Monday is forecast to be the hottest May day on record with temperatures reaching 33C in south-east England.
There is a small chance of the mercury could peak at 34C.
By surpassing 32.8C, it will break the May temperature record set on the Late May Bank Holiday in 1944.
But take note if you are planning to visit the east coast of England – you may come across some mist.
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By Tuesday then across Wednesday and Thursday, temperatures which have been fairly muted for Scotland and Northern Ireland begin to rise. Glasgow could reach the low to mid 20s. Western Northern Ireland could also see the warmth approaching the mid 20s.
The UK weather varies a lot naturally, but this early season heat is consistent with the long-term trend of rising temperatures as a result of human-caused climate change.
What is extraordinary about this heatwave is not only the level of heat but its duration.
The current forecast points to another hot day on Tuesday with highs up to 33C. After a breaking in the heat at midweek, temperatures will rise once again potentially reaching the high 20s or even 30C.
Rapper Tinchy Stryder was staying in Port Talbot before performing at the In It Together Festival
Staff at a Welsh hotel were left stunned after discovering they had been serving one of the acts performing at a major music festival. British rapper Tinchy Stryder, best known for chart hits including Number 1 and Never Leave You, performed at Port Talbot’s In It Together Festival on Friday, May 22.
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What came as a surprise to staff, however, was the fact the rapper had chosen to stay locally for the event, spending the night at Blanco’s Hotel and Restaurant.
According to a spokesperson from the hotel, staff initially had no idea they were speaking to the celebrity musician during breakfast service the following morning.
“He was a guest of the hotel. The morning staff came in to serve breakfast and he just started talking to us in the restaurant,” the spokesperson said. “We didn’t realise who he was at first!”
The spokesperson added that Tinchy was “really friendly” and “very talkative” with staff members. However the biggest takeaway from the encounter was how much he loved the Welsh accent.
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“He kept saying how he loved the accents down here,” they said with a laugh.
According to the spokesperson, the rapper was only staying briefly while performing at the festival and had left on Saturday. Stay informed on everything Neath Port Talbot by signing up to our newsletter here
Although staff admitted that they were surprised by the visit, the hotel is no stranger to well-known faces. “A few of the regular people we have down here are people like Rob Brydon and Michael Sheen,” the spokesperson shared. “But, we’d be happy to have Tinchy here again, of course.”
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Tinchy Stryder is no stranger to Wales, having previously performed at Swansea’s Escape Into the Park festival as well as NRT Fest in Neath. He joined a star-studded line up at this year’s In it Together festival which boasted acts like Madness, Aitch and Snow Patrol.
Video footage and witness reports suggest the police have taped off a large area from the Asda Express on Oxford Road and the Maldron Hotel on Charles Street.
(Image: Google Maps)
Witnesses have told the M.E.N. that armed police and around six police vehicles are in the area.
It is also understood that guests are not being allowed in and out of the hotel.
The Rights Respecting Schools Award is granted to schools that show commitment to promoting and realising children’s rights and encouraging adults, children and young people to respect the rights of others in school.
Kirknewton Primary School has been awarded Gold by UNICEF UK’s Rights Respecting School programme.
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UNICEF is the world’s leading organisation working for children and their rights. The Rights Respecting Schools Award is granted to schools that show commitment to promoting and realising children’s rights and encouraging adults, children and young people to respect the rights of others in school.
Gold is the highest accolade given by UNICEF UK and shows a deep and thorough commitment to children’s rights at all levels of school life.
The external assessor noted that the pupils were confident and knew their views were taken seriously, and that they were making a positive difference in school and the wider world. It was noted that there were strong relationships with families, including high levels of engagement with the overall life of the school, and that there was a caring and nurturing environment where values of dignity and respect were valued by all.
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Headteacher of Kirknewton Primary School, Kimberley Hughes, said: “I am immensely proud of our school community for achieving the UNCRC Rights Respecting Schools Gold Accreditation. This reflects the dedication of our staff, the support of our families, the passion of our pupils, and the commitment of our wider community.
“Together, we have built a culture where children’s rights are lived every day—and we remain wholeheartedly dedicated to sustaining this high standard for years to come.
“A huge thank you to Mrs Mair and our UNCRC parent and pupil group who successfully showcased all our work during our recent accreditation and represented our school to such a high standard.”
It can also be lucrative. The groups maintain that the only costs involved are covering donors’ travel (men who donate through regulated clinics receive £45 each time). Yet some mass donors speak openly about their demands for cash, including one who reportedly has 800 children, charging £50 apiece — some £40,000. Reports swirl that repeat offenders donate multiple times in a day and charge travel costs to each recipient, despite them being in the same vicinity; others are said to mix their samples with egg or milk in order to increase the volume they can sell off. Unscrupulous, certainly, and potentially fatal for those with severe allergies. The donor is adamant that “if groups are run by a donor as a private harem, yes, they should be banned.” How many of them fall into that category? “At the moment, 100 per cent. There’s a lot of fake profiles and they’re vouching for themselves, which is terrible… It’s a numbers game,” he adds. “Not everyone falls for it, but enough do.”
