Now you don’t need a swimming cossie to get bitten by a mozzie
THE long, hot summer has brought unwelcome visitors to London. No, I don’t mean those hot-air balloons flying over Westminster. And by that I don’t mean those puffing politicians nursing pet peeves.
No, what I mean is — bbzzzt! — mosquitoes.
The wet spring and the long, sunny days of 2018 have meant an increase in mosquito action in the capital. During that last, lovely blast of heat many of us were bitten by the pests, which are more usually found in hotter climes. Certainly, it’s the first time I can recall being bitten by a mozzie in London.
And they aren’t the only critters on the move in this crazy old town.
The hot weather also led to an upsurge in bedbugs, which move around the city on public transport — just like we do! Apparently the fabric-clad seats on buses and Tube trains make a cosy temporary home for the bugs, with a particular concentration running on the west-to-east corridor of the Central Line.
Crikey, I tell a posh friend, I’m never sitting down on a bus again.
She looks at me with unabashed horror. ‘You mean you sit down on public transport?’ she shrieks.