Rat infestations are coming to the UK this winter following a spate of heatwaves, warns a rat-catcher.
The Yorkshire Rat Pack, a pest-control group, said it is routinely catching 20-inch rats, a surge blamed on the hot weather, a booming takeaway culture, and crippling infrastructure.
Kieran Sampler, the leader of the rat-catching group, claimed infestations are becoming particularly bad in farms, warehouses, and houses built in the late 20th century.
The 31-year-old from Wakefield told The Telegraph: “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.”
Mr Sampler runs pest control team VermiCure Pest Control and created the Yorkshire Rat Pack, a group of pest controllers who share jobs across the region, usually in groups of three or four, each taking two dogs.
He said: “Over the years, it has been getting worse. The rats are getting a lot bigger. We are catching up to 22-inch rats, 19-inch rats are now standard – they are like a chihuahua. Give it a couple of years, and they will be 25 inches.
“There is a lot more waste now than 20 years ago. There are more takeaways, more half-eaten food. There are a lot more high-rise flats now with communal bin areas, and this brings a lot more rats.”
In August, a 22-inch rat thought to be the UK’s biggest was captured in a household in the Normanby area of Redcar and Cleveland.
Dr Steven Belmain, professor of ecology at the University of Greenwich, told The Independent that adult rats can weigh up to 600g. He said: “When they are well fed and mature, they can be 20 to 30cm long.”
Councillors of the region said the rodent was “almost the size of a small cat”, and claimed pest control issues were “out of control” since the end of free services for residents in the Labour-run local authority.
A Redcar and Cleveland council spokesperson said at the time: “The council has a dedicated pest control officer who manages pest issues on council-owned land. While we no longer provide a wider pest control service, we do offer advice to residents where possible.
“The council continues to work with Beyond Housing, Northumbrian Water and other partners to address complex issues and explore potential solutions. There is also helpful guidance and preventative measures on our website to support people in dealing with pests.”
Veteran pest controller David Parnell said he used to receive a couple of callouts a month for household rats, but now receives eight to 10 a week. He claims the 22-inch rat found in Normanby won’t remain a record-breaker for long.
Mr Parnell said: “The vast majority of these infestations trace back to our neglected drainage systems. The rodents aren’t just passing through – they’re coming up from the sewers and moving in. I’ve had cases where rats have climbed two storeys up the inside of a cast iron drainpipe, only to emerge in someone’s toilet bowl.”
Mr Salvin, who has set up a cross-party pest control taskforce, said: “With the ‘go live’ date of April 2026 for food waste bins, if food isn’t stored properly, this could add to feeding the rats as well, which is concerning.
“It shouldn’t take a giant rat being found for councils to act, but at least Redcar has finally woken up. Other councils, working with water companies, need to do the same.”
