Parts of the UK are right on the brink of their sixth heatwave, and brown grass carpets much of the south. (Luckily, that doesn’t mean your lawn’s died).

Still, that, alongside hosepipe bans, has had a knock-on effect on gardeners. Writing to Reddit’s r/GardeningUK forum, posters shared their “heatwave casualties” and outright deaths.

But other Redditors were surprised to see that certain species, like lavender, seemed to thrive.

We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about how to drought- and heatwave-proof your garden for 2027.

If you’re looking for specific species, however, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) conducted an Extreme Heat Survey this July, “painting a clear picture that even established, formerly healthy plants could not cope with the searing temperatures, which reached well above 30°C.”

They received responses from over 8,000 UK gardeners who’d just been battling with weeks of unprecedented dry weather and drought.

Per the RHS’ data, the “losers” in extreme heat were:

1. Hydrangea
2. Acer
3. Fuchsia
4. Astilbe
5. Roses
6. Anemone
7. Ferns
8. Heuchera
9. Phlox
10. Crocosmia.

However, while crocosmia might show damage early on, that doesn’t mean it’ll be hurt in the long run.

Leigh Hunt, the RHS’ principal horticultural advisor, said: “As temperatures become more extreme don’t replace like for like – if a plant is struggling in your garden you can plant something better suited to the space.”

The RHS also ran a separate (unexpected) trial in their own Wisley garden.

The area went without rain for almost six weeks, and gardeners took note of what survived.

1. Persian roses
2. Baptista
3. Wild carrots
4. Crape myrtles.

Other drought-tolerant plants include lavender, rosemary, and grasses like Festuca arundinacea.

BBC Gardeners’ World said geums, hardy geraniums, bearded irises, nepeta, sea hollies, and sedums can flourish in dry weather too.

Whenever you think of vibrators, we’ll hazard a guess that you picture a clit vibrator.

While the sex toy market has, admittedly, for the most part been tailored towards women, there are plenty of exciting sex toys for men and people with penises out there, too.

The most common of them all is the male masturbator. No prizes for having heard of Fleshlights – perhaps the most popular in the category – but there are also tons that rotate, thrust, vibrate, and app-controlled.

Keep reading for our round-up of the best, as well as everything you need to know about male masturbators.

Best male masturbators at a glance:

If you’re wondering what the fuck we’re on about – you have two hands, after all – allow us to explain.

“A male masturbator is a sex toy designed to stimulate the penis during solo or partnered play,” according to April Maria, sex and relationships coach and Resident expert at Sex tech brand Hot Octopuss.

Just like clit vibrators, penis masturbators don’t come in one form. In fact, there are a ton of different types.

“While many people think of them as simple sleeves, there is actually a wide variety available to suit different preferences,” Maria explains.

“Some have an inner textured sleeve, some have motorised thrusting features, and others can be used flaccid or erect and even hands-free. Some masturbators even offer oscillations or suction-like sensations, and some even mimic specific anatomical forms.”

Now that we’ve got that sorted, HuffPost has rounded up the very best male masturbators, strokers, and blowjob machines on the market. Ready, set, go!

If you’re still stumped by that list (ahem) we’ve asked Maria to suggest what features to look out for when shopping:

• Texture: “Different toys offer very different sensations, so it’s helpful to think about whether you enjoy gentle stimulation, vibration, or a more intense stroking motion,” Maria suggests. “Do you want something soft, ribbed or even beaded?”

• Features: “If you wanted to take it up a notch, some toys offer advanced features like thrusting elements, suction options and even vibrations or warming functions.

• Maintenance: “Beyond the experience and feel, it’s also important to choose a toy made from body-safe materials to ensure safety and longevity. You also need to consider that some toys will need extra care, cleaning and maintenance after use.”

