We have smaller versions of hornets called wasps, they can be little horrors, but they very rarely attack in numbers, they get cheesed off at the slightest thing, and then just sting for the fun of it.
I wish this was accurate, but as someone that very nearly died (my breathing ceased just as we pulled up at the hospital after a 40 minute car journey) when I was 14 from being stung 20+ times, I assure you that they DO attack in numbers, it's not very rare either.
I've seen hornets on the north yorkshire moors, so we do get them, even up north, smaller breeds than the southern US sees of course.
The worst wasps that I ran into in the US were parasitic wasps, they'd make my arm swell up and be in intense agony for a few weeks. They seemed to indiscriminately bite/sting too.
[edit: pictures here : http://www.cirrusimage.com/hymenoptera_Sphex_pennsylvanica.htm WARNING: NIGHTMARE FUEL]
Even hornet stings and brown recluse bites were something I preferred over those. (Yes, I lived in pretty rural places in the US, so saw lots of their obnoxious wildlife - including dozens of copperheads, although the large rat snakes scared me more, despite being harmless. Once had a 9 foot gator on our street that the animal control people had to come out and shoot, too)
Last edited: