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Rat activity shows significant increase after hot summer and recent rain
Rentokil recorded a 10% increase in rat activity driven by 2025’s warmest year on record and heavy rains flooding burrows, displacing rodents into UK buildings.
- Rentokil Pest Control recorded a 10% year-on-year rise in confirmed rodent activity across the UK, measured over the last year.
- Rentokil said longer-term climate patterns could be contributing, noting 2025, the UK's warmest year on record, and warned milder weather can extend breeding seasons, increasing rat populations.
- Northern Ireland reported the largest rise in rat activity, up 26%, with Yorkshire at 20%, north-west England 19%, and other regions including the West Midlands also showing double-digit increases.
- Rentokil warned the record-breaking wet start to 2026 could push more rats into properties and raise activity levels, so property owners are advised to proof entry points, manage waste, clear debris, and seek professional pest control experts if problems escalate.
- Sustained heavy rain can flood burrow systems and drainage networks, displacing rats into buildings as they seek higher, drier shelter and increasing infestation risk, Rentokil said.
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Hot summer and winter dredging brings surge in rat infestations across Britain
Rat activity across properties in the UK has surged over the past year, with experts attributing the rise to extreme weather patterns. Data from Rentokil Pest Control shows rat infestations have risen by 10 per cent, with the pest control firm believing last year's record-breaking summer temperatures, combined with an unusually wet beginning to 2026, have created ideal conditions for rodent populations to flourish.Longer-term climate trends may …
·London, United Kingdom
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources12
Leaning Left2Leaning Right1Center5Last UpdatedBias Distribution63% Center
Bias Distribution
- 63% of the sources are Center
63% Center
L 25%
C 63%
12%
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