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The UK’s wet summer conditions have created the perfect breeding ground for giant spiders with a ‘wasp sting’ bite.
These spiders can inflict an extremely painful bite and they are known as false widow spiders – the most venomous in the UK.
Their venom causes swelling like painful burns and fever but thankfully they will not kill you.
Spider mating season is also just about to begin so you might see a few of these spiders walking around the house.
Breeding also hits a peak around mid-October and can last all the way through sometimes until November.
Males are the ones who tend to walk around the house in search of a female to mate with.
As temperatures begin to cool off as well, this encourages spiders to seek the warmth inside people’s homes.
False widow spiders might seem like scary creatures – but rest assured they are unlikely to be aggressive to humans, according to The Wildlife Trusts.
The group confirmed: ‘Confirmed cases of false widow bites are rare.
‘Only the two larger species of false widow, the cupboard spider and the noble false widow, are likely to be able to bite through human skin at all.
‘The spiders are not aggressive towards people, and generally don’t bite unless roughly handled; most recorded bites occur because of people accidentally touching a spider which then reacts defensively.
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‘In the extremely rare confirmed cases where a noble false widow has bitten someone, the bite has been compared to a wasp sting.
‘In even rarer cases, the bite may cause a person to feel unwell for a short time.’
The advice is to seal or patch up windows for the entire breeding period so you don’t get these spiders infiltrating your home.
But many can still fit through very small gaps so the advice is to watch your back.
Luckily the weather will be nice today though with highs of 24°C across London and the south east and sun across many parts of the UK.
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