Annie McNamee

Television has been around for 70 years, but only in the last two decades has it earned true respect as an artistic medium. Up to that point, elitists referred to TV as ‘the idiot box’ or ‘the boob tube,’ and if you worked in it, you were either a hack or an upstart hoping to make the leap into the more dignified world of movies. Was its poor reputation deserved? Sure, there were blips of brilliance between The Ed Sullivan Show and The Sopranos, but by and large, the garbage outweighed the gold. Maybe it’s unfair, but the fact that it was all being beamed directly into our living rooms made the dreck more noticeable.  That’s all changed. Television has nudged film out from the center of popular culture, to the point that some of cinema’s truest believers – Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Steven Soderbergh – are making movies specifically for the small screen. The shift may have started with HBO and The Sopranos, but the advent of streaming has made it so that hundreds of new shows are now continually flipping the script every few years, if not months. But that doesn’t mean everything before 1999 is pure dross. While this list is dominated by 21st century programs, there are hundreds of shows that deserve credit for pushing TV forward into its current golden age, and chiseling them down to a neat top 100 is difficult. So we elected to leave off talk shows, variety shows and sketch comedy, focusing on scripted, episodic dramas, comedies and miniseries. Even then, it proved to b

This is about the time when the January blues start to hit pretty hard. It’s dark at 4pm, you’ve got no money left after Christmas and winter feels like it’s dragging on forever. But we’re here to tell you that things are looking up, because 2025 is going to be a corker of a year for the UK.  It turns out that 2025 is going to be a bit of a big one, with a number of landmark occasions being celebrated across Britain. There’s Jane Austen’s 250th birthday in Southampton, as well as the art-packed Folkestone Triennial, a celebration of 200 years of the British railway in York and Bradford’s 2025 City of Culture festivities. Then, there are up-and-coming foodie towns in Cornwall, music scenes that are popping off in Cardiff and Belfast, and the reopening of grand cultural insitutions like the Tate Liverpool.  If there’s ever been a good time to book a trip, it’s now (it might even help keep some SAD at bay). There is so much fantastic stuff happening across the country this year, so read our list curated by local experts of the best places to visit in the UK in 2025, and get stuck in.  RECOMMENDED: 🇬🇧 The 25 best new things to do in the UK in 2025📍The 12 most underrated city breaks in the UK 🏨 The UK’s 13 best new hotels opening in 2025👨‍👩‍👧 6 amazing places to stay with Kids in the UK

This bustling coastal city is absolutely steeped in history, maritime heritage, and of course, there's loads to see. It’s roots date back as far as the Stone Age, and it's first ever museum (the Tudor House) remains a top attraction, with gorgeous gardens and guided tours on offer.  There’s plenty of modern-day action too, with a treasured football team, The Saints, and their fans bringing life to the city on match day. Southampton is also only a 20-minute drive away from the New Forest, or a ferry-ride away from the Isle of Wight, there's plenty going on that makes this city worth a visit. Check out our list of top picks for all the best things to do in Southampton.  RECOMMENDED: ⛰️ The best things to in the New Forest🏖️ The best seaside towns in the UK💕 The best things to do in the UK Annie McNamee is a writer at Time Out UK. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 

If people make Glasgow, music is what fuels it. The city's music scene was thriving long before the rest of it had caught up, with places like the Barrowlands and the Old Fruit Market offering locals good, cheap live music when general attitudes of Glasgow were, let's just say, less than favourable.  But those days are behind us, and Scotland's biggest city is now known across the UK for its vibrant cultural heritage, nightlife, and, of course, its music scene. Whether you're looking for an arena of people to scream along your favourite songs with, or a small makeshift stage at the back of a bar to find your new favourite band, Glasgow's got you sorted. Fair warning though: crowds here are famously rowdy. They're a lot of fun, but don't be surprised if you end up beer-soaked. Oh, and brush up on our local chants. You don't want to be the only person not shouting along with 'here we, here we, here we f'ing go!'. 

