet in a 1980 version of Pride and Prejudice.
Watson is survived by his son Robin, daughter Emma, and four grandchildren. His wife, American-born actress Pam Marmont, died in 1999.
A private funeral service will follow, his family said, with a public memorial service to be confirmed at a later date.
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Recent changes in Cuba have not been "aggressive enough" to open its economy or reform its political system, US President Barack Obama has said.

Mr Obama, speaking to Spanish-language correspondents in Washington, said Cuba remained a "throwback" to the 1960s.
Cuba, under a US economic embargo for nearly five decades, has this year moved towards some economic opening.
Asked about Mexico's drugs conflict, Mr Obama said President Felipe Calderon was right to take on the cartels.
President Obama said the Cuban authorities had indicated they wanted to make changes to allow businesses to operate more freely.
But, he said, there was no evidence that they had been sufficiently aggressive in doing this.
"And they certainly have not been aggressive enough when it comes to liberating political prisoners and giving people the opportunity to speak their minds", Mr Obama said.
Cuban President Raul Castro has been introducing some changes including allowing Cubans to work for themselves.
The Cuban government this year also freed the last of 75 dissidents jailed during a crackdown on dissent in 2003.
But Mr Obama put the situation in Cuba in the wider international context.
"You are seeing enormous changes taking place in the Middle East just in the span of six months, you are seeing there are almost no authoritarian communist countries left in the world, and here you have this small island that is a throwback to the 60s."
President Obama has moved to ease restrictions on Cuban-Americans travelling to the island but a gradual thaw in ties has been disrupted by the imprisonment of a US contractor.
The US has repeatedly demanded the release of Alan Gross, who  is serving a 15-year jail sentence for bringing illegal satellite equipment into Cuba.
For its part, Havana regularly calls for five Cubans jailed for spying in Florida to be released.
In the interview, President Obama rejected the argument that Mexico should try to find some kind of accommodation with drug gangs as a way of ending the bloodshed.
"I don't think Mexican people want to live in a society where drug kingpins are considered to be some of the more powerful individuals in society," Mr Obama said.
Peace could not be achieved by negotiating with people without scruples or respect for human life, Mr Obama said.
In his view, President Calderon had taken a courageous decision to tackle the cartels.
"I believe that, as difficult as this time is, ultimately Mexico will be stronger if it does not give in," Mr Obama said.
Some 40,000 people have died in drug-related violence since Mr Calderon began deploying troops against the drug gangs in late 2006.


Substitute Hal Robson-Kanu scored the winner and was later sent off as West Brom made it two wins from two with victory at Burnley.

The match was short on entertainment until Robson-Kanu gave it a shot of adrenaline with a brilliant strike. The Wales international, who came on seven minutes earlier, pounced on a Matt Phillips flick, held off two challenges and fired in low past keeper Tom Heaton.
However, the 28-year-old striker did not see out the rest of the match as he was shown a red card in the 83rd minute for catching Matt Lowton with his elbow.
Burnley wasted chances at the other end, and will be hoping Leeds striker Chris Wood, who they look likely to sign, will be less profligate.
Ben Mee had the Clarets' best chance but missed with a two-yard header, and team-mate Johann Berg Gudmundsson also went close with a low curling shot.
It was a brief, yet eventful appearance by Robson-Kanu.
His goal was brilliant, and will rank alongside the strikes against Southampton last season and his Euro 2016 effort against Belgium.
I've not looked at the red card incident. I don't want to say things that will get me in trouble.
This one was about perseverance. The forward, with the ball in possession, battled past Gudmundsson and James Tarkowski before striking past Heaton.
He led the line well after the goal, but then showed a bit too much aggression as he challenged Lowton for the ball right in front of referee Martin Atkinson.
There were few complaints from both Robson-Kanu and his team-mates.
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West Brom manager Tony Pulis will have been delighted with his side's display, particularly at the back.
The visitors restricted Burnley to largely half-chances, with six of the 15 efforts on goal falling to Jeff Hendrick.
The Republic of Ireland midfielder had one angled strike in the area superbly blocked and was rushed by the Baggies backline into producing inaccurate shots.
Iceland international Gudmundsson was unlucky to see his excellent low curling shot drift wide, but his team-mates Mee and Jon Walters will not want to see a replay of their golden heading chances.
West Brom boss Tony Pulis: "It is a great start for us, especially with two clean sheets.
"I've not looked at the red card incident. I don't want to say things that will get me in trouble. The decisions stands. I am so pleased we got through that final 15 minutes with 10 men. There is good spirit in the dressing room and we needed that today. Our fitness level were fantastic."
On Jonny Evans and reported interest from Manchester City: "They all deal through the football club, I won't get involved in that."
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Burnley boss Sean Dyche: "The game is unfair sometimes and today I thought it was. We gave a very good performance, we created enough to get something from the game.
"I have been very pleased. It is a tough one today because I was not happy with the result but I was happy with the performance. We are laying down some good markers for how we want to play and where we want to be."
On link with Leeds striker Chris Wood: "We've been linked with lots of players. We will watch this space and see what comes. We are still in the market, still looking at different options."
West Brom's Ahmed Hegazi was a man-mountain at the back for the Baggies. The on-loan Egyptian needed treatment from a bad cut early in the match but soldiered on, making vital clearances for his side.
After the Lancashire derby against Blackburn in the EFL Cup on Wednesday, the Clarets are at Tottenham next Sunday (16:00 BST).
The Baggies are at Accrington on Tuesday in the EFL Cup before they host Stoke next Sunday (13:30 BST).
Match ends, Burnley 0, West Bromwich Albion 1.
Second Half ends, Burnley 0, West Bromwich Albion 1.
Attempt missed. Jonathan Walters (Burnley) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Jeff Hendrick with a cross.
Foul by Ashley Barnes (Burnley).
Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Ashley Barnes (Burnley) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Ashley Barnes (Burnley).
Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Sam Vokes (Burnley) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Steven Defour with a cross.
Corner,  Burnley. Conceded by Chris Brunt.
Attempt missed. Jeff Hendrick (Burnley) right footed shot from outside the box is too high.
Offside, Burnley. Jonathan Walters tries a through ball, but Ashley Barnes is caught offside.
Substitution, West Bromwich Albion. Salomón Rondón replaces Sam Field.
Hal Robson-Kanu (West Bromwich Albion) is shown the red card for violent conduct.
Matthew Lowton (Burnley) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Hal Robson-Kanu (West Bromwich Albion).
Attempt missed. Ashley Barnes (Burnley) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Stephen Ward.
Attempt missed. Matthew Lowton (Burnley) right footed shot from outside the box is too high following a set piece situation.
Matthew Lowton (Burnley) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Jay Rodriguez (West Bromwich Albion).
Substitution, Burnley. Ashley Barnes replaces Johann Berg Gudmundsson.
Substitution, Burnley. Jonathan Walters replaces Robbie Brady.
Jack Cork (Burnley) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Jay Rodriguez (West Bromwich Albion).
Attempt missed. Hal Robson-Kanu (West Bromwich Albion) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Jay Rodriguez with a cross.
Stephen Ward (Burnley) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Matt Phillips (West Bromwich Albion).
Foul by James Tarkowski (Burnley).
Hal Robson-Kanu (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Goal!  Burnley 0, West Bromwich Albion 1. Hal Robson-Kanu (West Bromwich Albion) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Matt Phillips with a headed pass.
Foul by Jack Cork (Burnley).
Hal Robson-Kanu (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
James Tarkowski (Burnley) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Hal Robson-Kanu (West Bromwich Albion).
Foul by Jeff Hendrick (Burnley).
Craig Dawson (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Stephen Ward (Burnley) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right following a set piece situation.
Attempt blocked. Robbie Brady (Burnley) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Jeff Hendrick (Burnley) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Craig Dawson (West Bromwich Albion).


