UK to bask in 22C sunshine after wettest week for seven months

Don’t pack away the garden barbecue just yet, weather experts are predicting a return to sunshine this weekend.

After the wettest week for seven months, the Met Office forecasts the UK will bask in temperatures reaching up to 22C, in London on Saturday.

The warm weather is forecast to continue into Sunday with highs of 22C in Norwich and 20C in Edinburgh.

However, showers are also expected on Sunday across the UK.

“Warm sunshine on Saturday, though winds freshening and a few showers developing in the west,” a spokesperson said. “Turning more unsettled for Sunday and Monday. Rain giving way to sunshine and blustery showers.”

It comes after a yellow weather warning for storms was put in place for much of northern England, the Midlands and parts of Wales on Thursday.

The warning, which was in place until 5pm, predicted further rain and flooding.

England experienced its wettest week for seven months, according to the Environment Agency.

There have been “notable” amounts of rainfall, particularly in the North West, South East and South West, all of which received more than 35mm of rain between August 27 and September 2.

Rivers levels have increased at nearly all the sites monitored by the agency, although just over a third were classed as being below normal for this time of year.

Despite the recent showers, total rainfall in England in August was only 42 per cent of the long-term average.

Long spells of dry and hot weather over the past few months have taken their toll on the environment and agriculture, leading to hosepipe bans, drought orders, poor harvests and low water levels in reservoirs.

Both spring and summer 2025 were the UK’s warmest on record, while spring was the second driest for England since Met Office rainfall data began in 1836.

Yorkshire Water still has a hosepipe ban in place despite some recent rain, while Southern Water still has a ban in place for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Dave Kaye, Yorkshire Water’s director of water services, said: “Yorkshire is in drought following an extremely dry spring and the hottest summer on record.

“While the rain, which was heavy in some areas but short-lived, has been welcome, the majority has been taken up by the extremely dry ground, as well as plants and trees.”

The costly mistake behind Daniel Levy’s fall at Tottenham

In an email to Tottenham Hotspur staff, where new chief executive Vinai Venkatesham acknowledged that Daniel Levy’s departure would come as “a shock to all of you”, there was an insistence “it is very much business as usual”. Such sentiments were undercut by the very fact some people were stopped in their tracks, as well as the messages from elsewhere in the club.

Spurs, it has been insisted, will no longer be so much about business. They’re going to be about “sustained sporting success”.

This was the primary reason that the Tavistock Group, under the owning Lewis family, took the decision out of Levy’s hands. They wanted change. There had also been an awareness of fan unrest. Vivienne Lewis, the daughter of Joe, is now seen as an influential figure.

“Business” is unlikely to be the same again, and that may have influence beyond Spurs.

The longest serving chairman in the Premier League, who was central to its very political economics, is gone. That is more consequential than it sounds. Many of the most senior executives in football, some who would consider themselves friends of Levy, were stunned.

Multiple such sources spoke of how they’d heard of growing tension at the top level of Spurs, that had been bubbling away for years between Levy and ultimate owner Joe Lewis. This came across loud and clear in a statement given by the family to Sky News.

“Generations of the Lewis family support this special football club and they want what the fans want – more wins more often. This is why you have seen recent changes, new leadership and a fresh approach.

“In Vinai (Venkatesham), Thomas (Frank) and Peter Charrington, they believe they are backing the right team to deliver on this. This is a new era.”

If so, the last acts of the old era were a series of insufficient bids for forwards, as the club desperately tried for another attacker in the last days of the transfer window. Some Premier League figures had already long tired of doing business with Levy. “You did a deal once and you never wanted to do it again,” in the words of one source. His previously fearsome reputation in negotiations had long faded. People were just fatigued.

It had even been noted how Spurs were finally willing to spend big money, from new investment, but it was like they didn’t know how to; as if they didn’t know how to go and make a big blockbuster deal happen. This was most evident in a frustrated pursuit of Morgan Rogers. Some close to the situation insisted that one of the other “big six” would have put forwards a huge figure to test Aston Villa’s resolve. Spurs wouldn’t do it without having a sense of a price.

It was viewed as typical of the club under Levy, and all the more ironic given his own fixation on being a “big club”. That often applied to refusing to sell players even when it made sense, and in the appointment of so many “name” managers when they weren’t right for the club. Sources began to believe that “ego” was getting in the way.