History has it that Pollokshaws Road was once home to a merry band of Flemish weavers – known as the ‘Queer Folk’ – who were brought over to work in the city during the 19th century by local landowners. These days it’s still a thriving creative hub, threading down Glasgow’s Southside and linking up the districts of Govanhill, Strathbungo and Shawlands. Rows of sandstone tenements loom over traffic separated by wide pavements, behind which stand ornate townhouses designed by Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson. There’s a juicy chunk of Pollokshaws Road where bars, cafés and boutiques jostle for space; pick it up from Allison Street and wander down past Queen’s Park. Since it’s a largely residential area, there’s a distinct feel of community – something that’s enhanced by the indie businesses that have popped up over the past few years. In particular it’s a brunch haven, with queues leaking out of living-room-sized cafés come rain or shine. You can also expect to find organic fruit and veg at Stalks & Stems, a fresh produce emporium with a florist next door, and (almost) a different coffee shop for every day of the week. It’s not all hipster territory, though. Punters tired of mustachioed baristas and bar staff will be cheered by the decent selection of old man pubs complete with smoked-glass windows. Recommended: Full guide to the best things to do in Glasgow

How easily could you be persuaded to shave off an eyebrow, or take a shot for every stair you climbed? Perhaps you’d feel more compelled if you were half a bottle of ‘Chicken Wine’ deep, 18, and surrounded by new friends that you were trying to impress? If you attended university in the UK you might have an uncomfortable feeling of deja-vu, perhaps being whisked back to the time you were ‘hazed’ as a first year student. If you didn’t, you’ve likely heard the rumours about former prime ministers getting it on with pigs, or rugby teams shoving carrots in places vegetables should never go. Hazing, or ‘initiation’ as it more commonly goes by this side of the Atlantic, is a practice which usually consists of ritualistically embarrassing rookie members of a given group in order for them to prove themselves. It’s also nothing new. There’s evidence of rowdy schoolboys dating as far back as 420 BCE when Plato recounted ‘practical jokes played by unruly young men’ which left both spectators and haze-ees injured. Somehow, this bizarre custom has survived the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, the birth of Jesus Christ, several international plagues and found a home for itself in the modern age on university campuses. But for the past decade or so, hazing’s millenia-long reign has been threatened by a generation who supposedly care more about their physical and mental health than they do about banter and ritual humiliation. Today, hazing has met its match: Generation Z. So what do these

In 2024, what exactly makes a neighbourhood cool? Craft breweries, natty wine bars and street art are well and good, but the world’s best, most exciting and downright fun neighbourhoods are much more than identikit ‘hipster hubs’. They’re places that reflect the very best of their cities – its culture, community spirit, nightlife, food and drink – all condensed in one vibey, walkable district. To create our annual ranking, we went straight to the experts – our global team of on-the-ground writers and editors – and asked them what the coolest neighbourhood in their city is right now, and why. Then we narrowed down the selection and ranked the list using the insight and expertise of Time Out’s global editors, who vetted each neighbourhood against criteria including food, drink, arts, culture, street life, community and one-of-a-kind local flavour. The result? A list that celebrates the most unique and exciting pockets of our cities – and all their quirks. Yes, you’ll find some of those international hallmarks of ‘cool’. But in every neighbourhood on this list there’s something you won’t find anywhere else. Ever been to a photography museum that moonlights as a jazz club? Or a brewery with a library of Russian literature? How about a festival dedicated to fluff? When communities fiercely support and rally around their local businesses, even the most eccentric ideas can become a reality. And that, in our eyes, is what makes a neighbourhood truly cool. From formerly overlooked sub

You might never want to leave Edinburgh, and we get it. The Scottish capital is loved the world over for its culture, restaurants and Fringe Festival (to name a few). But if you limit your time in Scotland to just Edinburgh, trust us, you’re missing out.  Scotland is full of gems, but the best part is a whole lot of them can be reached by train or car in just one day – with enough time left to get back in time for dinner. From hilly hikes to wide-open beaches and from pretty towns to full-blown city breaks, these day trips from Edinburgh are not to be missed. Here are our favourites.  RECOMMENDED:🌤️ The best things to do in Edinburgh 🎨 The best art galleries in Edinburgh🏰 The best attractions in Edinburgh🏘️ The best Airbnbs in Edinburgh This guide was updated by Edinburgh-based Arusa Quereshi, and Time Out editors. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 

