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Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Climate
- Daily Mirror
Weather maps show UK towns and cities to be hit in 28C scorcher
New weather maps and charts from show the mercury hitting at least 23C (73.4F) across the UK in 58 cities in England, Scotland and Wales on June 20 Brits are set to sizzle in a 28C ' Spanish plume ' as a mini- heatwave is forecast to scorch cities from up and down the country later this month. There are 58 cities across England, Scotland, and Wales that are expected to see temperatures soar to at least 23C. Heat maps for June 20 indicate a searing heat plume from Europe could trigger a ' mini-heatwave ', beginning in the southeast and reaching as far north as Glasgow. This news comes on the heels of the UK recording its sunniest spring ever, offering a ray of sunshine after a week marred by heavy rain and gloomy forecasts for many regions. Friday promises a mix of sunny spells and showers early on, but clouds will roll in from the west in the afternoon, bringing rain with them. Saturday is expected to bring heavy, potentially thundery showers interspersed with sunny intervals. BBC forecaster Simon King has commented on the upcoming mixed bag of weather, stating: "The Atlantic influence and low pressure is likely to continue into next week with the wettest weather towards northern and western areas of the UK." He added: "Some brighter and slightly warmer conditions are more likely around mid-week, especially in southern areas. Temperatures may start to increase by mid-week too." However, weather charts for the week starting June 16 indicate a dramatic turnaround in the UK's weather fortunes, as scorching heat from Spain spreads into France, across the Channel, and up from southern England. By June 19, and even more so on Friday, the heat maps turn a deep red as temperatures begin to surge. The Met Office's long-range forecasts show that the weather is expected to be a lot sunnier in the second half of June. Its forecast from June 10-19 states: "Changeable weather across the UK at the start of this period with showers or some longer spells of rain spreading in from the Atlantic. The heaviest and most prolonged rain will probably be across parts of the north and northwest, with the southeast likely driest. "Temperatures are expected to be near normal or slightly above. Into the second half of next week, there is potential for some warm or hot weather to develop, particularly in the south and east, although this may be accompanied by heavy showers and thunderstorms. Into the middle of June, high pressure may become more dominant. This could bring periods of fine and dry weather, especially in south and temperatures rising above normal, although some thundery outbreaks remain possible." But then from June 20 to July 4 its prediction reads: "Mid-June will probably see a good deal of dry weather across the UK with high pressure tending to dominate, especially in the south, although some thundery outbreaks are still possible. "Towards the end of June and start of July, details are uncertain but conditions may become more changeable with some periods of unsettled weather. Temperatures will probably be slightly higher than normal, perhaps turning hot at times." There are 58 UK cities, reports the Express, that are set to sizzle at temperatures of at least 23C on June 20. Here is the list: Bath Birmingham Bolton Bradford Brighton and Hove Bristol Cambridge Canterbury Cardiff Carlisle Chelmsford Chester Chichester Colchester Coventry Derby Doncaster Durham Ely Glasgow Gloucester Hereford Hull Ipswich Kingston upon Hull Lancaster Leeds Leicester Lichfield Lincoln Liverpool London Manchester Milton Keynes Newcastle Newport Northampton Norwich Nottingham Oxford Peterborough Portsmouth Preston Reading Ripon Salford Salisbury Sheffield Southampton Southend-on-Sea St Albans Stoke-on-Trent Sunderland Wakefield Wells Westminster Winchester York
BBC News
16-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Stoke City named best family club in English Football League
Stoke City has been named the best family club in the English Football League (EFL) during the 2024/25 season, beating 71 other teams to the was crowned EFL Family Excellence Club of the Season after judges praised the "outstanding" matchday experience at the bet365 Championship club came top across the three divisions and received a gold award for its matchday offerings for families for the fourth season in a report from the EFL's judge described The Potters as a "special club" with community and families at the core of everything it does. 'Worthy winners' "Stoke City is a wonderful family club with an outstanding matchday experience," the report in the competition are assessed via a number of criteria, including ticket purchasing, accessibility, facilities and communications. City's chief operating officer Simon King said the award was a "proud recognition" of the dedication of the staff and the investment from chairman John Coates."The two-way dialogue with our fans, whether that be in person, via our matchday surveys or fan assemblies, has underpinned this achievement as we remain relentless in our desire to make matchdays engaging, welcoming and accessible for families," he chief executive Trevor Birch described the club as "worthy winners" who had made a "positive and lasting impact" on their supporters. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
06-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
DIY: Are Britons losing their ability to do it themselves?
