...like a huge version of a wasp but instead of black and yellow it was brown and yellow....
A Hornet I suspect.
Despite hostile appearances and a drone from their wings like a fully laden Lancaster, the ones we have in the UK are generally harmless bumbling giants and aren't really interested in you at all. And unlike wasps, they don't seem to get drunk at this time of the year on fermented fruit juices and then get aggressive for no good reason.
I usually have a couple of hornet nests in my garden each year and just leave them be, and if they inadvertantly enter the house, simply catch them and release them outside.
(They are attracted by flourescent lights, or at least the UV end of the spectrum). Like wasps, only the queens hibernate, all the others not survivng the first few frosts.
They do quite a lot of good stuff and have their niche in the general scheme of things.