A campaign to raise awareness of disability hate crime in Northern Ireland has been launched.

Leonard Cheshire Disability, which provides voluntary services to people with disabilities, said the reporting of such crimes was "surprisingly low".
Last year, 70 disability hate crimes were reported, an increase of 100%.
The organisation said there were several reasons why people failed to report such crimes, and it was not just the victim's responsibility to do so.
A series of billboards highlighting the issue is being unveiled.
The group's director, Tonya McCormac said: "We are launching this campaign to encourage everyone to recognise disability hate crime and for victims and witnesses to come forward and report these incidents.
"We started our disability hate crime advocacy service, the first of its kind in the UK, as a response to major concerns expressed to us by disabled people.
"Despite an estimated one-in-five people in Northern Ireland having a disability, the reporting of disability hate crime remains alarmingly low."
Ms McCormac said the reasons people failed to do so included communication barriers, access issues, fear, and previous poor experiences.
"While victims have become reluctant to report such crime, society has become reluctant to notice," she said.
"If victims and witnesses of disability hate crime don't report or notice the issue, victims will continue to suffer in silence."
The initiative is being supported by Justice Minister David Ford.
"By its very nature, hate crime is repugnant to every right-thinking person. Hate crime is carried out by bullies who target people they wish to intimidate," he said.
"Directing hate crimes at people who may be vulnerable due to having a disability must be condemned without equivocation.
"Leonard Cheshire Disability is to be commended for this campaign which provides support for disabled people to ensure their voices are heard and the crimes committed against them highlighted.
"That's why I'm pleased to be able to offer some funding towards this thought-provoking campaign."


West Midlands Police is to recruit 1,150 staff, including 800 officers.

The force will take on the new PCs as well as 150 police community support officers (PCSOs) and 200 specialist staff over three years.
Commissioner David Jamieson said the recruitment was possible following an efficiency drive.
Some 500 officers forced to retire from West Midlands Police were among those who lost an age discrimination case last year.
Latest updates on this and other West Midlands stories
More than 1,000 officers in England and Wales sought compensation over having to leave after 30 years' service under the A19 regulation, used by 15 forces to make savings since 2010.
In March the West Midlands force - the second biggest in England - had 7, 101 officers compared with 8,775 in 2009.
The jobs boost comes as research suggests more than a third of people in England and Wales have not seen a bobby on the beat for a year.
A website for people to register their interest in becoming an officer will open later, and specific roles will be advertised soon.
In 2014, the force took on about 450 officers, ending a five-year recruitment freeze which it said followed government funding cuts.
Mr Jamieson, who was re-elected as PCC in May, said: "This recruitment is at nearly double the rate of my previous term in office and is only happening because of the tough decisions that have been taken to make West Midlands Police more efficient.
"West Midlands Police has faced the biggest cuts of any force in the country and is receiving Â£2.5 million less from the government again this year."
The West Midlands Police force is the second largest in the country dealing with some of the worse crimes and organised gangs operating in the UK.
Yet since 2010, because of public spending cuts, the force has lost thousands of staff. It's also an ageing force - the average age approaching mid-40s - and only ten per cent of officers come from ethnic and minority communities.
This announcement won't turn the clock back, but the chief constable sees it as a chance to stabilise the force and keep it up to date and effective.
Today I spoke to a Polish officer, a man born in Jamaica and two Muslim brothers born in Alum Rock, Birmingham, who have all recently been recruited.
Having a force that reflects the people it serves and understands them is vital for British policing. They told me the force was supporting them and that they feel they're making a difference on the streets of the West Midlands.
Two years ago, the force said it would close 27 of its 41 front desks to save Â£3m.
Last year the PCC said the force needed to "up its game" and employ more minorities after hiring just one black officer from its 2014 recruitment drive.
A spokeswoman said the recruitment drive would target publications, radio stations and social media consumed by minority groups.
BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) officers are also acting as ambassadors among community groups, she added.


They talk of stolen childhoods and long-term health traded in for medals, of dissenters bundled into wooden crates and young women growing up to look and speak like men.

