Well.... crap. The UK is a temperate country, so it's too hot for lions and too cold for polar bears, and all the nasties in between. Well, until now. Poisonous spiders are running rampant in the UK, causing serious damage. One man nearly lost a leg because of one bite.

The spider in question is the 'false widow spider'.

WARNING - Graphic content, do NOT open the first link if you don't want to see a nasty wound.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2453833/Decorator-nearly-loses-leg-bite-UKs-poisonous-spider.html

http://www.itv.com/news/story/2013-10-11/false-widow-spider-rise-in-uk/

Uggghhh, I hate spiders. Seriously.

I have arachnophobia, I get freaked out by spiders as it is, since the news about this came out, I've been nervous about every web I see.

Didn't Know A&E had a tv show involving doctors...

Probably would be more worried about Asian Giant Hornets.

And they've been in England since the 19th century. I suppose the news ran out of actual news to report on and thought it'd be a good idea to cause mass panic about these insignificant spiders.

Spiders do not actively seek out humans to bite and kill them, you're more likely to die from a bee/wasp than one of these guys. They're not even likely to kill you, it's extremely rare for that to happen, you'll just get severe pains for a period of time.

Stupid UK news. Even in Germany I haven't escaped hearing about the spiders from my friends back home, the same friends who go into mass panic over anything the papers say.