When John Gladwin opened the cupboard under his kitchen sink one morning last year, he was shocked to find a bag of soil shredded to pieces. A few days later, a pungent, musty smell filled his flat — eerily similar to the scent of the communal bin area outside.

“I knew what it was straight away,” he recalls. “Rats.”

For months, he had seen them scurrying around the bins near his block. But now, they had invaded his home. “I heard them in the cupboards and behind the bath panel. One morning I woke up to the sound of them fighting under the bath — screaming and squealing.”

Gladwin’s experience is becoming increasingly common. Across major cities, from London to New York, rat populations are surging, thriving in dense urban environments where overflowing bins, warmer winters, and construction work create the perfect breeding grounds. Experts warn that without intervention, the “ratmageddon” could spiral further, bringing health risks, property damage, and sleepless nights to city dwellers.