The history of doping in athletics has no more haunting chapter than the one covering the era of global dominance by East Germany. The well-being of the country's youth was sacrificed in the name of glory and propaganda - and still the scars are being healed.
To mark the 30th anniversary of the first World Athletics Championships in Helsinki, where the East Germans finished top of the medals table, BBC Radio 5 live has been to Germany to hear harrowing testimony from those who once were silenced and now want to shout.
In Helsinki, athletes bedecked in the blue and white of the GDR won 22 medals, including 10 golds. From 1976, across a period of just over a decade, East Germany won more medals than any other nation at three Olympic Games and two World Championships.
"We were a large experiment, a big chemical field test," says Ines Geipel (pictured at the top of this article), a former world record holder in the women's sprint relay.
"The old men in the regime used these young girls for their sick ambition. They knew the mini-country absolutely had to be the greatest in the world. That's sick. It's a stolen childhood."
The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 exposed the depth and extremities of the systematic doping programme on the eastern side of the bricks and barbed wire.
"It originated for one reason, that was national importance," according to Professor Werner Franke, a fearless campaigner who gained access to many files belonging to the Stasi, the secret police, and uncovered the sins of the past.
"Annually, about 2,000 athletes were added to the programme. We know this very exactly because there have been many court cases with all the details. The youngest athletes were around 12 or 13. And it was not just pills, injections also."
The Stasi kept hidden files on all international athletes.  In some cases, athletes and coaches were spying on each other. Geipel's file contained more gruesome details than most.
In 1984, at a training camp in Mexico, she fell in love with a local athlete and made plans to flee East Germany to study and "start a whole new life" in the United States. She returned home to break the news to her boyfriend, only for him to reveal he was in the secret police.
At that stage, the full power and authority of the "machine" came bearing down on Geipel. At her home in Berlin, she told me of a plot that belongs in one of the novels she now writes.
"Firstly, they wanted to find a man in the GDR who looked like the Mexican I'd fallen in love with," she explained. "They thought if I met a man who looked like the Mexican, then everything would be good again. There wasn't such a man.
"Then they tried to force me to commit to the Stasi. But I didn't do it.
"The last stage was that they didn't see any other option than to operate on me and cut through my stomach.
"It's all in the files... they cut the stomach in such a way, through all the muscles and everything, so that I couldn't run any more and didn't have a way of getting to the rest of the world any more.
We were told we were taking vitamin pills that would compensate for our lack of nutrition.
"The plan started with the sentence: 'She is to be strategically extinguished.' That's Stasi speak. It means she's to be thrown out of the sport."
In another file, Geipel remembers reading about the system in place at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.
"There the Stasi had built wooden crates, like rabbit crates, in hotel rooms," she said. "If they believed an athlete was going to flee - because the Games were in West Germany - they would put this athlete in the crate and carry them back to the GDR.
"I find it so symbolic. We were objects, we weren't people."
Geipel is now president of a group called Help for Victims of Doping, explaining that her sadness and pain have been converted into action.
It is believed that as many as 10,000 athletes were part of the programme. The drug of choice was Oral-Turninabol, a steroid targeted particularly at young females because the effects were more dramatic, at a time when women's sport internationally was under-developed and therefore ripe for domination.
In 2000, 32 women filed a lawsuit against the perpetrators and the court in Berlin heard tales of woe regarding hearts, livers, kidneys and reproductive organs, with mothers blaming the disability of their children on the wrecking ball of drugs.
One of the plaintiffs was Andreas Krieger, who represented East Germany as Heidi Krieger in the mid-1970s and underwent a sex-change operation two decades later.
I visited Krieger in Magdeburg, where he now lives and finds it hard to conceal his resentment.
"I still say today that they killed Heidi," he said. "Through administering these pills to me, Heidi was killed and she's not there any more.
At its height, the programme employed up to 1,500 scientists and doctors
"It's difficult to say whether I would be Heidi today or not but I could have decided on my own. That decision was taken away from me. And Mrs Geipel put it this way... I was thrown out of my gender."
Like many others, Krieger was enrolled in the programme as a teenager.
"In our country, we had an economy lacking many things, like fruit," he continued. "So we were told we were taking vitamin pills that would compensate for our lack of nutrition. They played God with us back then."
A compensation fund of £2.5m was set up by the unified German government and the Berlin court case ended with suspended sentences for the head of the East German Sports Ministry, Manfred Ewald, and the chief doctor, Manfred Hoeppner.
More than 300 athletes were each awarded around 10,000 euros (£8,500, $13,000). Thousands more failed to come forward to stake a claim. For some, there was lingering embarrassment, for others a reluctance to relive the agony.
State Plan 14.25 was responsible for many victories at the world's great sporting events. For an impoverished, inward-looking nation, the meticulous and wide-ranging policy left a huge dent in the national budget. The cost in human terms is impossible to measure.
A crime against humanity?
"That's the least it was," concluded Professor Franke.
You can listen again to the BBC Radio 5 live special, 'The Record Fakers' on the BBC iPlayer or by clicking here.


Northern Ireland is the best performing education system for primary maths in Europe, and the sixth best in the world, according to a major US study.

The region was also highly rated in global rankings for primary reading -  being placed fifth in the world and second in Europe, behind Finland.
NI also surpassed England, which was placed ninth in global maths and 11th in world primary reading rankings.
The NI education minister said the local results were "truly impressive".
Source: TIMSS 2011
The global rankings are the result of two studies - the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS).
The research was carried out by US academics who examined the results of tests taken by 900,000 pupils in over 60 countries.
The TIMSS is produced every four years while the PIRLS is published every five years, but this is the first time Northern Ireland has taken part in the test results study.
The studies reveal that Asian countries continue to dominate the top of the global tables in maths, science and reading.
In global maths, NI took sixth place behind five Asian countries.
In reading, NI made the top five group - alongside such education superpowers as Finland and Hong Kong.
In terms of the proportion of pupils reaching the highest ability levels in primary reading, Northern Ireland was even more successful, ranked third place in the world.
In science, NI was placed 21st in the world, six places behind England which came 15th.
Source: PIRLS 2011
The NI Education Minister, John O'Dowd, said the "importance and significance of these findings cannot be overestimated".
"This is the first time we have measured our primary level schools against international standards and the results are truly impressive.
"In numeracy we rank just behind a group of high-performing Pacific-rim countries, whilst in both reading and numeracy we are the highest-ranked English speaking region in the world," Mr O'Dowd added.
The minister said the statistics showed the "exceptional results our system is producing at primary level education" and he paid tribute to staff in the sector for their "hard work and dedication".
"Pupils, teachers, all school staff, leaders and governors should be justifiably proud today of what they are achieving."


