Across the UK this morning, shoppers woke up to a blunt reality: a major high street name is shutting 145 stores, with a full closure list freshly published. It’s the kind of announcement that lands not just in inboxes, but […]

Marks & Spencer is pressing ahead with a £300m store revamp, and a chunk of that shake-up lands squarely on the in‑store cafés. Some will go, some will morph, space will be reworked. For regulars who plan their shop around

A driver clocked at 71mph on the M4 sounds like a shrug — barely over the national limit. It wasn’t. Variable limits were live, cameras were watching, and a routine journey turned into an expensive lesson with a driving ban

Across the UK, retired readers are reporting a small but stubborn new squeeze: an annual pension income trimmed by around £300, arriving not as a headline cut but as a quiet change in their tax code. HMRC’s updated approach to

The British coast does this strange thing to memory. You think you’re heading for sweet nostalgia — rock sticks, arcade lights, a breeze that smells like school holidays — then you arrive and the past isn’t there to greet you.

Households across Britain are being urged to pour a small squeeze of washing liquid down their drains. Not for sparkle or scent, but for a reason that feels oddly modern and very human. The scene starts in a quiet kitchen

A British dad trades his beloved BMW for a budget Chinese EV, and a quiet revolution rolls down a rain-glossed cul-de-sac. MG, BYD, and a cluster of once-unknown badges are taking parking spaces that used to belong to German saloons

For a few breathless hours on a salt-stung morning, a quiet British lane turned into a pilgrimage. A small, sandy bird — the kind that makes even seasoned watchers blink twice — dropped into a hedgerow and lit up phones

Overnight, a quiet shift has turned the State Pension age from a neat milestone into a moving target. People who thought “67 and done” now face a blur of dates, cut-offs and caveats. The question is no longer if the

The first grey mornings are back in Britain, the kettle working overtime and the thermostat creeping up. Somewhere not far away, October means 26C afternoons, slow lunches and sandals. It isn’t the obvious island on every brochure, which is partly

Brits fed up with grey skies are hopping back to a sunny island that holds a sweet October secret: 26C afternoons, calm seas, and no jet lag to knock the stuffing out of you. Packages are plentiful, pavements are level,

DWP plans to scan bank account data are moving from rumour to reality, with a phased rollout tied to new data-sharing powers. The big worry isn’t just privacy; it’s timing, thresholds, and who gets pulled into the net first. Here’s

The rain had just stopped smearing the supermarket windows when the first shoppers started to gather, zipped up, scanning the posters for hints. Trolleys clicked like metronomes. A kid pressed their face to the glass, pointing at a cartoon air

A new wave of research says a simple blood draw might finally spot the biological fingerprints of chronic fatigue. For millions who’ve been told their tests are “normal,” that sentence lands like a pocket of oxygen. If a lab machine

Haaland has been sent home from Norway duty, and the federation’s wording has raised more questions than it answered. Between cautious phrasing and a quietly dramatic exit, the story isn’t just about a sore muscle — it’s about modern football’s

The UK’s £1bn A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet upgrade just hit a scene-stealing moment: the first giant bridge beams now span the A1. It’s the kind of milestone that flips a project from drawings to reality. The question on

The letters have started landing on kitchen tables again: new wording, firmer deadlines, different questions. People who rely on PIP are wondering what will change, and when. The DWP says it wants to modernise and cut error; claimants hear “crackdown”

A quiet change with loud consequences: the DWP has set out when it can look at your bank data now — and when automated checks could start for millions of claimants next year. I watched a woman at a cashpoint

Whispers about missing stock turned into hard numbers, and an online breadcrumb trail pointed straight to a familiar face. At a busy automotive distribution hub in Milton Keynes, discrepancies mounted, listings appeared online, and suspicion narrowed. When investigators moved in,

Chris Evans was set to tee off alongside Andy Murray in a starry pro-am, the kind of soft-focus sporting crossover the British love. Hours before the first drive, his name vanished from the pairing board. Organisers blamed “logistics”. Social feeds

Essex has a new roadside problem, and it’s not potholes. Across villages and busy A-roads, official signs are being “cheeked up” with DIY messages, stickers and googly eyes, drawing laughs online and a stern glare from the council. Highways bosses

Britain’s last flying Vulcan bomber faces a stark choice: find a safe new home fast, or risk fading into silence behind locked gates. The charity that kept it alive, the **Vulcan to the Sky Trust**, has launched an urgent appeal

For years, the story of Alzheimer’s has sounded simple and bleak: sticky plaques build up, brain cells die, memories fade. Drugs chased those plaques, families waited, and progress limped along. Then a consortium of labs peered closer at what happens

As the mercury dips, households are hunting cheap fixes that stretch warmth longer and keep living rooms cosy after dark. Aldi is preparing a fresh wave of winter Specialbuys, headlined by a £9.99 radiator reflector that echoes a long-standing Martin

Across England and Wales, new rules on winter heating support have arrived, leaving many older people checking their finances twice. The Department for Work and Pensions has set out who gets help and who does not. Payments of £200 or

With the mercury sliding and budgets stretched, shoppers are hunting low-cost ways to stay warm without cranking the boiler. That search now turns to the aisles of Aldi, where seasonal Specialbuys return with gadgets aimed at warming you, not just

A veteran employee, a bustling warehouse and an online marketplace meet in a cautionary tale about trust, temptation and vigilance. Konrad Labinski, 42, has been jailed for two years after a Thames Valley Police inquiry uncovered at least £1m of

Bills are rising again and energy worries loom. A government payment could cushion the blow—if you meet tightened rules. The pensions department has set out who qualifies this winter and, crucially, who does not. The update affects millions across England

Autumn sun tempts many back to Spain, yet airport routines are shifting. Small mistakes with passports or stamps could derail plans. Spain pulls in millions of UK visitors chasing warmth, food and value. From 12 October, border gates across much

A bright debut, fierce lights and a flurry of online chatter set a whirlwind tone for Strictly’s opening weekend. Model Ellie Goldstein stepped out with Vito Coppola for a week-one cha-cha-cha that got people talking for more than the score

Calls are growing for a fresh look at disabled parking permits as councils juggle checks, costs and a rising number of holders. The debate now centres on whether people with long-term mobility awards should face frequent renewals, paperwork and local

A Saturday cha-cha-cha, bright studio lights and a flurry of tweets left millions guessing about a tearful moment on Strictly. Ellie Goldstein has now set the record straight after viewers mistook watery eyes for upset during her first live routine.

A growing debate could spare disabled drivers months of hassle, fees and forms. The row now turns on timing and trust. Ministers face pressure to let some Personal Independence Payment claimants keep a Blue Badge for as long as their

As autumn closes in across Europe, one Mediterranean escape keeps the lights on, the grills hot and the sea inviting. The first chill of the season often sends holiday towns to sleep. Cyprus bucks the trend. While many European resorts

Plant bargains and worried staff, while loyal customers ask what happens next to points, orders and those Sunday cafe meet-ups. Dobbies has shut eight garden centres across the UK in 2025 as part of a restructuring drive, trimming its estate

Grey skies gather again, and the forecast points to a soaking that could test drains, timetables and patience alike. The Met Office has placed a yellow weather warning across swathes of southern England and Wales, running from midnight to 2pm