Are Britons losing their ability to mend, preferring instead to call in a professional at the first sight of a blown fuse? BBC News takes a dive into the Simon King makes an interesting point, as he holds his well-thumbed copy of Collins Complete DIY Manual, acquired when he bought his first house 30 years ago: "You don't see comedies on the TV poking fun at DIY mishaps these days, do you?"If sitcoms loosely mirror life, it is perhaps no wonder that the likes of hapless DIYer Frank Spencer, played by Michael Crawford, no longer draw in prime time all, there is not much comedy gold in a professional fixing a kitchen tap without causing a biblical flood, or putting up a shelf - and it staying attached to the wall."People just aren't doing as much DIY," reports Mr King, offering a view from the coalface. Matt Walton, senior analyst at Globaldata, a company that provides insights on various industries, including retail, believes the boom period of DIY, seen during the Covid pandemic, has "been and gone"."When people were furloughed they had time on their hands to do jobs around the house," he says. "But we've moved on."Mr Walton cites difficulties in getting on the housing ladder as another reason for the DIY says: "We have a lot of people in Britain in rental accommodation. In many cases, they are not permitted to carry out work on properties themselves."I also think these skills are just not being passed down to younger generations, as they once were." Mr King, 55, who operates out of Lincoln, thinks Britain has lost its "make do and mend" culture. "My dad was from that era... and I think most people from his generation would at least have had a go at stuff, which is where a lot of the comedy stuff came from when it went wrong." Mr King recalls taking TVs apart "just to see how they worked", before screwing them back together. "These days, though, they're not designed to be taken apart and there's not really much you can do to repair them without the right diagnostic equipment."Many of his customers are homeowners without the skills, confidence, time, or frankly, the inclination, to attempt even the most basic of DIY tasks, he reports."Lots of people call me just to put a picture up on the wall. My son said to me once, 'Dad, I can't believe people actually pay you just to do that'." Mr King still refers to his trusty manual."I got it when I bought my first house," he says. "I didn't have the money to spend on hiring someone to do the work so I had to learn to do it myself."He believes people changing lifestyles has led to a general malaise for DIY home improvements. "If you're working that hard, you don't want to spend your weekend doing DIY jobs," says Mr King. "So people will ring up a local handyman instead."But while Mr King is happy with the status quo - it is keeping him in work - in East Yorkshire, Alan Dalgairns and his Hull Repair Cafe are working on a people can bring in items, which would ordinarily be thrown out, to be fixed - for free - by experienced DIYers. A charge is only applied for parts needed to carry out repairs. "People will sit with our repairers while the work is carried out, in the hope that next time they might feel confident to have a go themselves," says Mr Dalgairns, 51. He also thinks skills are not being passed down family the cafe, Mr Dalgairns runs Hull Library of Stuff, which loans - for a nominal fee - items ranging from extension ladders to angle grinders and chisel sets."A lot of younger ones who come in to borrow equipment don't have a clue how it works," he says. "I'll then spend time showing them how to use the item properly and safely.""I think we are losing those basic skills, and I think it's because younger generations are not seeing their parents carrying out these type of jobs. "I am a dad to a 10-year-old who watches me repair stuff but we're probably in a minority."I'm very much of the mindset what if something is broken, what is the worst that can happen?"He recalls watching his parents "mend and make things"."I remember coming home from school one day and finding a new chair. My mum had made it from an old bed. My dad would do all the repairs around the house." Mr Dalgairns believes many young people today "don't have a clue what's inside products".He says: "They think stuff works using black magic. But what they don't seem to get is that a lot of time something stops working because of something really simple. That's especially true when it comes to sound systems, for example."Mr Dalgairns says some young people are turning to social platforms like YouTube for instructional videos "usually recorded by older people who know what they're doing". Kids' club But he believes nothing beats learning practical skills, hands on, from someone experienced."That's why we have set up a kids' club, encouraging children to get under the hood and take things apart," he Dalgairns explains the organisation has teamed up with Dove House, a local hospice, which runs a re-use shop at a council-run household recycling says they get electrical items that no longer work and encourage children to take them apart and "examine the various components".The club is on a hiatus at the moment, says Mr Dalgairns. "We're confident it'll return next year." Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
What was the bright spiral in the sky last night? How SpaceX made celestial event
