The true black widow thrives in hot, dry climates: parts of the USA, southern Europe, Australia, and Africa. They avoid the damp, chilly British weather like it’s a bad pub lunch. Imagine a spider wearing a little woolly jumper and shivering in a puddle—that’s not a black widow’s idea of a good time.
Occasionally, a black widow might sneak into the UK inside a shipment of bananas or a holidaymaker’s suitcase. We call these “stowaway spiders.” They don’t last long, though. They usually die of cold, boredom, or sheer confusion at the lack of sunshine.
So please, don’t panic about exotic invaders. The UK’s climate acts like a giant, grumpy bouncer that keeps them out. Our spiders are more interested in eating flies and looking vaguely threatening than plotting a cinematic revenge.
What About the 20 Species of Spider That Are Here?
Let’s give a little love to the British spiders you should meet. We have the lovely garden spider with its orange cross on its back, the zebra jumping spider that looks like a tiny furry comedian, and the house spider—the one that scuttles across the floor at 3 a.m. to test your bravery.
DOZENS of deadly black widow spiders discovered in UK after breeding on
None of these can seriously harm you. The biggest danger is your own fright, which might lead to you falling off a chair or dropping your phone in the loo. That, my friend, is a very real and unspiderly hazard.
The UK has exactly no native spiders with a medically significant bite. That’s it. Zero. Nada. You are safer from spider venom in Britain than you are from traffic on a quiet street.