What words come to mind when we mention the Olympics? Prestige? Excellence? Medals? Or is it: ‘Grom’?  The Olympic games have been around for nearly three millennia. As the entire planet tunes in to watch as the top sports people compete for those coveted gold medals, there’s some stuff you’ll probably want to get your head around to make the most of your viewing experience: jargon for you normies to weave into your vocab that will have you sounding like proper Olympic pros in no time.  RECOMMENDED:How to watch the Paris 2024 Olympics in the UK for freeHere’s the full schedule and timings for the Summer Games We’ve done some digging and unearthed some 100 percent real words and phrases that will almost certainly be used by professional Olympians and commentators across the next few weeks. What’s more, there’s something inherently funny about words which sound out of place to the average Joe. There’s nothing worth giggling about hearing the word ‘jaeger’ at a bar (especially as it’s usually followed by a friend trying to convince you to neck a shot of sweet battery acid and gone-off liquorice), but watching it earnestly come out of the mouth of a world-class gymnast? Now that’s entertainment. So what are you waiting for? Brush up on your sporty lingo and drop these into convo next time you’re watching the Games to impress your mates. Skateboarding  ‘Goofy stance’: Refers to when a skateboarder has their left foot on the back of the board. Also used in surfing and snowboarding

You remember the days. Assuring your friend that she definitely looks like her older cousin’s co-worker, especially with a ponytail in. Hovering awkwardly around the corner from the off-license as your one 18-year-old pal does God’s work for the rest of you. The pit in your tummy as you recite a fake birthday to the bouncer of a sticky-floored nightclub – remembering your star sign, memorising your imaginary postcode – and the elated relief when he lets you in with a raised eyebrow and a reluctant nod. Finding increasingly inventive ways to get around age-restrictions was half the fun of being 17, but today’s teens seem to be going off going out altogether. ‘You definitely see fake IDs less than you used to,’ says one bouncer at a popular student nightclub in Bristol. When he started working at the venue a decade ago, he’d encounter a load of fakes on any given night – but not so much anymore. ‘The worst one I ever saw had the back on upside down,’ he says. ‘The ones we do see are getting a lot better and it can be harder to catch them. But they’re definitely rarer now.’ Something has certainly shifted. A few weeks ago, as I walked through the Triangle, Bristol’s premier hotspot for stumbling freshers and lovers of three for two Jägerbombs, I noticed that the local Sainsbury’s was busier than all of the clubs combined. Two years ago, dancefloors would’ve been filling up at 11pm on a Monday. This wasn’t a fluke: since that night, two of the clubs in question have closed their

For all of the stick we give the UK – the grey skies, the pigeons, the Greggs sausage roll packets littering the pavements – it’s actually a pretty gorgeous country. In London alone, you can be goggling over the Barbican’s brutalist beauty one moment, the next, you might be basking in the tranquility of Hampstead Ponds. Add the turquoise coasts of Cornwall, the rugged mountains of Snowdonia and the fairytale wonder of Scotland’s highlands and islands to the mix, and you’ve got a country which is as good looking as they come.  When we set about curating this list of the most beautiful places in the UK, we called on our network of expert travel writers. These guys have have personally experienced the pinch-me moment of seeing every place on this list IRL – so we can guarantee you there is no catfishing going on here. Of course, you’ll find the usual suspects – you can’t argue with the magic of the Isle of Skye, after all – but you’ll also find some more surprising beauty spots to add to your travel bucket list. RECOMMENDED:🚂 The UK’s most beautiful train stations🇬🇧 The best things to do in the UK🏝 The most beautiful places in the world🏠 The best Airbnbs in the UK Chiara Wilkinson is Time Out’s UK features editor, based in London. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content

Ever wanted to know what life as student is really like in 2023? We asked 20-year-old student-turned-amateur-anthropologist Annie to tell us her observations about the people, parties and juiciest secrets of the UK’s unis. Here’s her verdict. Universities. National institutions. Places of learning and research, incubators of intellect. Unfortunately, also the land of the ‘student’. Student is a varied species which feeds mainly on pasta and rice. British students can often be found at the nearest Wetherspoons, getting drunk on vanilla flavoured vodka because the regular one is 30p more expensive. They tend to be slightly nocturnal and the males are known for going to extraordinary lengths to attract mates that they will subsequently ‘leave on read’.   Subtypes of ‘student’ vary based on location and each British uni comes with its own set of defining characteristics. So, buckle up: this is an entirely imaginary but 100 percent accurate investigation into the private lives of students in the wild, in their most natural habitat – on what they like to call, ‘a night out’.  Newcastle Image: Genie Espinosa We start in Newcastle and encounter Georgia moments after arriving at Market Shaker, an underground bar. She promptly begins chatting about the time she almost jumped into the Tyne ‘just for laughs’, which seems common for the ‘Geordie’ student species. Other notable characteristics appear to include: studying Geography, being obsessed with the North/South divide, Nike Air Max