While we’d like to say you can simply slip your schlong in a hole and call it a day, it’s not always that simple. Here are Maria’s top tips for using a male masturbator:

“It is one of the simplest ways to make a male masturbator feel more comfortable and pleasurable. Make sure to apply it to both the toy and your penis.”

“Take your time and experiment with different speeds, pressures and movements to help you discover new ways to experience pleasure instead of relying on the same technique every time,” Maria recommends.

“Make sure to maintain your toy after every use,” she adds. “This includes thoroughly cleaning it, drying it, and storing it according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Some toys can be pricey, so proper care helps maintain both hygiene and the product’s lifespan.” Amen to that.

We get it, buying a sex toy is a serious venture. To make double double sure you’re making the right purchase, we’ve answered your burning questions.

“Absolutely, although they’re often marketed for solo pleasure, male masturbators can be a great addition to partnered sex,” Maria explains.

“Couples can incorporate them into foreplay, oral sex or mutual masturbation.

How you clean a male masturbator depends on the model. If it has a removable sleeve, you’ll want to take that out and flip it inside out, before washing it out with soap and water or sex toy cleaner.

If it doesn’t have a removable sleeve, you’ll need to make sure you thoroughly clean the inner and outer portion of the toy with hot water and soap or sex toy cleaner.

You’ll also want to make sure you towel dry your toy and store it away from dust and light, and in a storage pouch if you’re storing it with other toys.

Some masturbators, like Fleshlights, require maintenance with a powder, so make sure you read the instructions to make your toy last as long as possible.

Have you ever set your alarm early to catch a flight or head to a work event, and been overwhelmed by a sicky feeling? If so, you’re certainly not alone.

People have taken to Reddit’s r/NightOwls forum to try and understand the phenomenon. One person explained how they’d wake up at 7am to shower and get ready and “feel like throwing up”.

“This has been happening for basically my entire life. Up until today it stopped because I had a schedule that had me waking up at like 2pm. No nausea at all,” they explained.

“But suddenly it’s back and now I think it has something to do with waking up in the morning.”

Among the numerous other comments from people agreeing they struggle, too, one person added: “YES!! no matter how much sleep I get or if I eat before bed I still get nauseous waking up early, but not if I wake up at my normal time.”

Dr Zachary Rubin, a double board-certified paediatrician specialising in allergy and immunology, shared on Instagram that it’s “common” for people to experience nausea if they wake up earlier than usual and there are several reasons why this might be.

He explained: “When you wake up earlier, it can disrupt your digestive system since it has its own body clock – kind of like the circadian rhythm you have with your sleep cycle.

“That, coupled with having an empty stomach, stress hormones, and lack of sleep can make you feel quite queasy.”

According to BASS Medical Group, low blood sugar can contribute to morning nausea and lightheadedness. “If you skipped dinner or didn’t eat enough protein and carbs the night before, your body may be running on empty by morning,” reads the site.

Dehydration and anxiety can also contribute to this sensation, as can taking certain types of medication (iron tablets, antibiotics, etc) and underlying gastrointestinal conditions.

To reduce the chance of this happening, Dr Rubin suggested getting to bed earlier if you plan on having an early start.

He also suggested ensuring you have a bright light exposed to you when you first wake up “because that’ll help jump start your day from a circadian rhythm standpoint”.

Eat a bland snack, if you can, and hydrate to help your digestive system. “Avoid fatty foods or alcohol,” he also advised.

If you’re going to be travelling by car somewhere – for example, a taxi to the airport or train station – he advises staying off your phone, sitting in the front seat and having plenty of air circulating to help keep motion sickness at bay.

Lastly, the expert warned, if you suffer nausea every morning (regardless of when you wake up), you’re vomiting, losing weight, having severe abdominal pain, headaches, or it’s possible you’re pregnant, speak to your medical provider about it as an underlying issue may be at play.

Speaking to HuffPost UK previously, Eve Lepage, a reproductive health specialist at Clue, said she’d noticed more women receiving ADHD diagnoses during menopause and perimenopause.