And yet such sentiments are directly countered by immense admiration elsewhere, especially for the way Levy bust Spurs into that “big six”. Some of the most senior figures in the Premier League enthuse about how he has done a “brilliant job”, and really like him. That was one huge reason Spurs were brought into the Super League, precisely for his business acumen.

It’s consequently fair to say he splits opinion, just as he does among fans, to go with that distinctive split in the debate about his legacy: the business versus the football; the macro of running a football club against the micro.

The debate around Levy has always been binary, which is all too fitting for an official who has always brought it down to the numbers. That applied to the prioritisation of top four over silverware, the number he would always demand in any transfer deal, the wage ratio, the record revenue, and the trophies.

The latter two are what it really will come down to. The last accounts showed a revenue of £528.4m, already up £209.8m from Mauricio Pochettino’s launchpad season of 2015-16. And yet, amid a wage-to-turnover ratio of just 42%, Levy’s chairmanship only produced two trophies.

On finally winning the second, that Europa League in May, Levy excitedly spoke about that victory being the launchpad for more. He certainly didn’t sound like someone who was about to leave, either in the aftermath of that or his revealing recent interview with Gary Neville.

“We want to win the Premier League. We want to win the Champions League. We want to win.”

Spurs may now do so without him. And, if they do, it might well be put down to this decision.

It should never be forgotten Levy does actually leave Spurs in a better place. Quite literally given their facilities are among the best in Europe. The best players and managers in the world are genuinely wowed when they see the training ground, and then the stadium. What has put them off has been the pay, and what has happened on the pitch, with the two obviously connected.

Giorgio Chiellini notoriously captured the essence of the modern club when describing a comeback defeat as “the history of the Tottenham”. There but never quite enough. Spursy.

They were obviously in a better place but it was no longer the best possible place. Spurs weren’t maximising what they could be.

Given that financial potential, given that London location, the stadium should be talked of as welcoming major trophies more than Beyonce concerts. It was like Levy had become too anchored to a certain way, that had too much power, that was no longer so efficient. Much like his approach to negotiations.

By the end, there wasn’t even fan debate. The sacking of Ange Postecoglou even left a sour note to the Europa League victory, despite the logic of the decision.

And yet all of that must still be put in a certain context.

When Levy was appointed in March 2001, the Premier League was still a relatively parochial competition, at least in terms of profile. Most of the owners were still local businessmen. It’s now a very different world, with two states owning clubs, and multiple capitalist funds.

Spurs have been central to all of that change. Levy has been a driving figure in Premier League meetings, especially about broadcast revenue debates.

The big question now is whether Spurs will cause further change to this world, whether there could even be a third state given Qatar’s purported interest in buying the club. Industry figures have speculated that much of this activity looks like an institution being readied for a sale, not least in the departure of this one central figure. On the other side, there were at least as many murmurs about the ownership now wanting to bed in and maximise the asset.

The final sentence of Spurs’ statement read: “There are no changes to the ownership or shareholder structure of the club.”

No changes now. But in the future? Industry sources believe there could be a sale if anyone hits the £4bn valuation. The next business will be interesting. It just won’t be the same as before.

Farage warns Labour chaos will force Starmer into 2027 election

Nigel Farage will tell Reform UK activists and MPs to prepare for a 2027 general election, declaring that Labour’s handling of the economy will force Sir Keir Starmer into an early poll.

As the insurgent right-wing party gathers for its annual conference in Birmingham on Friday, leader Mr Farage will rally members by claiming financial markets will lead to an election in the next two years.

It comes as the first Techne UK poll since the summer break has given Reform UK its biggest lead yet with a 10-point advantage over Labour by 31 per cent 21 per cent. This would hand Mr Farage a massive 107-seat majority in an election.

Britain’s long-term borrowing costs have soared to a 27-year high, with Rachel Reeves set to outline billions of pounds worth of fresh tax hikes in her Budget this November.

And Mr Farage, whose party has been leading in the polls since April, suggested Labour would not be able to see out a full five-year term in government.

He claimed that the rise of Your Party, headed by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and left-winger Zarah Sultana, will hasten the party’s demise.

And, in an interview with The Daily Mail, he said: “The financial situation is very, very grim. The bond markets, just every single day there is a loss of confidence.

“If I’m right about the temptation of the Left for many Labour MPs, they may well struggle to get through another couple of years. I shall tell the conference: be ready for an election in 2027.”

Reform’s conference kicked off with the unveiling of former cabinet minister Nadine Dorries as the party’s latest high-profile scalp from the Conservatives.