Arsenal will be aiming to secure a memorable double with a clash against European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final to come next weekend
William Saliba says Arsenal are still “not full” even after winning their first title in 22 years. Arsenal face Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League final in Budapest on May 30 as they look to complete an unprecedented Double.
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The Gunners are aiming for the first European Cup in the club’s history and Saliba says winning the title will give them even more confidence they can win both. Arsenal defender Saliba said: “It would mean a lot. Now we have started with the Premier League, it is my first one, so I am happy. But I am not full. I want more. And there is a big chance next week in the Champions League, so we have to give everything.”
Saliba believes finally winning the title after three years of finishing second will give them greater belief they can win the European Cup. PSG will arguably start the final as favourites because Luis Enrique’s men are holders but Saliba was talking like a man with a new confidence after winning the title.
Saliba said: “Yeah, of course, it changes something. Because when you win the Premier League, when you win your championship, you have more confidence before you approach this final. So, yeah, we’re positive.
“Now we are champions. Last season we finished second but even when we finished second, we had the good mentality the season after to keep going and it finally paid off. We didn’t give up, we deserve that title, and we will come back again next season to try and win as well.
“When you win a trophy it is positive. We can see everyone is in a good mood, the staff, the players. It is better that you win the league before the Champions League final so now everyone is happy.
“We have one more game in the Premier League but whatever happens we are champions and then we have one week to prepare for Paris.
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“I knew it would be hard to win the Premier League but of course for three years we finished second, and it was hard because those first two years we deserved to win the Premier League.
“Every game in the Premier League is so hard, even if you play the bottom team. Finally we won the league and we have to go again next season.”
Arsenal have the meanest defence in the Premier League – just 26 goals conceded in 37 games – and keeper David Raya has won a third consecutive Golden Glove for the most clean sheets. But they will face an awesome PSG attack led by Ousmane Dembele and winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Saliba says that is a challenge they will relish: the best defence against the best attack.
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Saliba said: “We have the best defence this season. And when you are the best, you want to play the best so we are so happy to have attackers like this to play against us next Saturday and I hope we will win that battle.
“It is normal that they (PSG) are the favourites because they won the Champions League last season, and now they are in the final again. We have to fight and if we want to change that, we need to win.”
Saliba admits his early days at Arsenal were tough as he was loaned out after first being signed and now he is a Premier League title winner and also dreaming of the World Cup. He added: “We started the season well, but you know the Premier League is long. I started to feel we could do it in March. After the game against Everton, it was clear to me that we would win the league.
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“When we came back from the national team it was a bit hard. But we kept going, we believed in ourselves, even after the loss against City. And now we are champions.
“It has been a long journey, up and down, but now I am so happy. I was not always happy when I was on loan and not playing but it is part of the process.
“I kept working hard and I believed I could make it, and for four years I have started for Arsenal and I finished the season with a Premier League, and we have something even bigger next week.
“We have a World Cup coming up. First, we have a final with Arsenal, but we have a World Cup coming up. It’s a good time to show myself and bring everything I have.”
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I’ve been guilty of it myself. Admiring a stranger’s colour coded closet, entering a well-made bedroom, perusing an alphabetised bookshelf categorised entirely by genre. Attributing all these things to the curator’s tendency towards “OCD”. I have uttered as much, even as I privately run through a mental checklist of my own paranoias. “A touch of the old obsessive compulsive disorder?” I‘ve remarked, when stumbling across a precisely labelled Tupperware collection housing a vast segregation of dried pasta shapes. This provocation occurred in the kitchen of a friend’s apartment, shortly before she launched into a story about a mundane encounter with her sick nephew. This is the last thing I really remember hearing, because at this point in the story my mind began to spiral uncontrollably.
For my mind is full of scorpions. Devious, nimble little beasts that have occupied my head for the best part of 30 years. They wield their own special power over my brain, shaping the architecture and rhythm of my thoughts. I am their dutiful puppet, stuck inside an endless loop of sleepless nights and watchful days. You cannot fail to ignore the presence of this unwelcome visitor. As you talk with your friends, it is in the room. Lose sight of it and a panic begins to take hold. To live a contented life alongside an uncaged scorpion requires a delicate balance of trust, will and surrender. This is the image I return to when attempting to articulate my experience of living with obsessive compulsive disorder.
Devious, nimble little beasts that have occupied my head for the best part of 30 years
OCD is a mental illness that affects around 2 per cent of the global population, but the proportion of people touched by it is far higher. As a society, we often inadvertently classify certain mental health disorders as less acute than others, in particular OCD. It is sadly still trivialised and many people falsely believe that it can be filed under a personality type characterised by traits or quirks such as liking things to be clean or being concerned with order. For as long as I can remember I have struggled with obsessive thoughts, checking compulsions, and an extreme fear of vomiting. Manifesting and evolving in different ways at each stage of my life, OCD has affected me with varying levels of severity over the years.
