10 h. ago Cheery shoppers go on spending splurge at Next in warm spring sunshine

The high street and pubs enjoy bumper sales as April breaks records for sunshine and warmth

Economics

11 h. ago Next says warm Spring sunshine brought out the shoppers as sales surge more than expected

The high street and pubs enjoy bumper sales as April breaks records for sunshine and warmth

Economics

22 h. ago UK set for ‘classic’ spring weather, including frosty nights and warm days

Conditions from Thursday through to Saturday are expected to be broadly similar, with dry weather and sunny spells forecast across the country.

Events

28 h. ago 'Unusual' reason Scotland has been basking in high temps explained by Met Office

Scots may be wondering why spring has been so warm and dry so far this year, and they're not alone

Politics

52 h. ago World champion Zhao Xintong’s manager will not let spending splurges wreck dream

The 28-year-old Zhao beat Mark Williams 18-12 to clinch both the illustrious crown and a cheque for £500,000.

Politics

4 d. ago 'I've brought out my favourite spring perfume now the warm weather is back'

I have over 100 perfumes but this is the one I find myself reaching for time and time again

Events

7 d. ago Met Office confirms hottest May Day ever as London weather hits 28C

The UK has been treated to a week of unseasonably warm spring weather – with thousands of Brits flocking to their local beaches, ancient festivals and ice cream vans

Society

7 d. ago Cat expert's urgent heatwave danger warning to Scottish owners

As Britain basks in an unseasonably warm spring, with temperatures soaring to 29°C this week, Scottish pet owners are being urged to take extra precautions to protect their feline friends from the heat.

Events

7 d. ago A luxury lighthouse stay in northern Spain: ‘Windows look east and west to sunrise and sunset’

A renovated lighthouse on the Bay of Biscay is the perfect base for exploring Asturias’s maritime delightsI have always longed to be a lighthouse keeper and now, at last, I am one. If only for the weekend. Look at my chunky-knit jumper! Feel the waterproof weave of my Donegal tweed cap! Truth be told, I am way too toasty in this quasi-nautical ensemble, having hoped and dressed for ominous fog, murderous gales and oceanic rainstorms. Instead, it is bright, calm and warm on an early spring afternoon in the famously pretty fishing village of Cudillero in Asturias, where the Costa Verde of northern Spain drops away into the deep blue Bay of Biscay.Built in 1858, the local lighthouse – the Faro de Cudillero – stands on a shelf of rock just beyond the harbour, a short walk up stone steps and along a narrow cliff side service path. Its hexagonal beacon tower has been remodelled a few times over the years. The signal lamp inside was first fuelled by olive oil, then paraffin and petrol, bef...

Politics

1 week ago No10 hints at more spending cuts to fund bigger splurge on public sector pay

Pay review bodies have recommended 4 per cent for teachers and 3 per cent for NHS workers - significantly more than the 2.8 per cent the government has proposed.

Economics

1 week ago Rukmini Iyer’s quick and easy recipe for asparagus, pea and lemon orzotto | Quick and easy

Orzo pasta with seeded pea pesto: spring on a plate, and a good option for the kids, tooThis dish manages to be simultaneously spring-like and comforting, thanks to the intense flavour from the pea pesto. Telling you to stir whole peas through orzo feels a bit too much like nursery food, but if you are serving this to small children who are amenable to pesto pasta (mine are not), I’d suggest finely blitzing the pumpkin seeds before adding them to the pesto, because they’re quite large pieces otherwise. Top with seasonal asparagus and this is the perfect dinner to eat outdoors on a warm spring evening. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘People lay at my feet. I said: get up. They were silent’: Ukrainian survivors speak after Russia’s attack on Sumy

