It’s flying ant day! Brits swarm to social media as plagues of bugs take to the air in annual event

It’s Flying Ant Day! A time when winged ants can be seen in the air, in your hair and absolutely everywhere. 

The annual period usually happens in the UK in July or August during a period of hot and humid weather. 

The flying insects appear in huge numbers as young queens and males emerge from their nests to mate, responding to the right humidity, weather conditions and time of year. 

While today some took to social media to celebrate the brilliant day, others revealed the annual event didn’t fly with them. 

One person wrote on Twitter: ‘I tried to go outside today. Why did no one warn me it was flying ant day!’ 

Flying Ant Day usually happens in July or August during a period of hot and humid weather 

The flying insects appear in huge numbers as young queens and males emerge to mate, responding to the right humidity, weather conditions and time of year

People took to Twitter today to both celebrate and complain about the annual period

Another shared: ‘Flying ants hit a little different when you have hair.’  

A third said: ‘What on earth are those giant flying ants outside. They’re everywhere.’

One person tweeted: ‘Celebrated submitting my thesis by doing some food shopping and discovering it’s flying ant day with a full bag of shopping in each hand.’ 

A fifth said: ‘F****** Flying Ants out again! I nearly ate one. Yuk!’ 

The ants appear to have made a particularly large presants in London, where temperatures tend to be hotter. 

As some found the annual day a bit of a nuissant, others took to social media to celebrate with their followers. 

One person wrote on Twitter: ‘Scared to open my mouth cos there’s flying ants everywhere’ 

One wrote: ‘Happy Flying Ant Day to those who celebrate in South London.’

Another said: ‘Happy Flying Ant Day everyone!’  

Ants have a tendantcy to fly earlier in urban areas than in rural locations, likely because temperatures are warmer in urban environmants. This is known as the urban heat island effect. 

Each summer, a period of warm weather usually leads to sightings of winged ants, called alates, which come out of their nests. 

This can be bad timing for tennis players at Wimbledon – which ended on Sunday – with ants having plagued players during their matches for years. 

Earlier this month a mile-long swarm of flying ants was spotted near the south coast of England by the Met Office’s rain radar.

The forecaster picked up the winged insects on Friday as people took to social media to report their own sightings declaring that it was ‘flying ant day’.

The Met Office said the winged insects are usually picked up on their radars at this time of the year over the space of about a week.