You’ve been here before. Almost.  With a clientele which would be perfect for a Love Island spin-off featuring exclusively people with ‘entrepreneur’ in their bios and a healthy amount of exposed pipework, The Counter is what those in the know would probably call ‘trendy’. Its dim lights, small plate selection, and strategically chipped brick feature wall put it on the verge of parodically hip, but a glance at its menu and a quick chat with any member of its team reveal it to be much more down to Earth than some of its equally Instagrammable peers. If you close your eyes you can almost feel the Istanbuli breeze flowing through your hair The sense of deja-vu you feel may not be coming solely from its open-plan bar though. Chef Kemal Demirasal’s first UK venture, opened up two years ago in Notting Hill to much success. Originally from Turkey, he’s taken much of the charm of the original joint (as well as its most popular recipes and excellent cocktails) and transported it to Kingly Street – and combined it with a series of fresh ideas and a lot of seafood. Fresh is definitely the operative word. The cocktails are infused with real fruit. The tomatoes have been imported from Turkey. There’s sort-of-caviar sprinkled on avocado-topped fish. If you close your eyes and just bite, you can almost feel the Istanbuli breeze flowing through your hair. A series of enthusiastic staff members recommended a variety of dishes to us. Some, like the tomato salad or prawns, were familiar classi

Enjoy an evening of modern classical music composed by Black artists whose work did not get the spotlight that it deserved in its time at this Southbank Centre concert. The night will involve three different pieces from three different composers, performed by up and coming American violinist Randall Goosby, who made his debut with the Jacksonville Symphony orchestra at just nine, and award-winning Chinese pianist Zhu Wang. 

Already getting in the mood to don a bucket hat and drink warm pints in flimsy cups? We’ve got exciting news: the 2025 Glastonbury resale goes live this weekend. After confirming exactly when resale tickets will go on sale earlier this month, the first of those dates has already been and gone. Coach and ticket resale packages went live on Thursday April 24 and they sold out in just 32 minutes.  But there’s still hope. The second and final resale for Glastonbury 2025 will take place in the morning of Sunday April 27. Up for grabs this time will be general sale tickets.  If you nab a ticket, there’s a heck of a lot to look forward to. The 2025 Glasto lineup will see the 1975, Olivia Rodrigo, Neil Young and Rod Stewart headlining the Pyramid Stage, with plenty of other huge names on other stages like Charli XCX, Raye, Doechii, Ezra Collective, Rod Stewart, Snow Patrol and Loyle Carner.  It sounds like 2025 will be as big a Glasto as any – which is all the more reason, if you didn’t get a ticket back in October or on Thursday, to try and get one now.   Bagging entry to Glasto is notoriously tricky. There’s dozens of tips and tricks which long-time festival-goers swear by (including, apparently, being from Liverpool), but when it comes down to it, it’s mostly a game of luck. If the odds weren’t in your favour back in November, they might be now, as ticket resale looms closer. Here’s everything you need to know to make sure you successfully get resale tickets for Glastonbury 2025.

Anyone alive between the years of 1778 (yes, it was that old) and 2021 will know Debenhams. The department store chain ruled British city centres for centuries, but even an institution that iconic could not survive the great death of the high street. When it shut up shop in May 2021, it left over 120 stores, and some very big boots to fill. Now, Wakefield’s old Debenhams is the latest to be given a new lease of life by developers. The problem with Debenhams stores is that they are big. Like, really big, and usually right in the middle of town. Not many retailers can fill up their many vacant floors with goods, which means that many of them remain empty, even four years on. Marks and Spencer acquired a few, but according to data from the Guardian last summer, only a third have found new uses, and more than half remain completely empty. With little investment from traditional department stores, some developers have had to be creative about how to fill the space. In Bristol, for instance, the ground floor has been repurposed as a Skate Park, which is a very Bristolian approach to renovation. Wakefield is going for a similarly fun-filled solution, turning its old Debenhams, inside the Trinity Walk Shopping Centre (in the above picture you can sort of see it at the back, if you squint really hard), into a bowling alley by Tenpin. The entertainment venue will have 24 lanes, a purpose-built arena for laser tag, escape rooms, an arcade, and a bar serving food and drinks. Local counci

