The record-breaking heat Brits have seen this summer could be fuelling a boom in the UK’s rat population – with rodents as large as chihuahas now commonplace on the streets of Britain
Brits are being warned to prepare for enormous 20-inch rats infesting their homes this winter.
Thanks to the record heat of the summer and the waste from fast food restaurants amassing on the streets, experts believe we’ve created the optimal conditions for a looming plague of rodents.
Kieran Sampler, who founded the Yorkshire Rat Pack, said his pest control company was now battling with huge rodents and predicts the situation will worsen in the coming months.
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Speaking to The Telegraph, Kieran – who uses two Lakeland terriers to hunt the pests, said: “It is going to be a bad winter for rats, and people don’t realise – it is going to be horrendous. There is always going to be a bad winter after a good summer.”
Kieran added that the problem has been getting worse in recent years, with him now seeing dog-sized rats as “standard”.
He said: “We are catching up to 22-inch rats, 19-inch rats are now standard – they are like a chihuahua. Give it a couple years and they will be 25 inches.”
He blames the development on the influx of waste hitting Britain’s streets in comparison to two decades, in particular the “higher quantity of takeaways and discarded food”.
Kieran said “it’s getting beyond a joke”, referring to the 19/20-inch rodents he and his team are catching on a daily basis. A job usually requires three or four hunters, with their dogs, but some larger projects might need up to 15 rat catchers.
Current estimates say the UK rat population stands at around 250 million. Some carry illnesses like Weil’s disease, which can be transmitted to humans.
Farms, warehouses and late 20th Century properties are at particular risk of horrid infestations, Kieran added, blaming it on “crumbling” cast iron pipes that let the rats in.
Local Tory councillor Paul Salvin raised concerns over the improper disposal of food as what’s fuelling the development. He warned that food waste bins due to be introduced in April 2026 could worsen the issue, and that water companies had a responsibility to prevent rodents entering people’s homes.
It comes after the discovery of a colossal 22-inch rat inside a UK home has triggered urgent warnings from councillors who say it’s a sign the area’s rodent problem is spiralling out of control.
The dead rat – thought to be one of the biggest ever found in the UK – was uncovered by a pest controller who had been called to the property in Normanby after reports of an infestation.
Said to resemble the “sewer rat”, it had been nesting inside the house, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) was told.
How it got there remains unclear, but sightings in nearby back alleys had already raised alarm. A photo of the mammoth rodent, shared online, has shocked locals – and prompted calls for sweeping action across the Redcar and Cleveland to tackle the rise in vermin.