Alla Shyrshonkova was on a bus when Russian missiles hit the city. Now a toy bear and hippo mark the spot where 35 people, including two children, were killedLast weekend, Alla Shyrshonkova got on the 62 bus on a journey to her cottage near the Ukrainian city of Sumy. It was a warm spring day. “I thought I’d sit with friends, have some tea. Birds were singing. The weather was beautiful. It was so nice,” she recalled.“The bus was packed. There wasn’t a single free seat. People were standing. Some were going to church for Palm Sunday. There were families with children.” Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago ‘I saw cars on fire. People were lying at my feet’: Ukrainian survivors describe Russia’s attack on Sumy

Alla Shyrshonkova was on a bus when Russian missiles hit the city. Now a toy bear and hippo mark the spot where 35 people, including two children, were killedLast weekend, Alla Shyrshonkova got on the 62 bus on a journey to her cottage near the Ukrainian city of Sumy. It was a warm spring day. “I thought I’d sit with friends, have some tea. Birds were singing. The weather was beautiful. It was so nice,” she recalled.“The bus was packed. There wasn’t a single free seat. People were standing. Some were going to church for Palm Sunday. There were families with children.” Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Marks and Spencer's 'warm but not heavy' £35 spring cardigan said to 'look great over everything'

"It's got a great shape and is smart or casual depending what I pair it with. It's a really useful colour and not heavy at all"

Economics

3 w. ago ‘It’s sheer terrorism’: Sumy buries dead after Russia’s Palm Sunday attack

Ukrainians grieve and clear away wreckage in north-eastern city after morning attack that killed at least 35Europe live – latest updatesOn a warm spring day relatives gathered to say goodbye to Viktor Boiko and his wife, Olha. Their open coffins were laid out next to one other. Viktor wore his best suit. Olha was in a flowery blouse, with carnations heaped around her slippered feet. A priest sang prayers. Gravediggers lowered the couple into the ground, and shovelled earth on top. It landed with a percussive thud.“Give me a weapon. Any weapon. I want to kill those butchers in Moscow,” said Viktor’s brother-in-law Anatolii Prykhodko, as his wife stood sobbing next to him. “They have murdered so many people. Adults, kids, peaceful citizens. If you lose a house or a car in a war, you can get it back. If you lose a person, a loved one, they are gone for ever.” Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Robins will 'flock to your garden' if you leave out just four foods

As the UK enjoys a long-awaited spell of warm spring weather, garden birds are flocking to bird feeders, bird tables and tree branches in ever increasing numbers

Politics

3 w. ago Brits could soon be plagued by swarms of deadly Asian hornets as weather warms

The warm start to spring has led to the 25mm-long yellow-legged hornets, which can kill 90,000 pollinating insects in just one season, to successfully breed and surge in numbers

Events

3 w. ago Warm spring sparks fears of UK invasion of deadly 'butcher' Asian hornets

The number of Asian hornets recorded in Jersey have soared by over 1,000% in a year - and now experts say they could be heading across the English Channel this summer

Events

3 w. ago An NHS skin expert explains how to combat strawberry legs (aka Keratosis Pilaris)

The sun is here (at least for the time being), which for lots of us means ditching the long midi dresses and trousers of winter to embrace shorter hemlines - and swimwear if you're jetting off somewhere warm this spring.

Politics

3 w. ago Real Lies: We Will Annihilate Our Enemies review – lad laureate meets euphoric synths

(Tonal)Kevin Lee Kharas’s muttered musings about love and life are given a sumptuous electronic backdrop by producer Patrick KingThe third album by London electronic duo Real Lies might be the perfect record for our unseasonably warm spring. Beneath its chilly 1990s and 2000s nostalgic exterior, it’s actually a profoundly optimistic album, one that suggests love and connection might offer a way out of our angry, disconnected moment. Opening with the sweeping, Knife-esque club track Loverboy – whose spacey synth intro becomes a refrain throughout the album – We Will Annihilate Our Enemies captures the frantic, sometimes depressing, often exciting feeling of life in a big city, where everyone is fighting and partying and working all the time.Throughout, vocalist Kevin Lee Kharas positions himself as a kind of poet laureate of lad society, delivering his party polemics with an imperious, 2am wisdom: muttering about friendship and youthful hedonism on Wild Sign I Choose You; paying trib...

Politics