Arachnophones should be on alert as the much-dreaded spider season is set to arrive early across the UK.
It has been reported that female spiders are ready to invade homes on the hunt for a mate.
Normally this all kicks off around September but the recent wet weather means they could have arrived earlier this time around.
Edinburgh has been hit with a number of yellow weather warnings for flooding and thunderstorms in recent weeks – with another in-place today (Tuesday) and tomorrow.
As reported in the Mirror, experts from the Bristol Zoological Society say that the conditions could have tricked spiders into a premature mating season.
These house spiders, which can stay in your home for the whole of their seven year life, are said to have a leg span of up to 12cm. They can often carry up to 100 offspring at once and are known to search houses for somewhere warm to lay eggs.
While many of us don't mind having spiders in our home, they do play an important role in UK nature after all, there are some who panic and the mere sight of them.
So here are some top tips on how you can help keep them away from your home.
It's important to keep all openings sealed up as they'll try to exploit little cracks and gaps around doors and windows. Pesticide can also be sprayed to deter them.
They also hate smells like citrus, vinegar, eucalyptus and peppermint, so leaving peel from lemons and oranges where they might try to enter could also help.
Leftover food and dust on carpets can also attract spiders, so it's important to keep on top of the hoovering.
And cedar wood near doors and windows can also help keep them away as experts say they don't like the smell.
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