A VENOMOUS spider is spreading across Britain due to climate change, experts warned yesterday.
The False Widow ? cousin of the Black Widow ? carries enough poison to kill a human.
It first arrived in Devon from the Canary Islands 140 years ago.
But it has now set up colonies in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire after a series of mild winters.
Gran Lyn Mitchell, 52, fell into a coma after being bitten as she slept at home in Egremont, Cumbria, in January.
Joanne West, 32, was temporarily paralysed by a False Widow on her bed three months later in Fareham, Hants.
The purple and black creature looks similar to a Black Widow, but has a smaller body ? the size of a 1p piece.
Matt Shardlow, director of charity Buglife, said: ?They may also have evolved to cope with the colder weather.?
The False Widow ? cousin of the Black Widow ? carries enough poison to kill a human.
It first arrived in Devon from the Canary Islands 140 years ago.
But it has now set up colonies in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire after a series of mild winters.
Gran Lyn Mitchell, 52, fell into a coma after being bitten as she slept at home in Egremont, Cumbria, in January.
Joanne West, 32, was temporarily paralysed by a False Widow on her bed three months later in Fareham, Hants.
The purple and black creature looks similar to a Black Widow, but has a smaller body ? the size of a 1p piece.
Matt Shardlow, director of charity Buglife, said: ?They may also have evolved to cope with the colder weather.?
Comment