LONDON — Warmer conditions are making the UK a more attractive place for disease-carrying mosquitoes, according to a new study.

Researchers writing in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal say warmer temperatures in the UK provide more hospitable conditions for the Asian tiger mosquito or Aedes albopictus, which can carry deadly viruses that cause dengue fever and Chikungunya fever, according to a BBC report.

There are already 34 recorded species of mosquito in the UK, but currently they are not know to transmit infections, however there are varieties that can transmit West Nile, but there have been no human cases.

Last summer, Public Health England said there had been no confirmed sightings of the asian tiger mosquito but it added that reports have been filed in Belgium and the Netherlands, meaning it could be easily imported.

Researchers writing in the journal said that climate change models show that a 2C increase in temperature could extend the mosquito season in the UK by a month and extend the geographical area, according to the Telegraph.

“We are not suggesting that climate change is the only or the main factor driving the increase in vector-borne diseases in the UK and Europe, but that it is one of many factors including socio-economic development, urbanisation, widespread land-use change, migration, and globalisation that should be considered,” said Professor Steve Leach from Public Health England’s emergency responses department.

“Lessons from the outbreaks of West Nile virus in North America and chikungunya in the Caribbean emphasise the need to assess future vector-borne disease risks and prepare contingencies for future outbreaks.”

The report warns that better systems are needed to monitor imported products, such as used tyres, where disease-carrying mosquitos can lay their eggs.

Public Health England ant the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health have a mosquito recording scheme called Mosquito Watch, set up following the emergence of West Nile in the U.S.. It asks people to send in “exotic” mosquitoes they find in the UK.

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