Leamington Art Gallery and Museum shut as rain affects repairs
The closure, which has been ongoing since 29 May, means the opening of the gallery's latest exhibition, A Different View: Women Artists in the collection, has been postponed. A spokesperson said a further update would be provided on Wednesday. A crane is being used to remove air-handling units from the building's roof before ''critical repairs'' the council said would preserve the "iconic building for generations to come''. The Royal Pump Rooms, in the town centre, houses a museum, library, café and visitor information centre and is "an integral part" of the town's history, the local authority has said. The library and cafe remain accessible to the public.The council had originally said the building would stay open for business despite being covered in scaffolding.It has promised further updates on the works as soon as possible.
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The Sun
43 minutes ago
- The Sun
The fun, rainy day outfit essentials your kids will wear on repeat from autumn to spring & prices start from £6
A BUDGET supermarket has come up with a bright idea that will keep kids happy and dry in the rain. The cute outdoor essentials for children cost from just £6 – and can be worn on repeat. Though the UK continues with a period of unseasonally hot weather autumn is on its way. And with that comes ... rain. Luckily, Aldi is offering fun, rainy day outfit essentials that kids can wear from autumn to spring. And the special buys start at just £5.99 – or less than £22 if you want to go all in and purchase the full three-way outfit. The first item available is an essential for any child who likes jumping in puddles – wellingtons. Aldi is offering Peppa Pig /George wellingtons for the knockdown price of just £5.99. They are also available in sizes 6-9 in yellow, pink or navy. Keep kids warm and dry Next in the rainy day collection is toddlers' raincoats for just £7.99. These will keep kids warm and dry as they are both waterproof and windproof. Wake up to a weed-free lawn for months thanks to Aldi's £10 gadget that pulls them out without bending or kneeling down The raincoats have front pockets and come in several colours. Kids and parents can choose from yellow Duck, navy Robot or pink cat designs. They are suitable for any child aged one to six. Cute dungarees Completing the outfit are kid's dungarees. These have handy reflective detail on the sleeves while the shell is 100 per cent polyester with PU coating. The lining of the dungarees is 100 per cent cotton. Again, they are waterproof and windproof, and cost £7.99. They also have strips with clip fasteners, and are available in yellow, navy or pink. The dungarees are suitable for children up to six years old. But you need to hurry in to get your hands on the outfits are only in Aldi stores while stocks last. When is the best time to shop at Aldi? WHEN it comes to shopping at Aldi, the best time to do so depends on what you want to buy. For reduced items - when shops open Red sticker items are rare at Aldi's 830 UK stores, but the supermarket says that none of its food goes to waste so there are some to be found - if you're quick. A spokesman for the supermarket said: "All items are reduced to 50 per cent of the recommend sales price before stores open on their best before or use by dates." That means you have the best chance of finding reduced food items if you go into stores as soon as it opens. Opening times vary by shop but a majority open from 7am or 8am. You can find your nearest store's times by using the supermarket's online shop finder tool. For Specialbuys - Thursdays and Sundays Specialbuys are Aldi's weekly collection of items that it doesn't normally sell, which can range from pizza ovens to power tools. New stock comes into stores every Thursday and Sunday, so naturally, these are the best days to visit for the best one-off special deals. For an even better chance of bagging the best items, head there for your local store's opening time. Remember: once they're gone, they're gone, so if there's something you really want, visit as early as possible
The Guardian
43 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Early ripening of berries in UK shows nature is under stress, say experts