“The Tory party is dead,” she declared, after abandoning the party after 30 years.

“The time for action is now and I believe that the only politician who has the answers, the knowledge and the will to deliver is Nigel Farage. Nigel and I will never agree about everything. Neither of us are political robots,” she wrote in the Daily Mail.

In his interview, Mr Farage said Ms Dorries is “a big hire for us”. He is ramping up Reform’s preparation for government, with a “department of preparing for government” to be established in the party’s headquarters by Christmas.

Mr Farage is also launching a search for 5,000 candidates to fight next May’s elections in English councils and the Scottish and Welsh parliaments.

A Labour spokesman said: “Farage is stuffing his Party full of Tories who crashed the economy and left the British people paying the price. And when it comes to unfunded spending commitments, he’s copying straight from the reckless Liz Truss playbook which hammered people’s mortgages.

“Meanwhile our Labour government has fixed the foundations of our economy and delivered five interest rate cuts through our Plan for Change.”

According to the Techne UK findings, Mr Farage is heading for a 107-seat majority with Reform up two on 31 per cent, Labour down one on 21 per cent, the Tories unchanged on 18 per cent, the Lib Dems down one on 14 per cent and the Greens with their new leader Zack Polanski up two on 10 per cent.

With the row raging over deputy prime minister Angela Rayner failing to pay £40,000 on a property, confidence in Keir Starmer’s government is at a mere 23 per cent, according to the poll of 1,644 people.

Since last year’s July election 33 per cent of Tory voters, 12 per cent of Labour and 18 per cent of Lib Dem supporters have switched to Reform, the poll suggests.

Techne UK chief executive Michela Morizzo said: “With Reform UK’s party conference to begin shortly they will no doubt further benefit from the additional profile party conference season brings. These are indeed very good times for Reform U.K. and conversely very difficult times for Labour and the Conservatives.”

Tributes paid to victims named in Lisbon funicular crash

Tributes have been paid to a “kind and dedicated” worker on the funicular that derailed and crashed into a building in Lisbon, killing at least 16 people.

Andre Jorge Goncalves Marques, a brake guard who worked on the Gloria funicular railway, was on Thursday named as one of the victims of the crash in the Portuguese capital that also left 23 people injured.

Other victims named on Thursday included former volleyball referee Pedro Manuel Alves Trindade and lawyer Alda Matias.

Carris, the company which operates the funicular, said in a statement that Marques had “performed his duties with excellence” and had been an “outstanding representative” of the company.

“His courage and professionalism, recognised by all, came to a tragic end with the loss of his life in the accident that claimed his life,” they said.

They described him as a “dedicated, kind and smiling” professional who was “always willing to contribute to the greater good”.

Portuguese transport union Sitra also paid tribute to Marques. “We also send our condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the accident and wish them a speedy recovery as well as the best recovery to the others injured in the accident,” the company said in a post on Facebook.

“This is one of the biggest human tragedies of our recent history,” Luís Montenegro, the prime minister, said of the crash, as he revised the death toll to 16 after authorities previously said 17 people had died.

Trindade was named as a victim by the Portuguese Volleyball Federation. The organisation said it was “deeply saddened by the tragedy”.

Misericordia de Lisboa Santa Casa, a charity which supported disabled people and orphans, said four of the Portuguese victims identified so far were its staff members. One of them was Matias, Portuguese media reported.

The BBC reported that ombudsman Paulo Sousa wrote to employees: “It is in shock that we all find ourselves. We lost colleagues, friends, people with whom we shared our daily lives and our mission.”

All the people who died were adults, Margarida Castro Martins, head of Lisbon’s Civil Protection Agency said.

Officials said they believed two Canadians, one German, one Ukrainian national and one American were also thought to be among the dead.

So far, at least 10 nationalities were confirmed among the people injured. They include 12 women and seven men between the ages of 25 and 65.

A three-year-old German boy was among the survivors pulled from the carriage where his father reportedly died, and his mother was among 22 other people who were injured.

As well as Portuguese people, two Germans, two Spaniards and one person each from France, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Morocco, South Korea and Cape Verde were among the injured, the agency head said.

The UK Foreign Office told The Independent it is on standby to provide assistance if any British nationals are affected.

Seven of those injured are in serious condition. The injured were men and women between the ages of 24 and 65.

