Brits are being told to brace for an invasion of wasps that could be the “worst for years” ahead of another expected heatwave.
With summer officially here, the sun shining, and temperatures set to get progressively hotter as the days go on, the Met Office is forecasting that another heatwave is set to arrive in the UK this week, and although we’re not likely to see record highs of 40°C again like we saw a couple of weeks ago, it is expected that this period of warm weather will stick around for longer.
Unfortunately though, with that warm weather is set to come an influx of wasps that pest controllers have already warned will likely be “sugar-crazed”.
The wasp population is known to fluctuate year on year dependent on the season and weather changes, and due what has been an increased numbers of the insects throughout the year already thanks to the warm weather, 2022 has been dubbed the ‘Year of the Wasp’.
Wasps build their nests during the spring in trees, attics, and sometimes underground, and this means that if there is bad weather, their homes stand higher risk of being destroyed which decimates their survival rates, however this year, the record-breaking high temperatures combined with less rainfall have instead given wasps the ideal environment to multiply.
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Brits are being told to brace for an invasion of wasps that could be the “worst for years” / Credit: Niklas Stumpf (via Unsplash)
Sebastien Pommereul – Manager of Stop Wasps – spoke to BFMTV and explained that: “This year, we are doing between 10 to 12 interventions a day.
“But last year, we were at five.”
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Pest controllers say that later months of summer are when wasps can become “sugar-crazed”, as their larva grow into full sized wasps and they need to find a new source of energy – but this is unfortunately when many of us will be spending more time outside.
As well as warnings by pest controllers, medics have also issued fresh advice to those of us who end up unlucky enough to be stung by a wasp this summer, with the NHS stating: “Insect bites and stings will usually cause a red, swollen lump to develop on the skin. This may be painful and in some cases can be very itchy.
“The symptoms will normally improve within a few hours or days, although sometimes they can last a little longer.”
They say it’s vital to pluck out the stinger left in the flesh immediately as it’s packed with venom.
After removing the sting – which can be scraped away from the skin, but never with tweezers – it’s advised that you should wash the affected area with soap and water, reduce swelling by applying ice or a cold compress for up to 10 minutes, and avoid scratching the area to reduce the risk of infection.
The NHS website states: “Dial 999 for an ambulance immediately if you or someone else has symptoms of a severe reaction, as emergency treatment in hospital is needed in these cases.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Benson Boone has announced a headline gig in Manchester – and it’s a big one
Danny Jones
American pop sensation and unrivalled king of unnecessary front flips, Benson Boone, has just announced his first-ever headline Manchester arena gig as part of a new arena tour.
The solo artist and acrobatic chart-topper has seen a meteoric rise in the US and, as is usually the case across the Atlantic, he’s become increasingly popular over here too.
Benson may have performed here in Manchester before as part of the 2024 MTV EMAs and for a small show at The Deaf Institute, but now big fans have the added Boone of getting to watch a standalone show at one of Europe’s leading indoor entertainment venues.
Announced on Friday, 30 May, the 22-year-old will be making his way across the pond from Washington for a limited run of UK concerts, with a date at Co-op Live arena being one of just five dates.
Extending his ‘American Heart Tour’ ahead of the release of his eponymous sophomore record, with this autumn leg, Co-op Live will mark his individual visit to 0161.
The Grammy-nominated artist has earned several nods of recognition already for his first album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, which was released just last spring.
He has been described as among the current trend of male singers who fit into the American Idol and ‘Voice audition pop’ genre (a term recently coined online), along with the likes of Teddy Swims, Shawn Mendes, Alex Warren and others.
Regardless of the slightly tongue-in-cheek term, he’s become a huge hit around the world and landing him is still a big coup for the venue that has already welcomed similarly massive pop contemporaries like Swims, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo and more.
In case you’re wondering just how big a deal he is over in the States, even this early in his career, his domestic headline dates sold out in seconds, quite literally…
The last time he visited Co-op Live was to perform at the most recent MTV EMAs
Benson Boone is coming to Manchester on Monday, 27 October and will be playing just two other British venues: The O2 in London (two nights) and the Utilita Arena in Birmingham.
Safe to say you don’t want to miss this one if you like soaring vocals and lots of flipping.
General admission tickets go live at 10am on Thursday, 5 June, but Co-op Members can gain access via the arena’s official pre-sale window from the same time on Tuesday (3 Jun).
Emily Sergeant -
8th August 2022 