Increasing the water table under the UK's arable peatland can help boost yields and the amount of carbon stored in the soil, a study has suggested.

University of Sheffield researchers are encouraging farmers to increase the water table to 30cm under the surface, rather than the recommended 50cm.
Under current practices, the nation's farmed peatlands could be lost by the end of the century, they add.
The findings appear in the Science of the Total Environment journal.
The team of researchers wanted to test the idea that increasing the water table underground would lead to an increase in the absorption of carbon dioxide from the air.
In order to do this, they carried out a lab experiment using soil taken from peat agricultural land on the Norfolk Fens (one of the largest UK lowland peatlands used for commercial farming).
They raised the water table to 30cm beneath the soil surface and then planted radish crops.
"We realised that the water tables were not high enough," concluded lead author Samuel Musarika from the university's Department of Animal and Plant Sciences.
Current management guidelines suggest the water table should be about 50cm below the surface. There are a number of reasons for this, such as disease prevention, explained Mr Musarika, but he said this was too low.
"Funnily enough when we raised it with the crop of radishes we were growing, the crop actually grew better when there was more water," he added.
The team recorded an increase in the plants' biomass, suggesting a possibility for improved yields as a result of raising water tables.
Peatlands are widely recognised as important habitats in need of preserving because they are a carbon-rich landscape, estimated to hold half of England's soil carbon.
However, they also are an important component of the UK farming landscape.
Mr Musarika observed: "We want to maintain food production because we know the population is growing.
"We are realising that it is important to keep not just food but it is also important to maintain the peatlands because if we lose them then we will lose more carbon storage capabilities. "
Co-author Prof Walter Oechel from the University of Exeter said the findings were important because climate change mitigation was a dominant fixture on the global policy table.
"The UK is the 111th country to ratify the Paris Climate Agreement, which aims to avoid the most devastating effects of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions," he explained.
"Reducing CO2 emissions from peatland soils will not only help the UK to reach the targets set out in the Paris Agreement but will also help protect and extend the life of UK's agricultural peatland soils."
Mr Musarika added: "Ideally, we want to return the peatlands back to their natural state but that won't necessarily work as we need to maintain food production, so we need to raise the water table.
"We need to encourage farmers that it is possible, Once we do this then we will be able to maintain a lot of the peatlands and we will have less carbon loss."
Failure to act could have consequences for the agricultural industry's ability to mitigate carbon emissions, which - globally - account for about a third of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities.
He warned: "If we do not do that, we will run out of agricultural peatlands in less than a hundred years or so."
The team said it planned to repeat the experiments using celery crops.


England batsman Jonny Bairstow hit a career-best 246 as Division One champions Yorkshire dominated day two against Hampshire at Headingley.

Bairstow and Liam Plunkett, who made his first century for Yorkshire, put on 227 runs for the seventh wicket.
Tom Alsop eventually had Bairstow caught at long-on, while Plunkett made 126 before being bowled by Will Smith as Yorkshire declared on 593-9.
An unbeaten 76 from James Vince helped the visitors reach 141-5 in reply.
Hampshire used nine bowlers in total, with only opener Michael Carberry and wicketkeeper Adam Wheater not being thrown the ball.
Despite four of their top six batsmen making just 20 runs between them, Yorkshire reached their highest total against Hampshire.
The away side's response got off to the worst possible start as opener Alsop was trapped lbw by Ryan Sidebottom before Plunkett had Carberry caught as slip by Alex Lees.
Vince's faultless innings, which included 11 fours, was in complete contrast to that of his batting partners, with Hampshire losing wickets at regular intervals.
They need another 302 runs to avoid the follow-on.
Bairstow said he and Plunkett had played their "natural games" and praised the Adil Rashid's "intent" early on.
"Then the way Liam came out and played was absolutely fantastic," added Bairstow. "You saw from ball one how cleanly he struck it. When someone's striking it like that, you just let them go as long as possible."
Bairstow thinks Hampshire have a "tough task" to make up ground.
"Potentially, we've got 250 overs, which I'm sure the bowlers are really looking forward to," he said. "If they pull their finger out, we hope it will be a bit less than that."


Lord Janner has appeared in court for the first time over historical child sex abuse charges.