Emergency workers rushed to pull people out of the wreckage after the cable car crashed at around 6pm on Wednesday.

Pathologists at the National Forensics Institutes worked overnight on autopsies, officials said.

The Portuguese Institute of Blood reinforced the blood reserves of hospitals that responded to victims in the crash and also activated a contingency plan, the country’s news agency Lusa reported.

The government said the tragic accident “caused irreparable loss of human lives, which left their families in mourning and the country in shock”.

“The government has decided to declare a day of national mourning as an expression of the Portuguese people’s condolences and solidarity.”

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also offered his condolences and solidarity to the families affected and said authorities are working to establish the cause of the incident.

Investigative bodies have now finished assessments at the site of the crash and will publish initial findings and the direction the investigation will take tomorrow.

City mayor Carlos Moedas also confirmed funicular operator Carris has been asked to open internal and external investigations.

Initial reports suggest the cable for the funicular came loose. Following the incident, Lisbon City Council suspended three other funicular cable railways – the Bica, Lavra and Graça.

The system’s two cars, each capable of carrying around 40 people, run parallel to each other as they shuttle up and down the hill on a curved, traffic-free road.

The railway, which opened in 1885, is operated by the municipal public transport company Carris.

Carris head Pedro Goncalo de Brito Aleixo Boga reiterated that the funiculars have been working properly since 2007, and technicians check them regularly to make sure there are no problems. All findings are recorded.

Maintenance costs have more than doubled between 2015 and 2025, he added.

The funniest, strangest and best things from this year’s Fringe

The Edinburgh Fringe is a place where British eccentrics take centre stage and the country’s weirdest most wonderful talents get to explore the craziest outreaches of their creativity, whether it’s staging immersive theatre in a bathroom, or performing a show on a treadmill.

For all the silliness, though, there’s a seriousness to the whole thing: the Fringe is the breeding ground for Britain’s comedy trendsetters: The Mighty Boosh and The League of Gentlemen first found audiences here and the international phenomena that are Fleabag and Baby Reindeer got their first outings on the stages of the Fringe.

This year, as ever, the festival’s packed schedule sees Edinburgh veterans rubbing shoulders with dozens of emerging voices on the hunt for an audience, many of them willing to perform anywhere from the backroom of a pub to a book shop, or even a bathtub.

The summer of 2025 is looking like it’s going to be a particularly strong year for established heroes of the Fringe. Winner of the Edinburgh Comedy Award back in 2009, Tim Key returns to the Fringe with a new show Loganberry, likely to be informed, in part, by his recent experiences starring in the film The Ballad of Wallis Island and appearing as pigeon in Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17. Expect deadpan poems and much hilarity.

Following the success of her smash hit Channel 4 show The Change, about a menopausal woman rediscovering herself in the Forest of Dean, Fringe-favourite and 2013 winner Bridget Christie returns to Edinburgh with a work in progress at the Monkey Barrel. Also showing a work in progress is Ahir Shah, who has pedigree when it comes to licking a show into shape at the festival – when he did so in 2023, he won the main prize. Television presenter and podcaster Nish Kumar is back on his old stomping ground too with a new show Nish, Don’t Kill My Vibe at the Gordon Aikman Theatre.

For all the tried-and-tested performers who pretty might guarantee laughs, one of the real joys of the Fringe is to be found in taking a risk on an up-and-coming comedian in the hope you stumble across a star of the future.

In some cases that might mean checking out a Fringe first-timer like Toussaint Douglass, who makes his Edinburgh debut with his hotly-tipped show Accessible Pigeon Material, which promises to be joyfully absurd and very pigeon-heavy in terms of content. Or popping in to see if promising young talents can pull off that tricky second album: having scooped a Best Newcomer gong at last year’s Fringe, Joe Kent-Walters is reprising his gloriously demonic working men’s club owner, Frankie Monroe, at the Monkey Barrel Comedy venue (Cabaret Voltaire).

Also keen to build on a promising start will be Leila Navabi, a television writer from South Wales, whose 2023 musical comedy show Composition included a song about having her ears pierced in Claire’s Accessories. This year, she’s back with Relay, which blends jokes and songs to explore her attempts to make a baby with her girlfriend and a sperm donor.

Whether they’re promising young tyros or established names, for many comedians the creative freedom and outright silliness of the Fringe has them coming back time and time again. Take, for example, Ivo Graham whose show this year is called Orange Crush and is described by the man himself as “a show about hats, haters and hometown heroes, from a man who promised everyone he loved that he wouldn’t do Edinburgh in 2025, but then came back anyway, because he simply had to do this show.”

