Worst bed bug infected cities across Britain MAPPED with creepy crawlies set to invade the UK – so, is YOUR area affected?

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Last month, reports of bed bugs spread, with social media filled with photos and videos of the blood-sucking insects.

Now, data has revealed which skin-crawling hotspots in the UK have the highest incidences.

Using Google search data, researchers from Merlin Environmental have identified which areas of the UK have the greatest bedbug problems relative to population size.

Of the UK’s 20 largest cities, four were deemed to have a ‘very high infestation’, with London taking top spot as Britain’s ‘bedbug capital’.

However, the results show that it is not only major cities that have the highest levels of infection.

Is your city on the list?  This map reveals which of the 20 largest cities in the UK have the worst bedbug infestations relative to their population size

Is your city on the list? This map reveals which of the 20 largest cities in the UK have the worst bedbug infestations relative to their population size

Following in Paris's footsteps, London now appears to have been caught up in a bedbug boom as footage emerges of the vampires on the Tube and buses.

Following in Paris’s footsteps, London now appears to have been caught up in a bedbug boom as footage emerges of the vampires on the Tube and buses.

Which areas of the UK have the worst bedbug infestation rates?

The researchers examined Google search trends for the 12 months through January 2022 to see how often the terms “bed bugs” or “bed bug treatment” were searched.

These numbers were then divided by the number of people in the area to determine the percentage of the population included in the searches.

The analysis revealed that London had the highest number of searches per capita, with 266,400 searches, equivalent to 2.97 per cent of the population searching for bed bugs on Google.

Leicester came in second place, coming in behind with 2.95 per cent of population – a surprising result considering it is the 13th most populous city.

Manchester came in third place, with 2.8 percent of residents feeling forced to look for bed bugs.

Meanwhile, Wakefield residents will be relieved to discover that their city has the lowest rate of bedbug problems of any place the researchers examined, with just 0.46 percent of the population looking for bedbugs.

While an epidemic of blood-sucking insects may seem too bleak to be true, the situation in the UK represents a growing public health problem.

How infected is your city?
Name of the city or townSearch rate per aapita
Greater London2.97%
Leicester2.95%
Manchester2.82%
Bristol2.67%
Birmingham2.51%
Glasgow2.49%
Liverpool2.42%
Newcastle upon Tyne2.36%
Nottingham2.14%
Edinburgh2.06%
Leeds1.97%
Sheffield1.81%
Wolverhampton1.78%
Belfast1.73%
Coventry1.57%
Plymouth1.46%
Sunderland1.12%
Bradford1.07%
Cardiff0.61%
Wakefield0.49%

Are bed bugs a real problem in the UK?

This week, Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said the possibility of bedbugs on the London Underground was a “real concern”.

Khan said he had been in contact with officials from Paris after the French capital was engulfed by a large-scale invasion.

A viral video appears to show bedbugs crawling down a passenger’s leg on London’s Victoria Line, while the insects have also been spotted on Manchester bus services.

Dr Richard Naylor, an etymologist from the Bed Bug Foundation, told MailOnline the recent spread of bedbugs is due to several different factors.

Bed bugs used to be more common. Dr. Naylor explained that in the 1930s almost every house in London had bed bugs.

However, after World War II, efforts were made to improve living conditions and numbers declined.

Bed bugs continued to grow rare until the late 1990s when their numbers worldwide began to increase rapidly.

Only the COVID-19 pandemic could briefly lower bedbug numbers as travel restrictions limited their spread.

Due to repeated exposure to pesticides, remaining bedbug populations have become highly resistant to the chemicals used to treat infestations

Due to repeated exposure to pesticides, remaining bedbug populations have become highly resistant to the chemicals used to treat infestations

Dr Naylor told MailOnline: ‘There are multiple factors that contribute to the success of bedbugs. They thrive wherever human population density is high because this makes it easier for them to spread.

“In apartment buildings and sheltered apartment complexes, they can easily walk into corridors and under doors, gradually invading the entire building.”

The life cycle of bedbugs is highly dependent on temperature, which means that the warmer the temperature, the faster they spread.

“They benefit from good central heating and warm weather. The warmer they are, the more they feed and the faster they reproduce,” Dr Naylor added.

“Warmer weather resulting from climate change may exacerbate the bedbug problem.”

As central heating and warmer weather made life easier for bedbugs, the insects themselves adapted to become more difficult to remove.

Bedbugs are perfectly adapted to hiding in our homes because they need the warmth of central heating to reproduce and can hide in even the smallest cracks or crevices.

Bedbugs are perfectly adapted to hiding in our homes because they need the warmth of central heating to reproduce and can hide in even the smallest cracks or crevices.

How to get rid of bed bugs

Bedbug infestations used to be treated with chemicals such as DDT, which has now been banned as it has been found to have caused the deaths of several British birds of prey.

Pest control now uses chemicals called pyrethroids to treat infections, however, bed bugs have become highly resistant to these chemicals.

Dr Naylor said: “When insecticide use is less than 100 per cent effective, the survivors tend to be the most resistant individuals in the population.

“If they escape and create new infections in the next apartment or hotel room, the resulting population will be the offspring of these more resistant individuals.”

What are bed bugs?

Bedbugs can reach speeds of up to 100 feet per hour, which means they can easily move from room to room to find a host to feed on.

Their almost delicate bodies mean they are able to get into the smallest crevices of furniture such as the headboard of a bed, making them very difficult to detect.

Bed bugs travel by hiding in clothing or luggage, so when a human jumps into a car or train, the bugs hitch a ride, too.

They come out primarily at night to feed and hide during the day.

Using their keen senses, they track carbon dioxide from our breath to find someone to feed on even in complete darkness.

Female bed bugs usually lay one egg per day, but they can lay up to seven eggs under the right conditions.

The eggs look like grains of sand and take about 10 to 15 days to hatch and produce a new bedbug.

The best way to find bed bugs is with a specially trained dog that can smell the bugs’ communication pheromones.

Bed bugs can reach speeds of up to 100 feet per hour, which means they can easily move from room to room to find a host to feed on.

Bed bugs can reach speeds of up to 100 feet per hour, which means they can easily move from room to room to find a host to feed on.

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