INVASION of false widow spiders

A DOWNTURN in weather across Coventry could spark an influx of the UK’s most dangerous spider.

That’s the message from experts, who are warning homeowners to prepare themselves.

To spot a false widow spider you should look for one with a brown bulbous abdomen with cream skull-like markings.

Although the number of sightings has boomed in recent years bites are relatively rare - and the even better news is that no one has yet died from the bite.

But despite our, some would say irrational fears, about them at this time of year our eight-legged friends are probably with us all year round.

Experts say that there are not necessarily more spiders - but that normally-reclusive males surface from their hiding places around homes-including attics, cupboards, basements and garden sheds - to seek females to breed with.

The NHS says that they only tend to bite when they feel threatened.

A False Widow spider bite is likely to cause pain, redness and swelling.

It’s not likely to be any worse than a bee or wasp sting.

To treat a bite, the NHS recommends managing symptoms at home but making sure the bite does not get infected. Professor Adam Hart from the University of Gloucestershire said: “You’d think that spiders would head indoors because of the cold, but invertebrates are more active when it’s warm and perhaps the warmer weather combined with the start of autumn means that more spiders are coming into our homes earlier this year.”