If you really love to travel, chances are you’ve already explored much of Europe. Being just across the Channel, the Continent is pretty easy to get to, but going further afield can be a bit trickier. To get to east Asia you usually have to do a stopover or two (or pay through the nose for a ticket), but Virgin Atlantic is about to make it easier than ever to get to one very cool Asian city. Virgin Atlantic’s new route will fly from London Heathrow to Seoul in South Korea. At present, the only providers who offer this journey nonstop are Korean Airlines and Asian Airlines, so Virgin throwing its planes in the ring will give consumers more choice about how they fly. Virgin is partnered with several Asian carriers, which means that adding this route will also result in more connections to the rest of East Asia. It says that by going through Seoul, ‘customers will be able to connect to 15 cities… including the beautiful coastal city of Busan as well as Osaka, Nagoya, Tokyo Haneda, Tokyo Narita, Fukuoka, Okinawa and Hokkaido in Japan, Sydney and Brisbane in Australia, Auckland in New Zealand, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang in Vietnam and Hong Kong’. Basically, a lot of the world is opened up from this single flight. And you know it will be an enjoyable journey: Virgin Atlantic was in AirlineRatings.com top 25 airlines in the world this February. As if that wasn’t enough, we at Time Out named Seoul one of the best cities on Earth earlier this year. According to our local expe

Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was a historic leader. Not just because he led the Vatican for over a decade, or even because he was the first ever Latin American pontiff. Above all else, his legacy is one of reforming the faith by speaking out on a range of issues, reaching out to LGBT people, and increasing opportunities for women in Catholic churches. The Pope died just after 7.30am on Easter Monday (April 21) of a stroke after several months of ill-health following two bouts of pneumonia this February. The Vatican said of him on Monday" ‘He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized.’ Francis has made it clear that he wants to remain in death as he did in life: with humility. Popes are traditionally laid to rest underneath St Peter’s Basilica, but Francis will be buried in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, where he often went to pray to a statue of the Mother Mary, with a simple inscription of his papal name in Latin. Catholics across the world have been mourning the late Pope Francis in local chapels and national cathedrals this week, but timings and information is now available about when his official papal funeral will be. Here’s what you need to know if you want to watch along and pay your respects from home. When is the Pope's funeral? The papal funeral must happen within six days of the Pope’s death, hence why Pope Francis’ will take place this Saturday (Ap

‘Run a marathon’ is at the top of many of our bucket lists, but only a few of us are dedicated enough to do the hours of training and planning required to make it happen. This Sunday, tens of thousands of people from Manchester and beyond will don their comfiest trainers, and perhaps their more eye-catching costumes, run the whole 26.2 miles, and gain a brilliant ice-breaker fun-fact in the process. Marathons take a lot of careful planning and organisation. You can’t just let 30,000 people loose on the streets of Manchester; you have to plan a route, stagger their start and end times, and make sure their friends and families know how and where to cheer them on. Luckily, all the complicated parts have already been figured out, and all you need to do is stay in your lane – metaphorically and literally.  If you’re running in this year’s Manchester Marathon, or if you know someone who is, here’s absolutely everything you need to know ahead of this Sunday’s event. When is the 2025 Manchester Marathon? This year’s Manchester Marathon will take place this weekend, on Sunday April 27 – the same day as the London Marathon. It will begin at 9am officially, although roads will be closed off from the early morning, and go on until around 6pm, when roads will begin to reopen as the final racers cross the finish line. Manchester Marathon start times There are expected to be over 35,000 people donning their trainers and taking part in this year’s marathon, which is roughly the population of

