mozzies - one of my gripes about life in Canada but just recently I am reading on FB that my pals in England are suffering with them too. I thought England was free of these b$%^&ds.

My sister, who is one of those annoying people that doesn't suffer from hangovers or bites, has now been bitten twice and they are absolute corkers! So bad, that she is having to go to the doc for some antibiotics. Serves her right for all those headaches and dodgy stomachs she's missed out on

tbh - if they are now in England then in my mind they can only get worse. Mozzies would have been my only reason to ever return there and even that is a weak reason anyway. If they are there I can scratch that totally!

are you sure it's not just overweight midgies on their holidays from Scotland :-)

As a Scot who just moved to Somerset I can assure you they are not - the buggers have become very common this year apparently due to the wet weather in the early Summer followed by the glorious weather we've been having for the past couple of months. Luckily I don't get bitten by them but the OH is wishing she were back in chilly Edinburgh to get away from them.

At the moment it is a choice between windows wide open to cope with the humidity at night or no mosquito bites - we both enjoy sleeping too much so the OH has to suffer.

Oh thats tough. I love my windows open and to that end really love my window screens although the crane flies still manage to get in somehow but they dont bite.
This must be a new thing, I dont recall mosquitos ever in England when I lived there.

My sister was also complaining this weekend about the Mozzies that have arrived, I have offered to send her bug screens - I might get her one of those magnetic things (screens) they advertise on telly

there has always been mozzies in the UK, but just not many, and they are also smaller than the Fhuge buggers we get here, I have noticed there are less here this year, and I have also noticed that my body is building up some kinda of immune to them, as they don't seem to itch or react as much as they did when we first came.....

I was listening to some talk radio station the other day, and some woman was talking about this pain they have invented to totally eradicate Mozzies because of Malaria..

http://business.myjoyonline.com/page...1204/85397.php

Spending much time in the parks as a kid I remember mozzies from the early 90s in the UK.

I have been in Toronto all summer and a few times and the beach and at parks and have yet to be bit by anything so touch wood they just dont like me as much here

I dont ever remember them and I spent a lot of time in the countryside. Oh well

Oh goodie, I will pack in my mosquito net (bought on honeymoon years ago in Cape Town) when we return, finally it may come in handy! We don't need it here on VI

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14613140

Five of the 30-plus species of mosquito found in the UK are not native.

It is believed that malaria - literally "bad air" - dates back at least to Roman times in the UK. Interesting article on Malaria in the UK: http://malaria.wellcome.ac.uk/doc_WTD023991.html

thank you, this is most helpful

they've always been there - mainly around standing water.

becasue of the rain earlier in the summer, there's been a lot more standing water and therefore a lot more mossies.

if you are staying somewhere away from rivers / canals / lakes / ponds then you should be ok.

Alternatively drink lots of gin and tonic, just in case

yep, the lil blighters are becoming a pain where i live too and they love me, alot 35 bites the last count and they aint no tiny bites either. I was bitten just as badly the last time i visited spain and said i wouldnt go back if thats what was going to happen everytime. I guess im used to them now seeing as they pop in my room for what seems to be an all night feast