Peak Spider season: Boom in house spiders thanks to weather

Are you starting to notice more of our eight-legged friends recently? It’s spider season, so you might need to prepare yourself for some visiting arachnids.

House spiders love the warmth that homes offer, and right now we are entering the peak of their activity.

Every house has spiders, whether you can see them or not. A 2017 study revealed that the average home has 61 spiders living inside.

With so many housemates, you might wonder why it is this time of the year that so many seemingly appear. It is simple, it’s mating season and it is getting colder.

Throughout autumn male house spiders are on the hunt for a mate while female spiders wait in the shadows, preferring a more sedentary lifestyle usually in a warm location like a house.

There is no need to panic. While many of us dislike seeing spiders, the ones in our house are, mostly, harmless.

There are more than 600 species of spider found in the UK and Ireland, of these just 12 have been known to bite humans and none are poisonous but can be painful.

Spider season only lasts for a few weeks between late summer and early autumn. If you want to stay spider-free, try using a strong-smelling repellent like vinegar or peppermint near windows, which repel the arachnids.

If you decide to evict them, it is likely that they will make their way back inside, or into a neighbour’s home for the warm, dry conditions on offer. Keep an eye on the weather throughout the season on the WeatherRadar.