If you’ve been into town recently, you know what’s up. You’ve seen the boarded up windows, you’ve noticed your usual haunts disappearing, you’ve benefited from an ‘everything must go – half off!’ sale once or twice. You can see that it’s a shop-ageddon out there on UK high streets, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. In 2023, we lost Wilko, and then in 2024 we got it back. Then we said goodbye to a bunch of Marks and Spencers, some Boots, a few Body Shops, and plenty more. In fact, some studies have estimated that Britain lost up to 37 shops a day in 2024. Although we all hoped that the new year would bring good news for our high streets, it’s looking like 2025 might just be more of the same. It’s not all doom and gloom, but it’s useful to know exactly what’s coming and going so that you don’t plan an entire shopping day around a store which has closed its doors for the last time. Here’s an exhaustive list of all the big places shutting up shop this year across the country. All the UK high street closures in 2025 Morrisons Supermarket chain Morrisons is shutting dozens of Morrisons Daily convenience stores and Morrisons Cafés, as well as Market Kitchens, florists, meat counters, fish counters and pharmacies. Here are the store and café closures, and you can find the full list (including Market Kitchens, florists and pharmacies) here. Morrisons stores Bath, Moorland Road Exeter, 51 Sidwell Street Goring-By-Sea, Strand Para Gorleston, Lowestoft Road Great Barr, Queslet

Everyone wants the best for their kids, and some people are lucky enough to actually be able to buy it. There are thousands of preparatory schools up and down the UK that, for a hefty fee, will give your little ones a primary education that will set them up for life. Only 10 of them, however, have been named the ‘best’ by the prestigious Carfax Education Index. Carfax curates various versions of its schools index each year, recommending the very best of the best to parents everywhere – ‘regardless of their location around the globe’. The company uses a holistic approach to choosing its top 10s, considering various factors including exam results, range of extracurricular activities, and ‘ethos’. Basically, these people are serious about good (but expensive) education, and the 2024 UK prep school index has revealed that being near London gives you access to most of the top institutions. Of Carfax’s top 10 picks, six are within a 90 or so minute drive to the centre of London, and all are in the south of England. Despite this, none of the 10 are actually in the capital. Instead, the best setting for growing kids seems to be, at least according to Carfax, in the countryside with lots of space for running, playing, and riding their ponies. You know, as all kids do. That’s not to say that London isn’t home to any excellent schools. In fact, last year two London schools were shortlisted amongst the best in the world, the Sunday Times named one of our grammar schools among the top ten

The automobile was supposed to open up the world to us. Sure, we can travel further (which definitely has its perks), but in cities which have been built with cars in mind, not owning one very quickly becomes isolating. That’s why walkable cities are so great. Well, one of the reasons why. Aside from convenience for those of us who have never managed to pass a driving test, studies have found that people who live in walkable cities are happier, healthier, and find it easier to build community with their neighbours. On top of that, making a city easy to navigate without a car can actually boost the local economy by increasing footfall for local businesses. Better public transport also equals fewer cars which equals better air quality. Basically, everyone wins. Clearly, here at Time Out we’re passionate about the benefits of walkable cities, and, it turns out plenty of you are too. We asked over 18,500 people to rate on a scale of 1-5 – 1 being ‘awful’ and 5 being ‘amazing’ – how easy their city is to get around by foot, and then picked out the places with the highest percentage of respondents who said ‘amazing’ or ‘good’. Once all was said and done, four UK cities made it into the top 20. The most walkable city in the UK, coming third worldwide, is officially… Brighton! 88 percent of locals rated its walkability ‘amazing’ or ‘good’. That won’t come as a surprise to many people, as the seaside town is known for its complex of gorgeous lanes full of local boutiques and cafes, to

There’s a lot to love about summer. The weather’s better and the light sticks around past 4pm, but the most exciting thing about summer is getting to go on a nice long holiday. Everything is better when you’ve got a trip booked, and Jet2 has just announced that the airline giving you more options for where that next trip will take you. Last November, Jet2 announced that it would begin flying from London Luton airport from this summer, and although it only landed in Luton earlier this month, the budget-friendly carrier has already got plans to expand services from the airport. Next year, Jet2 will launch routes between the Bedfordshire base to Menorca in Spain, and Corfu, Kos, Preveza, and Skiathos in Greece. This will make Jet2 the only airline to fly from Luton to the latter two spots. All of this will also come with increased capacity to the provider’s most popular destinations including Crete, Rhodes, Zante, Majorca, Fuerteventura and Antalya. Not too shabby, eh? So when exactly will you be able to board? Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait. These flights will not be taking off until May next year. The first to launch will be the Menorca route on May 5, followed by the Greek flights debuting between May 21 and 24. Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2, has said that adding seats on existing routes as well as adding new ones ‘gives holidaymakers exactly what they want – more choice and flexibility’. Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Luton airport said that it is ‘thrilled to see this contin

