Jellyfish have begun invading Conwy county beaches as the weather begins to heat up.

A number of Llandudno residents have already reported sightings of the potentially harmful marine animals.

Conwy County Borough Council (CCBC) have issued a warning to beach-goers to be careful when going into the sea.

A CCBC spokesperson said: "Every summer, jellyfish visit our shores. During this spell of hot weather, and because of the rise in temperature of the sea, jellyfish have been found on some of the beaches in our county.

"Their venom can kill a small marine animal but humans tend to experience a rash, redness or stinging pain, in extreme cases raised welts, and muscle spasms. The severity depends on the type of jellyfish.

"If you do swim in the sea during the summertime, please be aware that your skin may become irritated even if there is no direct contact with a jellyfish or from jellyfish that have been washed on to the shore."

Matthew Forbes, Conwy County Borough Council’s Harbour Master, said: “We are aware that there are a lot of jellyfish around.

"It’s a natural phenomenon and attributable to the fine weather that we’ve been enjoying. We’d advise people to take care; jellyfish can give a nasty sting.”

Llandudno resident Stefan Savu has lived on the West Shore for the past two years, having lived in the town for five, and visits the beach regularly.

He snapped a picture of a giant jellyfish washed up on the West Shore beach last week (pictured above) and said he had never seen anything like this before.

Mr Savu said: "I've lived on West Shore until 2 year's ago and used to go quite often on the beach in the summer with my son and now I'm cycling a few days a week from Llandudno to Conwy, sometimes cycling on the beach.

"In all this time I don't remember seeing this type of jellyfish

"I've seen jellyfish but smaller and transparent witch I presume are the usual ones for this area

"On that day I saw another jellyfish like the one from the photo but even bigger."

His post on the Facebook group 'You know you are from Llandudno if you...' has attracted a lot of attention and promoted more photos and stories of jellyfish they have found washed up on the beach.

The National Health Service (NHS) has said there are a number of do's and don't when it comes to dealing with a jellyfish sting.

The do's include rinsing the affected area with seawater, remove any spines from the skin, soak the area in very warm water for at least 30 minutes and take painkillers like paracetamol or ibuprofen.

Don'ts include use vinegar, urinate on the sting, apply ice or a cold pack, touch any spines with your bare hands, and cover or close the wound.

Call 111 if you need further advice.