UK weather: Mosquitoes carrying fatal diseases could increase

But it’s been revealed that having longer and warmer summers due to climate change could “increase the risk” of mosquitoes carrying “fatal diseases” in the UK.

The Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued a warning for mosquitoes such as the tiger mosquito which transmits fatal "tropical" diseases, Sky News reports.

Since being first established in Italy in 1990, the insect has been sighted in 13 European Economic Area (EEA) countries.

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Jolyon Medlock, chief medical entomologist at the UKHSA, told Sky News: "With climate change, as the summers warm and the seasons lengthen, every time these mosquitoes come into the country there is greater potential for them to become established."

It comes as Paris is the latest location to “fumigate” areas due to fears that breeding tiger mosquitoes could cause an outbreak of dengue fever.

The viral infection has already been causing major problems in the south of France with more than 50 cases reported over the last two years.

This included a British woman who was on holiday in Nice.

What is dengue fever?

You can get dengue fever if you're bitten by an infected mosquito, reports the NHS.

“The mosquitoes that carry the dengue virus bite during the day,” it adds.

However, it is yet to be found in the UK and you cannot catch the illness from another human.

Although symptoms don’t always show up in a person if they have dengue fever, if they are present they usually start four to 10 days after being bitten.

What are the symptoms of dengue fever?

Some of the symptoms, that are similar to flu, include:

• a high temperature
• a severe headache
• pain behind your eyes
• muscle and joint pain
• feeling or being sick
• swollen glands
• a blotchy rash made up of flat or slightly raised spots – this can affect large areas of your body

The more severe symptoms of dengue fever are:

• severe tummy pain
• repeatedly being sick
• fast breathing
• bleeding gums or nose
• extreme tiredness (fatigue)
• being unable to relax (restlessness)
• blood in your vomit or poo

The tiger mosquito is expected to be established in the UK within the next 50 years (Image: Getty)

Sky News says research carried out by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine suggests “the tiger mosquito will become established across much of England and south Wales within 50 years.”

"If we find them then we have a contingency plan to eliminate them," added Dr Medlock.

"Unless you get in there at an early stage the mosquito will establish. Before we know it, we will have mosquitoes all over the country."

The government reports the UK has 34 native mosquito species, “many of which bite and can be a nuisance.”