tiny yellow spiders with black spot

[greenwood]

I saw a smudge on the greenhouse window glass about half an inch wide. thought it was bird dropping until it suddenly moved, spreading outwards. Closer examination revealed a multitude of tiny spiders clustered together on a web and they spread outwards as I approached. Bright yellow with a black mark on back and probably a clutch, if this is the right word, of baby spiders. I have seen an image on one internet site which describes these spiders exactly and indicates them to be money spiders. My wife remembered brushing similar spiders off the washing the other day and yet I have never seen this phenomenon before. Is there a plague of yellow spiders about? Can anyone confirm identification?

[Meta menardi]

You sound as though you have had a hatch of Araneus diadematus, the garedn spider. There are quite a few threads about this over the last few weeks, so no plague, perhaps people are just looking more.