If you are planning to join Ivo in Edinburgh to soak up the comedy chaos in person, don’t forget provisions. The average Fringe day involves walking 15,000 steps, climbing 43 hills and sitting through at least one show in a sauna-like attic with no ventilation. So, pack accordingly: a bottle of water, a sturdy fan and a packet of Maynards Bassetts Wine Gums or Jelly Babies to keep your blood sugar and national pride intact. Nothing says “I’m here for the arts” quite like chuckling through a late-night experimental mime while chewing on a Jelly Baby’s head.

Now you’re in the know, don’t forget to set the juice loose with Maynards Bassetts – grab a bag today!

Phone ‘hidden in Commons’ to play ‘sex noises’ during PMQs

A phone was planted in the House of Commons as part of an attempted prank which would have seen “sex noises” broadcast during Prime Minister’s Questions, it has emerged.

Parliamentary authorities have launched an inquiry into how a mobile was hidden near where Sir Keir Starmer was due to stand up and face Kemi Badenoch on the front benches on Wednesday.

It was found during a routine sweep before PMQs and was reportedly due to play a sexually explicit audio recording.

There is no clear footage of the phone being planted, however, the incident is being treated as a major breach of parliamentary security. A source told The Times: “It looks like it was just a prank, but it could have been much worse.”

And they raised concerns that it could have been an explosive, adding that “we don’t know how it got here”.

A UK Parliament spokesperson told The Independent: “The safety and security of all those who work and visit in Parliament is our top priority, however, we cannot comment on our security processes or measures.”

The Commons chamber is open to the public on most mornings, raising questions about who could have planted the device.

Multiple live events have been disrupted by “sex noise” pranks in recent years, though the victims have mostly been sport-related.

The Euro 2024 draw was hit as pornography sounds were loudly played as teams were finding out their groups for last summer’s football tournament.

Social media personality Daniel Jarvis, known as ‘Jarvo69’, promptly claimed responsibility for the prank, declaring on a live stream: “We done it, we got in there. Sex noises at the Euro 2024 draw. Love you guys.”

Mr Jarvis previously claimed credit for a similar incident that occurred during the BBC’s live pre-match coverage of the FA Cup third-round replay between Wolves and Liverpool back in January.

That incident caused consternation and hilarity among the presenters as host Gary Lineker and pundits Danny Murphy and Paul Ince had to deal with a loud recording of sex noises beginning to blare out of the studio.

Greg James also faced a similar prank last year at the hands of a caller into BBC Radio 1’s Breakfast with Greg James.

The mobile phone in the Commons marks one of the biggest breaches of parliamentary security since a group of semi-naked climate change protesters disrupted a Brexit debate in the Commons in 2019, glueing their hands to the public gallery’s glass screens.

The protesters spent almost 20 minutes with their buttocks pointing into the chamber.

Transport for London makes last-minute plea to call off Tube strikes

Transport for London has issued a last-minute appeal for Tube strikes to be called off, as thousands of workers prepare for walkouts set to cause travel chaos in the capital.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, including drivers, signallers, and maintenance staff, are set to launch a series of strikes over pay and conditions, which will cause huge disruption to services next week.

Transport for London (TfL) has warned of few or no services between Monday and Thursday, with some disruption on Sunday.

TfL has offered a 3.4 per cent pay rise, which it described as “fair”, stating it cannot afford to meet the RMT’s demand for a cut in the working week.

Nick Dent, TfL’s director of customer operations for London Underground, said it is not too late to call off the strikes.

He said that the company had made a “fair” pay offer, without any conditions attached, which he urged the RMT to put to a ballot of its members.

Union demands for a cut in the 35-hour week were “simply unaffordable” and would cost hundreds of millions of pounds, he said.

“We have met four times in the past two weeks and we would welcome further talks.

“It is not too late to call off the strikes and put our offer to the RMT members.”

The last Tube-wide strike was three years ago, over pay and pensions, but Mr Dent said next week’s action will be different because separate groups of workers will walk out on different days.

“It will be very damaging for us,” he added.

Passengers have been urged to check before they travel, with Tubes that do run, as well as buses, which are expected to be busier than usual.

Docklands Light Railway services will also be hit next Tuesday and Thursday because of a strike by RMT members in a separate pay dispute.