No, this is a European Hornet, a very common (even though they're non-native also) species often found in our region. You can learn more on our new Social Wasps web page. This individual is probably a queen, which are slightly larger than their worker daughters that will be out and about in a few more weeks time. Hornets generally leave people alone unless a nest is disturbed, so while they can look intimidating, they can usually be ignored unless a nest is in a very inconvenient and unavoidable location.

Miri