Brits warned to lock up their houses after enormous snakes invade the nation

A new snake breed has set up home in the UK, with the species known as the ‘largest in Europe’ as it reaches lengths of around six and a half feet – and it likes to live in houses

Brits are warned to be vigilant, as a new snake breed has been introduced into the UK – and it likes to dwell in homes.

Scientists have revealed that the reptiles, which can reach six and a half feet long, have established a home in the UK and are making themselves more than comfortable. Europe’s biggest snakes, the Aesculapian snakes, are now living in North Wales after two “accidental” introductions into the wild. While the snakes aren’t used to the colder climates, experts say they are using attics and walls in homes to warm up.

Luckily, the snakes are non-venomous meaning they are not deadly if they bite. They mainly feed on small rodents such as mice and rats.

Professor Wolfgang Wüster, is the co-author of the study regarding the snake’s introduction into the UK. A snake scientist from Bangor University, he told MailOnline: “Any dog, even the smallest, could easily kill an Aesculapian snake, and rabbits are much too big to serve as prey.”

A mouse or vole is about as large as the prey would get, meaning pets and humans are completely safe. While they are not new to the UK, Aesculapian snakes haven’t been around for 300,000 years.

They were once native to the UK, but were wiped out during the Ice Age. Currently, they reside over southern Europe from Spain to the Caucusus. But now, experts say their “climate envelope,” the conditions they find comfortable, is now moving closer to us.

The snakes populations have been plummeting in Europe, but they are now thriving in parts of the UK. Britain’s Aesculapian snakes can only be found along the Regent’s Canal, London, and around Colwyn Bay, Wales.

They first appeared in the 1970s after an unknown number escaped from their zoo enclosure in Wales. Since then, they’ve set up a home and have been breeding around the Welsh Mountain Zoo.

Previously unsure about how they were surviving in the colder weather, the boffins attached trackers to the snakes and found they were taking shelter in homes.

Male snakes were particularly fond of human homes, while females generally preferred to live in wooded areas. They’re also said to like a compost bins to incubate their eggs.

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