The night sky has captured human imaginations as long as we’ve been able to look up. From planetary parades to the northern lights, there is an amateur astronomer in us all, and tonight (April 17) is a perfect time to embrace that inner star-gazer as the Lyrid meteor shower is set to return. The last major meteor shower was the Quantradids back in January. Since then we did have a pink micromoon and a lunar eclipse, but nothing star-related has been going on for four months, making the Lyrids much anticipated. We should say though, don’t get your hopes up too much. This shower isn’t quite as impressive as the last one was, and the upcoming Eta Aquariids, which will peak on May 5, is also likely to be quite a bit clearer.  But that doesn’t mean the Lyrid shower won’t be worth looking out for. Here’s everything you need to know to give you the best chance of seeing the Lyrids at their peak this year. RECOMMENDED: The northern lights could be visible in the UK this weekend.  What is the Lyrid Meteor Shower? As with all meteor showers, the Lyrids are made up of little bits of space debris, like chunks of rock, which have come from comets or asteroids and get sucked into our atmosphere . The streak of light that you see is because they are falling so fast that they heat up to 1600°C. Never mind frying, you could vaporise an egg on that surface. They’re generally tiny so burn up long before they have the chance to hit the surface of the Earth. They are measured by ‘hourly rate’ of

Getting around can be expensive. For £4 you could get an alright amount of petrol, maybe a one-way train ticket into town, or a Flixbus ticket to a brand new city.  You read that right. Select direct tickets booked between today (April 17) and next Tuesday (April 22) for journeys between April 23 and June 30 will be less than a fiver as part of a celebration for the provider’s fourth anniversary in the UK.  There is only one catch: you’ll need to be travelling to or from one of the Flixbus’ brand new destinations. Its network is already pretty impressive, serving more than 80 stops from Inverness to Plymouth, but it’s set to get even more impressive with the launch of 11 brand new locations between now and mid-May.  Just to make sure you can get where you need to go, Flixbus is also expanding coverage for its most popular locations including London, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol and Cardiff. By summer, it hopes that more than 200 bright green coaches will be zooming across our motorways. A spokesperson for the company explained that it’s all part of its mission to make travelling fun and accessible for everyone, adding that ‘FlixBus is making it so easy to enjoy trips across the country to see loved ones and explore new places on the smallest of budgets’.  Flixbus tickets are already very reasonably priced, so even if you aren’t travelling to any of the promotional destinations it’s worth having a look at its offerings next time you’re planning a trip on

2012 was a great time to be alive. Social media sites were full of people lip-syncing to songs instead of arguing, Donald Trump was still just a reality TV host, and it was all soundtracked by a distinctive genre of indie-folk-rock music. The kings of that genre? Mumford and Sons. Originally formed in 2007, Mumford and Sons really blew up in 2010 with the release of their first album Sigh No More. Since then, they have enjoyed more than a decade of success, both here in the UK and abroad. If you were alive in the 2010s, you’ll know their sound. There’s always a banjo strumming. They've inspired countless successors, like the Lumineers (who are also going on tour) and, more recently, Noah Kahan (who will be headlining London’s Hyde Part BST). It’s been seven whole years since the band’s last album came out, and five years since their last tour was cruelly cut short by the pandemic. But now after a long, partially socially-distanced wait, we’ve got some good news about everyone’s favourite millennial rockers (that aren’t Coldplay).  To celebrate the release of new album Rushmere at the end of March, the boys are embarking on a massive European arena tour this winter, including six here in the UK. Here’s everything you need to know to make sure you bag tickets. When are Mumford and Sons going on their UK tour? Mumford and Sons tour kicks off on November 6 in Stockholm, and ends on December 10 with a gig in London’s O2 arena. Being from south London himself, that one will be extr