The 87-year-old, who has dementia, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court for less than a minute.
Lord Janner faces 22 charges spanning the 1960s to the 1980s and was told his case would be sent to crown court.
His attendance comes after the judge warned he faced arrest if he did not appear following repeated efforts by his lawyers to avoid him turning up.
The appearance, during which Lord Janner confirmed his name, was brief, with the charges read out after he left and the full hearing taking less than 12 minutes.
He is accused of 15 counts of indecent assault and seven counts of a separate sexual offence, against a total of nine complainants.
BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw
At 14:01 a large brown door to the left of the magistrates' bench in courtroom one edged open.
A female usher appeared, followed by two other women and then a frail looking man gingerly walked in.
"Oohh," he said. "Isn't it wonderful?"
An extraordinary legal wrangle, which had involved four court hearings spanning eight days, was over: Lord Greville Janner was finally in court.
The appearance before magistrates of someone accused of a crime is a requirement of the law.
Lord Janner's lawyers had resisted it on the grounds of his severe dementia.
Although he was able to confirm his name during the 59 seconds he spent in the courtroom, he looked bewildered and waved, an inappropriate gesture for such a setting, before he was led out.
Lord Janner, of Muswell Hill, north London, was released on unconditional bail, with the next hearing to be held at Southwark Crown Court on 1 September.
BBC home affairs correspondent Tom Symonds said it was likely Lord Janner's lawyers would argue at crown court that he was not fit to plead.
The peer earlier arrived at court in a silver Toyota that was forced to stop as photographers surrounded it.
He had initially failed to attend Friday's hearing, despite a High Court ruling that he must attend.
His lawyer, Paul Ozin, had said a live video link from the peer's home would be "least likely" to cause him to suffer, or failing that a live link from the court building or a police station.
But deputy chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot refused the request, saying: "Even if I have to have him arrested I am going to resolve this matter today."
She said live links were only permitted for giving evidence from police stations when someone was in custody - which Lord Janner is not.
On Thursday, Lord Janner's legal team lost a High Court bid to prevent him having to attend the hearing.
Mr Ozin argued Lord Janner had "virtually no language left at all" and was likely to have a "catastrophic reaction" if he attended court.
But the judges said the public interest outweighed any personal distress he might experience, and any distress would be "of short duration".
Earlier this year, Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders decided not to bring charges against Lord Janner because of his ill health - but this decision was overturned after an appeal by the alleged victims.
If a crown court judge decides the former Labour MP for Leicester is fit to plead, a full trial may take place.
If not, there will be a trial of the facts, where a jury will decide only if he committed the physical acts of abuse, with no finding of guilt and no conviction.
Greville Janner was made Lord Janner of Braunstone in 1997. He remains a life peer, but has been on leave of absence since 2014. He was suspended from the Labour Party in April.
His family have strongly denied claims he used his power as an MP to abuse young boys over the course of three decades.


The Queen has met soldiers from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards on a visit to the regiment's new barracks in Fife.

The monarch, who is Colonel-in-Chief of the unit, travelled by helicopter from Balmoral, Aberdeenshire, to the former RAF base at Leuchars station.
She was met by Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Cattermole and the regiment's pipes and drums.
The Queen toured a hangar speaking to soldiers about the work of the unit, which went to Afghanistan in 2014.
The monarch, wearing a pastel pink jacket and hat, also inspected the regimental drum horse Talavera before meeting the families of soldiers and attending a private lunch with officers.
Lt Col Cattermole said: "It was an honour to be visited by our Colonel-in-Chief in our new home, Leuchars station.
"Her Majesty took great interest in the work the regiment is doing both here in the UK, supporting UK resilience, and overseas on numerous training missions."
The Army took control of the site in April and soldiers have gradually been moving there from their base in Fallingbostel.
The new base will be fully manned by next summer when the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards return from operational training in Canada.
It is the first time the regiment has been based in Scotland for more than 40 years.
Military personnel and their families based there will number about 1,800, with soldiers also coming from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) and the Royal Military Police.
Col Cattermole added: "Change is never easy but the one thing that has remained constant is the support given to us by the local community in Fife.
"The regiment now looks forward to contributing to community life in Scotland while continuing to support operations around the globe in our new light reconnaissance role."


Former Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May's new show on Amazon's streaming video service will be called The Grand Tour.

Unveiling the name, Clarkson said the new show would see them "hosting each episode in a different country".
The trio, who will front three series on Amazon Prime, said name suggestions from fans had been "much appreciated".
Meanwhile, the BBC revealed the new Top Gear series, fronted by Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc, will debut on 29 May.
The BBC Two show announced its return on Twitter, shortly after The Grand Tour was introduced.
Evans was named as Top Gear's new host last year after the BBC opted not to renew Clarkson's contract in the wake of his much-publicised "fracas" with Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon.
Clarkson later apologised and settled a Â£100,000 racial discrimination and injury claim from Tymon.
The Grand Tour will launch this autumn and will be available to watch exclusively by Amazon Prime members.
The "round-the-world" format will allow customers of different nations to be in the audience as tickets are to be released through prize draws this summer.
The name befits the presenters' wish to make a new show noticeably different from what they had presented before, which was mainly studio-based with pre-recorded segments and big set pieces.
Top Gear's long-time producer Andy Wilman also left the BBC last year to join the presenters and work with them on the Amazon show.
In a tongue-in-cheek statement, Clarkson said: "We'll be travelling the world hosting each episode in a different country. It's sort of a 'grand tour', if you like. So we've decided to call it 'The Grand Tour'."
In response, May remarked that he was underwhelmed by the name and had "wanted to call it 'Nigel', or 'Roger'".
"We needed a name, and they're names," he said.
Hammond on the other hand, was more positive, saying: "I already love camping, but this is something else".
"We are like our pioneering and prospecting forebears, sallying forth into a new frontier of broadcasting."


Kurt Cobain had a funny and a romantic side according to the film maker responsible for a new documentary about the late Nirvana frontman.

Brett Morgen said he wanted to dispel any myths about the rock star who killed himself at the age of 27.
He said Cobain was someone who just wanted a family and "had a great sense of wit".
Montage of Heck features unseen footage and photographs of the singer.
The film has also used extracts from his diaries, from growing up, and carried out interviews with his family.
According to the film maker, the backdrop of the documentary is about the biggest band in 1991, but it's also about a boy who suffered "a great deal of rejection and abandonment" in his childhood.
Cobain spent a lot of time growing up trying to find his place and the "band becomes his family."
Morgen said: "We get a sense of his wit from his journals, I had no idea that Kurt was so romantic. You don't think of Kurt as a romantic songwriter.
"But especially for a man in his 20s, he was a man who was in love with love."
Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck is released in the UK on 10 April.
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More than 2,000 tenants took up the government's Right to Buy discount scheme for social housing in England during the last three months of 2012.

