A plague of ticks

Photo: one of my meconopisis , blue poppies,  thanks to some creative  cropping in Photoshop. 
Tic feast: I wonder if anyone has heard of reports of a ticks epidemic in Scotland? I mention this because both M and I have been bitten several times while working in the garden.
In the past we have had the occasional tick but now it is a daily occurrence.
A friend who has a partner working as outdoor instructor up north reported that one day a member of his party collected 48 ticks on his body in one day.  
The recent warm wet weather may have contributed to it.