Just as you’d expect from 2020, we haven’t exactly had a typical August in terms of weather this year, have we? Not only has this past month brought with it quite a few washout days, but there’s also been some of the hottest we’ve seen on record too, and now with September right around the corner, the air has started to develop a bit of a chill.
Autumn is on the horizon, and that of course means it’s spider season.
According to experts, the giant “hand-sized” house spider has already started to rear it’s ugly head in households across the UK as it searches for somewhere warm to escape the harsh outdoor conditions.
ADVERTISEMENT
Oh, and it’s also looking for a mate too.
In what is bound to be bad news for Greater Manchester’s arachnophobes, it’s been confirmed that around the first or second week in September, there’ll be a rise in the number of large, male spiders wandering through homes, and females will tend to stay in places like underneath windowsills and webs.
Of the 650 species of spider in the UK, most are too small to be able to bite, but the Tegenaria Domestica and Eratigena Atrica – also known as the giant house spider – are “generally quite large”, and according to The Wildlife Trusts, the giant house spider, which can be identified by its dark, hairy body and long legs, typically has a leg span of up to 7.5cm and can run up to half a metre per second.
ADVERTISEMENT
Pxfuel
Professor Adam Hart – Entomologist at the University of Gloucestershire – told the BBC that we don’t really need to worry though as they are relatively “harmless”.
He said: “If we are not used to seeing them around, they do appear quite big.
“There are a couple of male spiders in those species that are quite formidable-looking, but the reality is they’re quite harmless.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Professor Hart also revealed that peak time for spotting spiders indoors is around 7:35pm.
He continued: “There’s nearly always a way to get in the house, they can also come in through things like towels that are left outside. Keeping your house tidy and keeping clothes off the floor may reduce places for them to hide, but it’s very difficult to keep them out.”
Whilst he did state that this is the typical time for spider mating season, he added that it won’t stick around for long and should come to end at the start of October.
So, what are some of the best ways to deter spiders from your home then? Lucy Askew – spokesperson for Hillary’s – has shared her six top tips on how to keep spiders at bay this autumn/winter:
Put conkers in the corners of your rooms.
Create your own natural spider deterrents using citrus juice, essential oils, and vinegar.
Seal the cracks in your home – especially near windows.
Keep your windows closed at night.
Maintain / keep on top of your cleaning routine.
Turn off your outside lights.
Trending
Incredible misty drone footage shows how Manchester earned its ‘Manctopia’ nickname
Daisy Jackson
Drone footage captured from way above Manchester shows just how quickly the city has grown – and proves that our hometown is well on its way to earning its ‘Manctopia’ nickname.
Cast your mind back just a few years and you’ll remember that Beetham Tower stuck out like a sore thumb, towering many storeys above the next tallest building.
In fact, until just four years ago, the next-tallest building here was City Tower, which was a good 17 storeys shorter than Beetham Tower.
Then along came Renaker with visions for an entirely new skyscraper neighbourhood – Deansgate Square.
The drone footage captured above Manchester. Credit: Instagram @lef_tsotour
This group of skyscrapers now completely dominate the Manchester skyline, with the tallest building a massive 65 storeys tall.
South Tower is not only the tallest building in Greater Manchester, it’s also the 10th tallest in the entire UK, and the biggest outside of London.
It’s all led to Manchester being coined ‘Manctopia’, the name of a BBC documentary that followed property developers Capital & Centric as they redevelop buildings around the region.
One local photographer has managed to capture the unbelievable scale of our new, ultra-modern city skyline, with drone footage soaring among the skyscrapers.
Known on Instagram as @lef_tsotour, they shared a video taken on a misty Manchester morning.
It captures both Deansgate Square, with sun glinting off the many windows of the towers, and the now-dwarfed Beetham Tower.
You can also see the railway lines snaking through the city centre, cars nipping around the ring road, and the comparatively small apartment blocks around Castlefield.
Commenting on the video, one person said: “This is mint.”
Another wrote: “Fricken love this!!!!”
Featured image: @lef_tsotour
Trending
Question Time audience stunned as first-time buyer says mortgage quote DOUBLED
Danny Jones
Thursday night’s Question Time audience could be heard audibly gasping after a fellow crowd member revealed that her mortgage quote had doubled followed the recent mini-budget.
Taping in Manchester on 29 September, the current events and politics programme was discussing property when would-be first-time buyer Rabia revealed that her mortgage offer had jumped from an initial amount of 4.5% interest to a shocking 10.5% in just a matter of days.
As you can see in the incredible clip, both the audience and the panel are taken aback at the revelation.
The gasps from the audience as this woman reveals she’s received a revised mortgage offer of 10.5%. pic.twitter.com/a5Nb1co8al
The Greater Manchester resident said she is desperate to know what the government’s plan for mortgages is as following the latest revision, she says she simply cannot afford to put the money down on her first home.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer weighed in on the social media reaction, quote tweeting the clip from his party’s own account and stating that “the Tories must get back to Parliament and reverse their kamikaze budget” as the current economic mess is being “paid for by working people”.
The government’s economic chaos is already clobbering those like Rabia who're trying to get a mortgage or to re-mortgage.
This crisis was made in Downing Street but it’s being paid for by working people.
The Tories must get back to Parliament and reverse their kamikaze budget. https://t.co/bw8B2TOUgl
To make matters worse, Rabia was given no clarification from her lenders, only that they were pulling her offers. Conservative MP and Minister for Local Government, Faith and Communities, Paul Scully had little information to offer her either, simply stating it is a short-term effect and that the market will stabilise.
Scully was subject to an entirely different reaction from the audience as well after his blind attempts to defend Prime Minister Liz Truss and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng were met with laughter. Conversely, Richard Bacon was met with applause after he labelled the mini-budget “absurd”.
As if the anti-Tory sentiment wasn’t already at a high, the chancellor’s mini-budget – which saw the corporations, bankers and the generally wealthy benefit ahead of the working class – has seen fresh calls for a general election to be held as soon as possible.
Beyond declaring a so-called £2,500 limit on energy bills (which many have warned isn’t a guaranteed cap), there was seemingly very little in the way of policy that
For those still unclear as to what was announced in the divisive mini-budget, here is a quick summary:
Speaking in a speech at the Labour conference in Liverpool on Tuesday, Starmer said that the government “haven’t just failed to fix the roof, they’ve ripped out the foundations, smashed the windows and now they’ve blown the doors off for good measure.
Emily Sergeant -
28th August 2020 