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A blizzard of intrusive thoughts
Outwardly, when speaking to my friend — the one with the Tupperware — I nodded, I made affirmation noises in all the correct places, I even managed to ask a question or two. But inside, the intrusive thoughts were gathering steam. Did my friend wash her hands thoroughly before she left his house? Is the virus already incubating in her system? Has she left traces of the contagion all over her apartment? Did I touch the light switch? Did I touch my nose or my mouth? If I make a deal with the universe, can I prevent the illness spreading? If I count to eight while resting both my hands on the stove’s cold induction plate, will I be spared the horror of a stomach bug?
I was drawn to the milky remnants of freshly chopped mozzarella on her fingers
The fact that she was about to cook us dinner came suddenly into sharp focus. As I watched her fail to wash a bagged salad, I was drawn to the milky remnants of freshly chopped mozzarella on her fingers. I had seen no evidence that she had contracted any sort of virus but I also saw no evidence that she hadn’t. The silky cheese residue coating her hands transformed before my very eyes into the thin, ectoplasmic consistency of bile. I had triggered the centrifuge deep in the centre of my brain and my thoughts began to resemble the swirling blizzard of monopoly money inside Richard O’Brien’s Crystal Maze dome.
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Given that knowing incubation periods for most common illnesses is a specialty of mine, I knew that the nasty little germs (at that exact moment in time) could already be making their way into my immune system. It is still somewhat unclear to me why my brain has chosen to fixate on vomiting as the primary driving force behind my compulsive behaviours, but fixate it does, and I have now lived with emetophobia for more years than I haven’t. This fear of vomiting has underscored much of my life and generated some truly bizarre thoughts, compulsions and avoidant behaviours as a result.
As a person with OCD, I live like a secret squirrel. Double narratives. Unnecessarily complicated thought spirals. Bizarre rationalisations. It is such a private process that often loved ones of obsessive compulsives are shut out from the true nature of an intrusive thought cycle, or the hidden compulsions that can make us late, anxious or unable to function.
OCD can present in myriad ways
Like every mental health condition, there is a spectrum and OCD can present in myriad ways. My own can manifest as mental counting, excessive checking of appliances and locks, health anxiety and emetophobia, but it can also of course stretch to my need for order, to keep things clean and tidy, which is really just the tip of a very particular iceberg. A reminder to myself as much as anyone that Titanic assumptions have the potential to lead to further alienation and misunderstanding for those unable to communicate what is really going on beneath. Perhaps we are all a “little bit OCD”, but for some of us, it is more than just a personality type. If educating ourselves through opening up the conversation can enlighten even one person to the complexities of this disorder, then that would be one small thing checked off my very extensive checklist.
He has since dropped the WBO belt that now belongs to Dubois, but remains in possession of the WBA, WBC and IBF titles. The WBC gold is the only one that Verhoeven is eligible to win, though Usyk will vacate the other two versions if he is on the end of potentially an even bigger shock than when Buster Douglas stunned Mike Tyson in 1990.
A Section 35 dispersal order is in effect within the Briton Ferry Docks area this weekend as police anticipate criminal activity during the warm weather. There will be an increased police presence in and around the area.
Any individuals attending or travelling to the area with the intention of participating in anti-social behaviour, disorder, or other unlawful activity will be asked to leave. Those who fail to comply with such directions may be subject to arrest.
The Section 35 will be in effect until 3pm on Sunday May 24.
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ergeant Molly Llewellyn said: “With the forthcoming bank holiday weekend and the associated warm weather forecast, it is recognised that many individuals will wish to socialise and enjoy this period. However, it is essential that all such activities take place in a safe and lawful manner.
“Unlicensed music events, commonly referred to as “raves”, present significant risks not only to those in attendance but also to the wider community. These risks include – but are not limited to – increased levels of anti-social behaviour, public disorder, violence, drug and alcohol misuse, and the presence of unsafe environments.
“Members of the public are strongly advised not to attend such gatherings. Additionally, anyone with information relating to these activities is encouraged to report it to the police.”
The Red Cross has paid tribute to three volunteers who died after contracting Ebola while handling bodies in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment, was declared an emergency of international concern by the World Health Organisation on Sunday.
Nearly 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths have been recorded in Congo, with five in neighboring Uganda.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies stated the volunteers likely contracted the virus on 27 March during dead body management activities for a humanitarian mission unrelated to Ebola. At the time, the outbreak had not yet been identified.
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Ajiko Chandiru Viviane, Sezabo Katanabo, and Alikana Udumusi Augustin, who volunteered in the Mongbwalu branch in Ituri province in the northeast of the country, died on 5, 15 and 16 May respectively, the IFRC said. They are among the first known victims of the latest outbreak.
Bodies of Ebola victims are highly infectious after death. Unsafe burials, where family members handle remains without proper protective equipment, are a leading driver of transmission, which IFRC teams work to prevent on the ground.
“These volunteers lost their lives while serving their communities with courage and humanity,” the IFRC said.
IFRC volunteers are also going door-to-door to combat misinformation about Ebola in the area at the centre of the outbreak in the Congo.
Brent Green Group Leader, Mary Mitchell, said: “Brent residents voted clearly for change on May 7th. After losing twenty-four seats and control of the Council, Labour had a choice: embrace a new era of collaboration and accountability, or cling to the status quo. Instead, they’ve chosen to cling to power through a deal with the Conservatives.
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