Autumn is the 'season of mists and mellow fruitfulness', according to the poet John Keats – but anyone hoping for a glut of blackberries this September may be sorely disappointed. In many parts of the UK brambles have been bursting with fruit since mid-summer, with some now bearing only shrivelled berries. And it is not the only hallmark of autumn that appears to have come early: trees are dropping their leaves, apples are ripe and acorns are hitting the ground. But with temperatures still high, experts say this is not simply a case of an early fall. Instead, they say, nature is under stress. England has just had its fourth heatwave of the summer, with temperatures reaching up to 33.4C, and five areas of the country are in drought. 'A lot of what we're seeing has been caused by a very hot and very dry spring and summer, it's been one of the driest periods on record,' said Kathryn Brown, the director of climate change and evidence at the Wildlife Trusts. 'So it feels like autumn has come early, but it's due to the natural environment reacting to that very extreme spring and summer, which is not average conditions that our species are adapted to in terms of seasonal cycles.' Brown said some birch and poplar trees had already turned brown and were losing their leaves, while in her own garden acorns were already falling from oak trees. 'Trees will set seed [earlier] as a reaction to stress, because they're trying to employ an insurance strategy,' she said. There have also been warnings about trees suddenly dropping branches. While the cause of this phenomenon is not clear, it often occurs after a prolonged period of dry weather. According to the Met Office's State of the UK Climate report, climate changes are causing shifts in many biological events in the UK. Prof Tim Sparks, a co-author of the report, noted that plants and insects were becoming active earlier in the year. Sparks said earlier fruit ripening was a result of higher temperatures, with shrivelled blackberries arising because of a lack of water. 'Leaf drop is also a water issue; it's not autumn in the sense it's not the end of the growing season if we get more rain,' he said. While trees are dropping their leaves because of drought, Sparks said a warmer climate would generally be expected to result in trees holding on to their leaves for longer. Together with earlier fruit ripening, he said, that would result in a longer autumn. While shifts in the timing of natural events can be discombobulating for humans, the ramifications could be serious for wildlife. As Brown points out, birds such as blackbirds tend to predominantly eat insects in the spring and summer and feed these to their chicks when they are breeding. 'But in the autumn, they switch to seeds and berries and fruits like blackberries. And if they've already come and gone, there's going to be a food gap in the autumn,' she said. Brown said this had serious implications for animals trying to get ready for winter, when food is scarce. 'It's very hard to predict what the exact impacts are going to be for different species, but it is very worrying, because the seasonal cycle is completely out of whack at the moment and our wildlife is not adapted to that, so it's definitely much more chaotic for them,' she said. Farmers are also coming to terms with unpredictable weather. While the National Farmers' Union said farmers and growers around the country were facing a varied picture in terms of crop yields this year, Rachel Hallos, its vice-president, said the increasing extreme weather was affecting farmers' ability to produce food. 'Although parts of the country have seen some rainfall, and farmers are no strangers to unpredictable weather, the extremes this year have been unprecedented,' she said. 'Last year's harvest was marked by heavy rain; this year, it's the lack of it. These fluctuations of drought and flood are becoming more pronounced and more regular.' Hallos said food security must be a national priority and she called for the government to support farmers and growers to build resilience, stressing that investment was needed in climate adaptation and resilient crop varieties as well as water infrastructure. Hallos's concerns are supported by data from the Met Office, which has revealed winters are getting wetter and temperature extremes have increased, becoming more frequent and more intense. This June was the warmest ever recorded in England and the second warmest for the UK since records began in 1884. Brown said a key concern was that the current conditions were occurring with global warming at about 1.5C above preindustrial levels, yet higher levels of warming were expected. 'That's what really worries me is seeing the impacts now at this relatively low level of warming where things are already getting really stressed, and thinking about what's this going to be like in five years or 10 years, or even next year,' she said. 'It's quite hard to predict, but it doesn't look very hopeful.'
BBC News
43 minutes ago
- BBC News
Finchdean hay bale fire expected to smoulder for days
A fire involving a stack of more than 200 hay bales found alight in a field on a farm is expected to smoulder for fire in Finchdean, north of Rowlands Castle, East Hampshire, broke out on Sunday in two fire engines, along with a water carrier and an off-road vehicle, tackled the blaze, with a farmer using a tractor to create a firebreak to stop it spreading, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue said. After a reinspection, the stack of smouldering bales are being monitored by the farmer. You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
