Rats are on the increase as the West Midlands officially marks 2006 as the mildest year on record.
Balmy conditions are encouraging vermin to breed, with people using one underpass in Wolverhampton being forced to dodge rats as they walk.
Preliminary figures released today by the Met Office and the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit show a succession of records dating back to 1659 have been broken.
This year has been the warmest since records began, boasted the hottest month on record in July, the warmest ever September, hottest April to October and the mildest autumn, leading into a warm and wet December.
The figures show 2006 has boasted:
* The warmest September since 1729 at16.6C - 2.9C above the 30-year average
* The hottest July at 19.9C - 3.4C above average
* The sunniest November on record
* A total of 54 per cent more sunshine across England and Wales than average.
Reports of rats are up at the region’s councils with the vermin getting bolder.
Steve Mathias, from Rentokil, said they were dealing with fewer rats and mice inside buildings because they were staying outside in the warmer weather.
Rodents have been spotted in the Bilston Street Island underpass in the city centre, just yards from the city’s crown court.
Office worker Steve Derry, 40, of Yoxall, Staffordshire, said: “Every day I see them. They are huge and they are getting more and more bold.”
Felicity Roberts, spokeswoman for Wolverhampton City Council, said officials were aware of the problem at Bilston Street and action was being taken.
The joint warmest years currently are 1990 and 1999, which recorded an average temperature of 10.63C. As of Tuesday, the average for 2006 had jumped to 10.84C.
Meanwhile furious villagers in the village of Milnathort, Kinrossshire, who had to be evacuated from their homes following severe flooding faced a major clean-up operation today.
By Stuart Pollitt
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