This represents a near-doubling of the figure for the previous three months.
Under the coalition's extended Right to Buy programme, launched last year, tenants get discounts of up to Â£75,000.
Ministers say this will help reinvigorate the market but opponents argue it will reduce rental stock for people on low incomes.
Altogether, 2,009 households took up the scheme from October to December last year, up from 1,041 in July to September.
The figure for April to June - the first period under the new scheme - saw 443 sales, the Department for Communities and Local Government said.
Right to Buy first started under Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government, but take-up dwindled as the discounts offered failed to keep pace with the rate of property price inflation.
In 2010 the government launched a consultation on "re-invigorating" the right to buy and the Â£75,000 discount, introduced last year, represents a quadrupling of the previous discount cap in London and a trebling in most parts of Britain.
The scheme now offers discounts of up to 60% for the value of a house and 70% for a flat. These apply to people who have been council or social housing tenants for at least five years.
Housing minister Mark Prisk said Right to Buy had "opened the door to home ownership for thousands of tenants across the country".
"I'm delighted to see so many taking up this opportunity," he added.
"But from the 200,000 visitors on our website, to the councils that report to me the surge they've seen in applications, I know there are many more that want to follow in their footsteps."
He urged tenants interested in buying their home to get in touch with their council or visit the Right to Buy website.
However, opponents say selling properties will reduce the rental housing stock available for those on low incomes.


Scotland centre Alex Dunbar has signed a new contract with Glasgow Warriors that will extend his stay at the Pro12 club to a decade.

The two-year deal keeps the 26-year-old at Scotstoun until May 2019 at least.
Dunbar, who made his Warriors debut against Ulster in late 2009, is part of the Scotland squad for the upcoming Six Nations, and is the latest player to commit his future to the club.
"It was an easy decision when it came around," said Dunbar.
"Glasgow Warriors is a great club and I'm really enjoying my rugby just now."
Scotland internationals Stuart Hogg, Henry Pyrgos, Adam Ashe, Tim Swinson and Tommy Seymour, along with USA international Greg Peterson have all signed new contracts with Warriors.
Dunbar added: "A lot of the senior boys and a lot of the internationalists are staying and obviously with Dave Rennie coming in and Jason (O'Halloran) and Jonathan (Humphreys) coming across the boys are really excited about building towards next year."
Warriors have a European Rugby Champions Cup quarter-final against Saracens to look forward to this season and are currently sitting fourth in the Pro12 table.
Dunbar has played an integral part of the Glasgow Warriors squad this season, scoring crucial tries in the wins away at Racing 92 and Edinburgh. And he will be hoping to add to his 19 international caps when Scotland get their Six Nations campaign under way this Saturday against Ireland at Murrayfield.
Glasgow Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend said: "It's great news that Alex will be staying in Glasgow for at least another two years.
"He has worked hard to improve his game - and has come back from some untimely injuries - to become an important player for the club."


The renowned Welsh actress Siân Phillips says leaving Wales in search of stardom left her "heartbroken".

She makes the revelation in a new series of  BBC One Wales' Coming Home.
A Bafta and Tony award winning actress, she first made a name for herself on the London stage, and was married to film star Peter O'Toole for 20 years.
In the show aired on Friday evening, she returns to the former Neath Port Talbot village that was her home, at Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen.
She discovers how family was involved in the Battle of Waterloo - and delves into a long-standing mystery surrounding a photograph of an elderly woman clutching a Welsh bible.
She also explores her family's connections with the area and the old Glamorganshire counties dating back to the 1600s.
Phillips was made a CBE in 2000 for her services to drama, but said the decision to pursue her career as a young woman was never going to be easy.
"I realised I wasn't going to be able to stay in this wonderful place," she said.
"I was heartbroken, I broke my heart quietly and secretly.
"I really appreciated all of my childhood, all the places, all those villages."
One chapter in her life story she also revisits is at the National Eisteddfod - where she gets to recite a poem she originally performed at the festival as a 13-year-old girl.
Coming Home: Siân Phillips is on BBC One Wales on Friday, November 27 at 20:30 GMT.


Claims of innocence by the man facing trial for the murder of an Irish backpacker in Goa have been rubbished by her family's solicitor.

Danielle McLaughlin was found raped and strangled in the Indian tourist haven two months ago.
Police said Vikat Bhagat had confessed to her murder; he has now reportedly sent a letter denying the charge.
It insists he tried to save the backpacker as three other men smashed her head with bottles and rocks.
The 29-page letter to Mr Bhagat's sister, published by the oHeraldo newspaper, states that he was in a relationship with Miss McLaughlin, 28, who was from Buncrana in County Donegal.
It also alleges that three of his friends killed her, and he was unable to stop them because of a shoulder injury.
The letter says the 24-year-old suspect had been assaulted by police and forced to incriminate himself by putting finger prints on beer bottles.
Solicitor Des Doherty told BBC Radio Foyle the claims were "spurious".
"From a legal point of view, I deal with these types of situations all the time, but for the family it is extremely distressing," said Mr Doherty.
"I haven't seen the actual letter, I've seen photographic evidence of the letter and obviously it's written in a different language.
He said that in the letter, Mr Bhagat allegedly relates an entirely different version of events to those outlined by police.
"It seems to me to be highly dubious, spurious and self-serving," said Mr Doherty.
Ms McLaughlin had travelled to India in February to meet up with friends.
She was found dead in a field close to tourist resorts in Canacona on 14 March.
A post-mortem investigation found the cause of death to be brain damage and constriction of the neck.
Indian police have told Mr Doherty the Directorate of Prosecution would bring formal charges against the accused within weeks.
"We are told that everything that happened on the fateful day that Danielle was murdered will be explained in those papers," he added.


The woman who led the project to recover Henry VIII's flagship, the Mary Rose, from the Solent has died aged 86.

Dr Margaret Rule was the archaeologist most associated with work to raise the vessel in October 1982.
The Mary Rose Trust, which is responsible for preserving the Tudor warship in Portsmouth, said it was "deeply saddened" by the news.
The trust's chief executive Rear Admiral John Lippiett said the ship was "very much her legacy to the nation".
Following the discovery of the vessel, he said she learnt to dive in order to supervise the salvage operation and "fought against the odds to recover the ship".
"Her sheer drive and willpower had much to do with the eventual success," Admiral Lippiett added.
"Margaret was an inspiration to the countless staff and volunteers involved both then and ever since."
The ship was discovered in 1971 and raised from the seabed of the Solent in 1982.
It had seen 34 years of service before it sank, killing up to 500 men and boys, while leading an attack on a French invasion fleet in 1545.
The Â£36m Mary Rose Museum at Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard, which houses the wreck and many of the 19,000 artefacts discovered with it, opened in 2013.
A spokeswoman for the trust said Dr Rule had been suffering from Parkinson's disease and arthritis for some time, and died peacefully overnight on Thursday.


