A water firm has advised its customers to have shorter showers and let their lawns go brown after England experienced the driest spring since 1893. Southern Water serves about 2.6 million customers across the south of England, including in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. It said a prolonged dry spell has impacted the local...
The reason for the change in weather is down to the jet stream – a fast wind high in the atmosphere – shifting position and alternating the pressure pattern in the UK. Settled weather associated with high pressure has been replaced by areas of low pressure – unsettled weather – moving in from the Atlantic....
The UK has recorded its warmest spring on record and its driest in more than 50 years, provisional Met Office figures show. It was also the sunniest spring on record for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and the second sunniest in England since the amount of hours of sunshine began to be recorded in 1910....
Not all parts of the country will experience the warmth this weekend as high pressure will only influence conditions across parts of England and Wales. Meanwhile, low pressure systems will continue further north – bringing showers or longer spells of rain to northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland over the next few days, with maybe...
Georgina Rannard Climate and science reporter Getty Images Temperatures in the seas around the UK and Ireland have soared in the past week with some areas now 4C warmer than normal, with potential implications for marine life and people going swimming. The heatwave is most intense off the west coast of Ireland as well as...
Getty Images With parts of the UK expected to reach 29C on Thursday, this week’s spring heatwave will undoubtedly have an effect on plants – both inside and outdoors. Experts say that while the unusually warm weather this early in the year could pose some issues for some plants, others stand to benefit and flourish....
Helen Briggs Environment correspondent, BBC News•@hbriggs Getty Images The swallow is a common summer visitor, arriving in April and leaving in October With what’s being called a mini-heatwave looming for the UK, it’s not just humans looking forward to warmer weather. The warm spell is expected to give a temporary boost to nature as migratory...
Ten years for killing two people while driving drunk and high? That sentence seems light enough even if Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano had been here legally. Now he might serve only three years for the two deaths, thanks to the Calfornia Department of Corrections, which informed the families of the victims that Ortega-Anguiano had earned enough...
Bet heavily on nothing, except a brief publicity tour for Senator Chris Van Hollen. The Maryland Democrat demanded a meeting with Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele during his state visit with Donald Trump, and got snubbed. Not that it would have mattered much; Bukele scoffed at the idea of sending Salvadoran citizen Kilmar Abrego Garcia back...
Back for a second year, the Princesshay Spring Market will take place between 4 – 21 April. Princesshay will welcome back eight local market traders this spring with wooden chalets lining the main mall near Princesshay Square and opposite Reiss and Oliver Bonas. New for this year will be a large vintage carousel in Princesshay...
A council has planted a dozen Christmas trees in preparation for future festive celebrations. Dudley Council said it had put the trees in locations across the borough this week as part of a springtime planting project. The authority said the new trees would improve public spaces and be a permanent and sustainable feature of future...
On Saturday high pressure will sit to the south of the UK with an area of low pressure moving across northern parts. That means cloud and outbreaks of rain will affect Scotland and Northern Ireland – potentially spoiling the chance to witness the partial solar eclipse – and will spread into Wales, northern and western...
Brian Wheeler Political reporter Reuters Rachel Reeves has squeezed the welfare budget further and boosted defence spending in a Spring Statement aimed at kick-starting the faltering economy. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) – the government’s financial watchdog – halved its growth forecast for this year to 1%. The chancellor blamed global instability, arguing that...
Henry Zeffman explains what you need to know about the Spring Statement. Read article in full at source...
The Chancellor said those who can’t work “should be properly supported”. Read article in full at source...