IT IS BRITAIN’S most venomous spider and has closed a school and hospitalised an amateur footballer.

With the panic across the water, you’d imagine this was happening:

It isn’t, by the way.

However, it is only natural that after hearing so much about the spiders that Irish people would become a little bit more wary around their own homes.

First, Patrick O’Leary spotted this guy in Ovens, Co Cork.

Then, Laura Shannon spotted this on the roof of her apartment in Kilkenny. THEY’RE INSIDE NOW.

Deborah Richards was out her brother’s back garden when this false widow came along and ate her whole family. Not really, but look at the size of it.

Carmel Hennessy thought she was getting a lovely autumnal photo of lady birds. WRONG. What she was getting was a spider waiting to ambush her. She sent us the photo, so we assume she got out of there ok.

Lastly, Alan McCarthy was going about his business in Lucan when he was confronted with this:

It may not be a false widow, but Alan please:

The British Arachnological Society says that many sightings of the spider are incorrect, but, really, would you want to take a chance?

Read: Have you seen a false widow spider where you live?

Debunked: Do you really eat a dozen spiders in your sleep every year?