Police have released images of a man they want to trace in connection with a robbery at a West Lothian betting shop.

The robbery took place at Ladbrokes Bookmakers in the Carmondean area of Livingston on Saturday 13 December 2014 at about 19:20.
The man is white, with a Scottish accent, about 5ft 8in, and of medium build.
He was wearing light grey jogging bottoms, gloves and black trainers.
He was also wearing a light blue Gio Goi brand puffa-style hooded jacket.
Det Con Stevie McCormick, of Police Scotland, said: "This robbery has been a terrifying experience for the staff and customers inside the shop and our officers have been making extensive inquiries.
"We would urge anyone who may recognise the man pictured or is able to provide any information that might help our investigation to get in touch immediately."


Minecraft is to become a testing ground for artificial intelligence experiments.

Microsoft, owner of the popular video game, revealed that computer scientists and amateurs will be able to evaluate and develop AI software using its virtual landscapes from July.
The company says Minecraft is more "sophisticated" than existing AI research simulations and cheaper to use than building a robot.
One expert said it had great potential.
"This is the state-of-the-art," said Prof Jose Hernandez-Orallo from the Technical University of Valencia, one of a small group of academics given early access to the software.
"At this moment there is nothing comparable, and this is just in its beginnings, so I see many possibilities for it."
To take advantage of the offer, users will need to install AIX - a software platform that hooks into Minecraft and allows the artificial intelligence code to control a character and get feedback about the consequences of its actions.
AIX will be open source, meaning the only cost involved will be that of buying a standard licence for the game.
The experiments will run on the researchers' own computers and be "roped off" from normal players. However, in time the aim is to allow people to interact with the code.
"People build amazing structures that do amazing things in Minecraft, and this allows experimenters to put in tasks that will stretch AI technology beyond its current capacity," explained Katja Hofmann, who leads the project at Microsoft Research's Cambridge lab in the UK.
"But eventually, we will be able to scale this up further to include tasks that allow AI agents to learn to collaborate with humans and support them in a creative manner.
"This provides a way to take AI from where it is today up to human-level intelligence, which is where we want to be, in several decades time."
Improving AI software by getting it to play video games has been done before. But Microsoft suggests the open-ended nature of Minecraft makes it particularly useful because of the huge variety of situations it can simulate from first-person perspectives.
"It allows you to have 'embodied AI'," explained Matthew Johnson, the principal software engineer working on AIX.
"So, rather than have a situation where the AI sees an avatar of itself, it can actually be inside, looking out through the eyes of something that is living in the world.
"We think this is an essential part of building this kind of general intelligence."
Microsoft expects one of the most popular types of research will be reinforcement learning, in which an AI agent learns how best to carry out a task via a mix of experimentation and use of prior knowledge, rather than being told what to do.
This process was recently used by Google's AlphaGo program. Last week, it triumphed against one of the best ever players of the board game Go after having played thousands of games against itself to discover new strategies.
While that was a specialised task, Microsoft suggests Minecraft provides a way for AI to learn a wide range of concepts.
"Experimenters could design a task with features such as lava, which might be very dangerous for the agent, and then evaluate how quickly it can learn to interpret the environment," Ms Hofmann told the BBC.
"But the platform is also open to more general AI research, for example how to make agents integrate language and vision.
"We see this as a stepping stone to technology that will eventually be applied to robotics, but that we can first explore in a safer environment that we completely control and is very cheap to run."
Although AI specialists may get the most out of the platform, Microsoft stresses that AIX will also support simple programs that children can create, and the firm has promised to provide a range of teaching materials.
"We want people of all skills and ages to get involved," said Mr Johnson.
Prof Jose Hernandez-Orallo commended the idea.
"Kids could create agents in a world they are already fascinated with, and play with them," he said.
"This could boost young people's interest in artificial intelligence, and we expect that in the next 10 to 20 years we are going to need more people working in the area."


A motorist has been seriously injured in a road accident in Berwickshire.

The man was hurt when his car left the road while negotiating a double bend on the B6355 Chirnside to Ayton road on Monday.
Police said his silver Seat Alhambra struck a tree before coming to rest down an embankment at about 16:30.
The 43-year-old was taken by ambulance to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where he is now in a stable condition.
The road was closed near to Peelwalls Farm for four hours following the accident.
PC Davy Johnson, of Police Scotland, said: "This accident has unfortunately left the driver with serious injuries.
"We are keen to establish the full circumstances and would ask anyone with information to contact us."


Ed Miliband hoped to present himself as a "happy warrior" in the televised leaders' debate, according to notes apparently left in his dressing room.

The phrase - originally from a William Wordsworth poem - had previously been used by US President Barack Obama to describe Vice-President Joe Biden.
Other reminders for Mr Miliband, published by the Sun, included an order to remain "calm... never agitated".
Labour said the prompts would be "no surprise" to anyone who watched.
But the Tories mocked Mr Miliband, with Deputy Chief Whip Greg Hands saying: "Am not at all surprised that the Sun has Miliband's debate notes. It was obvious that Ed didn't have them."
The notes include reminders to "relish the chance to show who I am" and talk to the camera to "use the people at home".
Another section includes a quote Mr Miliband used during the programme, telling voters to "use their vote as a weapon to fight for the NHS, by kicking David Cameron out of Downing Street".
A Labour spokesman said: "These notes will come as no surprise to anybody who saw the debate.
"They explain why and how Ed took on David Cameron over the NHS and living standards. They also show how Ed set out a positive vision for the future with Labour's better plan, including on zero-hours contracts, lower tuition fees and rents."
Wordsworth's Character Of The Happy Warrior was written in 1806 and inspired by the death of Lord Nelson.
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A tropical bird that was found exhausted on a Sussex beach has had an easier journey home - on a 12-hour flight from Heathrow.