Did you spot an unusual bright light swirling around in the sky last night (March 24)? You might be wondering what the twisting celestial display was, as many have taken to social media this morning to document the sighting with pictures and mesmerising videos. It was first spotted in the UK at around 8pm as well as in other countries such as France, Germany and Ukraine. How cool is @bbcweather Watchers have captured the @SpaceX spiral in the skies above the UK this evening after a rocket launch in the US... *caused by illuminated frozen fuel expelled from the rocket second stage. — Simon King (@SimonOKing) March 24, 2025 The blue-toned spiral was in fact believed to be the aftermath of a SpaceX rocket launch. It's thought it was caused by illuminated frozen fuel from a launch at Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the US. Billionaire Elon Musk's company SpaceX held a launch for the US government shortly before 1.50pm local time (5.50pm GMT) and it is understood the Falcon 9 rocket's frozen exhaust plume caused the display. The Met Office explained on X, formerly Twitter: 'The rocket's frozen exhaust plume appears to be spinning in the atmosphere and reflecting the sunlight, causing it to appear as a spiral in the sky.' Simon King, lead BBC weather presenter and meteorologist also posted on X: 'How cool is this… our @bbcweather Watchers have captured the '@SpaceX spiral in the skies above the UK this evening after a rocket launch in the US… '*caused by illuminated frozen fuel expelled from the rocket second stage.' Dave from Bristol, who did not wish to share his second name, said he initially thought the blue spiral was a plane. 'It looked just like a plane with its headlight on,' he told the PA news agency. Recommended reading: Partial solar eclipse to leave Brits awestruck this month — all to know Can the Northern Lights be seen with the naked eye? All you need to know Why are the Northern Lights becoming more visible in the south? 'It suddenly went blurry and I thought 'oh, it's gone into cloud', but then realised there weren't any clouds. 'I watched this fuzzy light for what felt like about a minute when all of a sudden it started shooting out these spiral arms and spinning. 'I realised straight away it was SpaceX because I've seen it so much on YouTube, but I can totally see how others would have been weirded out by it – it really did look alien.'
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
It could reach 14C in Wales as temperatures go from freezing to above average
There has been freezing rain and snow in parts of the UK this weekend, but everyone will be glad to know a change is on the way. Temperatures are expected to pick up this week going from below average to above average for the time of year. The Met Office says that temperatures could rise to 13°C or 14°C by the middle of the week, with sunshine in a number of areas on Monday. BBC weather presenter Simon King said that it could even feel "spring like" next weekend. It comes after much of the UK has seen "anticyclonic gloom" over the past week, causing dull skies, with some areas not having seen the sun in more than a week. Join our WhatsApp news community here for the latest breaking news READ MORE: Teenager charged after Cardiff-Bristol City disorder caused 'chaos' in the capital READ MORE: Latest death notices across Wales as families remember loved ones The Met Office forecast for Wales says: "Mainly dry through this period although some rain is possible later. Often cloudy with brighter/clearer periods at times. Temperatures rising and becoming very mild by Thursday. Breezy at times." The predicted temperatures of 14°C by the middle of the week are well above February's average, with 6°C the usual monthly average in Scotland and 9°C in southern England, which will be a "noticeable shift" after the last fortnight which was below average, Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey previously said. But it is not likely to be record-breaking, as February's highest temperature was 21.2°C recorded in 2019 in Kew Gardens, he added. More western areas are likely to see some rain during the week, while eastern areas are forecast to stay drier. Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said he does not expect any national records to be broken, but some areas could go 10 days without any sunshine, which is "near record-breaking". Mr Morgan said: "We've basically got this battleground taking place over this weekend between cold air across Scandinavia and central Europe, which is affecting eastern parts of the UK, but towards the west is a little bit milder. "The Atlantic is trying to shift that cold air out of the way, pushing from west to east across the UK, but it's a very slow process and it will take until the middle of the coming week for conditions to turn much milder nationwide." He explained the gloom "dominating" the UK over the last two weeks has been caused by a "large anticyclone", or high-pressure system, which has been sitting over Scandinavia, bringing cold wind from the east. "Those cold conditions have picked up a lot of moisture across the Baltic and North seas, and those moist conditions have led to a lot of clouds," he added. "That's why we haven't seen much in the way of sunshine in most of the UK recently."
