Brutally cold winter could be coming after sign we've all seen in our homes

Brutally cold winter could be coming after sign we've all seen in our homes The Farmers' Almanac claims there are signs in nature that could point to a harsh UK winter ahead - and one of them may already be lurking in your home There can be no denying it now - autumn has well and truly arrived. As temperatures plummet and the leaves turn brown, the seemingly endless summer heatwave feels like a distant memory and thoughts are now turning to just how cold it will actually get this winter. Last winter certainly wasn't amongst the coldest on record but weather experts at the Met Office say it was one of the wettest. In their assessment of winter 2025, going into January and February 2026, they said: "Winter has seen above average temperatures and rainfall for the UK overall, with notable regionalvariation. The weather has been unsettled, with four named storms and a strong jet stream andblocking high over Scandinavia causing extended spells of wet weather for some areas and anunusual rainfall pattern. "December was very unsettled in the first three weeks. January started with cold and wintry weather, Storm Goretti brought widespread snow to Wales, the South Pennines and parts of the West Midlands aswell as damaging winds to Cornwall. The month then turned wet and unsettled with two more named storms, Ingrid and Chandra bringing heavy rain and strong winds. "Cornwall and County Down saw their wettest Januarys on record. February saw a continuation of wet conditions, with unsettled weather, persistent rain, and temperatures around average.", reports Wales Online. "Overall, this was a reasonably wet winter with the UK recording 113% of average winter rainfall.England had its eighth wettest winter on record in a series from 1836, Northern Ireland had its 9th wettest and Southern England its fourth wettest. In contrast Scotland had a dry winter with only 86%of average rainfall, with the northeast of Scotland seeing very high totals while the west of Scotland was unusually dry." Last year also saw England experience its warmest winter since records began in 1884. But what does this winter have in store? Are we facing another mild, wet season, or is a cold snap on the way? According to the Farmers' Almanac, the answer could be lurking right inside our own homes. The historic publication, founded in 1818, is used to forecast weather months ahead, as well as providing the best days for planting or fishing, folklore, recipes and home remedies. The Farmers' Almanac suggests there are natural indicators that point towards a particularly brutal winter ahead, one of which is spotting greater numbers of spiders in your home or noticing webs that are larger than usual. Despite this, experts maintain that the eight-legged creatures are actually present in our homes throughout the entire year, only becoming more noticeable once the temperature begins to drop. Geoff Oxford of the British Arachnological Society said in 2012: "It is unlikely that the large specimens we see in our houses in autumn have come in from outside, as is commonly assumed. They will have spent their entire lives in our company without us being aware of it." Rob Crawford, from the Seattle Burk Museum, offered an alternative explanation for the surge of spiders entering our homes during this period. He said: "House spiders colonize new houses by egg sacs carried on furniture, building materials and so forth. They usually spend their entire life cycle in, on or under their native building. "If a large number appear at a specific season, it is usually late summer (August and September)-not a notably cold time of year! -rather than fall, and their appearance coincides with the mating season of the given species. What you are seeing is sexually mature males wandering in search of mates." Signs it's going to be a cold winter according to The Farmers' Almanac - Thicker than normal onion skins or corn husks - Woodpeckers sharing a tree - Early arrival of the Snowy Owl - Early arrival of crickets in the hearth - Early departure of geese and ducks - Early migration of the Monarch butterfly - Tick hair on the nape of a cow's neck - Heavy and regular fog during August - Mice chewing to get into your home - Spiders spinning larger than usual webs or more of them appearing in your home - Pigs gathering sticks - Ants marching in a line - Early seclusion of bees into a hive - More acorns than usual - Squirrels gathering nuts early - Halos around the sun or the moon