Norman, a red-footed booby, was nursed back to health by the RSPCA and flown to the Cayman Islands by British Airways on Friday.
It is not known how the seabird reached the south coast of England.
He will join a flock of fellow booby birds at a nature reserve. The RSPCA said he would be home for Christmas.
Captain Shaun Griffiths, who flew BA0253 from the UK to Grand Cayman, said: "Despite having flown a number of VIPs before, Norman is by far the most unusual."
The pilot said beaches on the Cayman Islands were among the most beautiful in the world, adding: "We are thrilled he can start the new year in the sunshine."
Norman was found bedraggled on a pebble beach in St Leonards by a passer-by in September.
Collected by East Sussex Wildlife Rescue Ambulance Service (WRAS), he was found to be underweight and dehydrated.
At the time, WRAS founder Trevor Weeks said the "stunning" bird had been found looking extremely exhausted and just sitting on the beach.
He said as far as he knew, no booby bird had ever been found in the wild in the UK before although one appeared to have visited Spain.
Norman spent three months with the RSPCA being fed sprats - a type of small fish - and cared for under a heat lamp to keep him warm during the drizzle and cold of a British autumn.
The charity said its wildlife workers are more used to dealing with gulls and terns.
Richard Thompson, wildlife rehabilitation team manager at the RSPCA Mallydams Wood centre, said: "We have done everything possible to build his weight up and keep his strength up to prepare him for his long journey home."
Norman will spend 30 days in quarantine before he is released to start his new life next year.


The US holds Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro "personally responsible" for the safety of two seized opposition leaders, President Donald Trump has warned.

In a statement, Mr Trump also called for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners.
Leopoldo López and Antonio Ledezma, who had been under house arrest, were taken to a military prison on Tuesday.
This came after Sunday's controversial vote for a constitutional assembly.
At least 10 people were killed, as the opposition boycotted the election.
President Maduro said the poll was a "vote for the revolution", arguing that the move would create peace and foster dialogue by bringing together different sectors of Venezuela's polarised society.
The opposition said late on Tuesday that it had decided to hold a demonstration against the new assembly on Thursday.
Opposition lawmaker Freddy Guevara tweeted (in Spanish) the rally would be held on "the day the dictatorship plans to install the fraudulent assembly".
It had originally been thought that the government would open the constituent assembly on Wednesday, thereby evicting the opposition-controlled National Assembly.
In other developments on Tuesday:
In his statement, President Trump said the US condemned the actions of the "Maduro dictatorship".
The two opposition leaders were "political prisoners being held illegally by the regime", he added.
"The United States holds Maduro - who publicly announced just hours earlier that he would move against his political opposition - personally responsible for the health and safety of Mr López, Mr Ledezma and any others seized."
Earlier, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson described the re-arrest of the two opposition leaders as "very alarming".
"The situation from a humanitarian standpoint is already becoming dire," he said.
"We are evaluating all of our policy options as to what can we do to create a change of conditions, where either Maduro decides he doesn't have a future and wants to leave of his own accord, or we can return the government processes back to their constitution."
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced on Monday that the US had imposed sanctions on President Maduro.
Mr López was taken from his home at 12:27 local time (04:27GMT) on Tuesday, his wife, Lilian Tintori, wrote on Twitter.
A video posted showed him being taken away by members of the Venezuelan intelligence service, Sebin.
The daughter of Mr Ledezma, Vanessa Ledezma, also posted a video of her father, wearing pyjamas, being taken away by the Sebin.
A woman can be heard shouting "They're taking Ledezma, they're taking Ledezma, dictatorship!"
The two opposition leaders were taken to Ramo Verde military prison.
The Supreme Court, which critics say is dominated by government loyalists, said it had received intelligence reports alleging the two were trying to flee.
The court also said that it had revoked Mr Ledezma's and Mr López's house arrest because they had made political statements.
Both Mr Ledezma and Mr López were key figures in the wave of protests which swept through Venezuela in 2014 in which 43 people from both sides of the political divide were killed.
They have played a less prominent role in the most recent protests because they have been under house arrest but their video messages still get reported and shared widely on opposition websites.


Syrian government forces have seized more districts from rebels in eastern Aleppo, state media and a monitoring group say.

The gains mean the government has now recaptured more than 70% of the rebel-held area, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
More than 100,000 people are believed to be trapped in districts still under rebel control.
Food supplies are exhausted and there are no functioning hospitals.
"Regime forces took full control of Shaar, Dahret Awad, Juret Awad, Karam al-Beik, and Karam al-Jabal [districts]," the observatory, a UK-based monitoring group, said.
The group's head, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP news agency that government forces could now wage a "war of attrition" on encircled rebels.
"The regime is cornering the rebels even further," he said.
Syrian state news agency Sana also reported the advance, saying the army had inflicted "heavy losses" on the rebels, whom it describes as "terrorists".
In another development, Russia has accused the US of trying to buy time for rebels in Aleppo.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the US had called off talks scheduled for Wednesday that were to focus on a possible rebel withdrawal.
"It looks like an attempt to buy time for the rebels, to have a breather, take a pause and replenish their reserves,"  he said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry rejected the suggestion that they were stalling talks.
"I'm not aware of any specific refusal," he said, on the sidelines of talks with Nato foreign ministers in Brussels.
Russia is a key ally of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and has been carrying out air strikes against rebels since September 2015.
On Monday, Russia and China vetoed a draft resolution at the UN Security Council that called for a seven-day ceasefire in Aleppo.
Russia said the document infringed a council rule that allowed countries 24 hours to consider the final wording.
The US said Russia was trying to secure recent military gains by Syrian government troops in Aleppo.
It was the sixth time in five years that Russia had used its veto power to block a draft resolution on Syria.