Yeah uk spiders are no way in any freakin way anywhere near the horrors you guys have but they are slowly becoming larger and IMO bites are more commonplace.
I've been bitten twice in the last 12 months by what can only be false widow spiders which I must've rolled on in my sleep. You don't feel the bite itself and all you get us a red circle the size of a half pence piece which, if you press, is concave as opposed to gnat or mozzy bites. Very small amount of necrosis - not even enough to scar. The most recent one I have had may gave caused nausea, vomiting and fever within 24 hours or it could've been an unrelated virus. Regardless, the daily fail neglects to mention that this guy, and others similar, had an infected spider bite which remained untreated for some time...the infection due to scratching it then not cleaning it...