“Oestrogen plays an important role in brain function, particularly in regulating dopamine, which is key for attention, motivation, and executive function,” she explained, adding that “hormonal changes can intensify symptoms”.

And now, King’s College London and Queen Mary University of London are working on a project called the Measuring Adult ADHD and Menstruation (MAAM) study.

They pointed out that while more boys receive ADHD diagnoses than girls, by the time women reach adulthood, the figures roughly even out.

But studies still underrepresent women with ADHD, so they wanted to look at “overlooked” topics, “including whether menstrual cycle hormonal changes make symptoms worse for women with ADHD”.

This first-of-its-kind research will ask women who take medication for ADHD to fill in questionnaires about their symptoms throughout their cycles for three months.

They’ll also use a smart ring, which participants will wear on their fingers, to “sense sleep patterns and physical activity”, which might make any links between ADHD symptoms and hormonal changes clearer.

“Many women with ADHD report their ADHD gets worse, or their medication doesn’t work as well, at certain times of their menstrual cycle. However, this has not been investigated in a research study,” King’s College London’s site reads.

They added that their findings could suggest women with ADHD need a different medication dosage depending on the stage of their cycle, that they might benefit from cycle tracking, and/or could benefit from sleep or exercise interventions.

A 2025 systematic review of 11 studies found “largely suggestive” evidence that hormone changes in women, e.g., during their menstrual cycle or menopause, may be linked to changes in ADHD symptoms.

There’s even evidence that perimenopause may begin earlier in people with ADHD.

But the authors of that 2025 review pointed out that “further research is needed to understand the relationship between sex hormones and ADHD symptoms and requires investigation of a wider range of hormonal milestones in females, including menopause.”

Here’s hoping research like MAAM can help to fill in existing blanks.

Andy Burnham should call a general election by early next year “at the latest” so Labour can defeat Nigel Farage and all-but kill off the Tories, according to a Theresa May’s former pollster.

James Johnson of JL Partners said the prime minister will never have a better opportunity to capitalise on the deep splits on the right of British politics.

He said even Lib Dem and Green “would rally around” Burnham if it was a straight fight for No.10 between him and Farage, which could hand Labour a Commons majority of more than 90 seats.

Writing in The Times, Johnson, who was former Tory PM May’s senior opinion research and strategy adviser, said: “The prime minister has ruled out calling an ‘early election’.

“But I believe a combination of factors mean Andy Burnham should go for a general election this year or, at the latest, early next.”

He said Labour “could quite easily win a sizeable majority” on just 30% of the vote, which would be even less than the 34% the party received at the last general election.

“It is the left uniting behind Burnham that would get him there,” he said. “He has far higher approval ratings than Starmer did among Green and Liberal Democrat voters.

“And there is one man wavering voters on the left fear more than any Tory: Farage.”

Johnson added: “A recent YouGov poll found that while Burnham has a 12-point advantage over Badenoch for who would make the best PM, Burnham is seen as a better PM than Farage by a 26-point margin.

“Among Green voters, Burnham has a 70-point advantage, among Liberal Democrats a 72-point advantage. They would rally around Burnham come a contest for the future of the country.”

Amid speculation that Farage may stand down as Reform leader before 2029, the latest point at which an election must be held, Johnson said Burnham should go to the country now.

He said: “Farage remains Reform’s best asset and if Farage goes, Reform goes with him.

“Rather than fight a resurgent Badenoch with a more united right in such a situation in 2029, Burnham would do better to use his Goldilocks moment.

“Farage is not too strong nor too weak — he is strong enough for Burnham to engineer a two-horse race but can be beaten.”

The pollster said that in such a scenario, Reform would win more than 100 seats – way up on the five MPs they returned in 2024 – but the Tories would slump from 121 seats to fewer than 100.

“Given the circumstances, it would also be a stonking result for Labour and could lead to a majority of more than 90 seats,” he said.

“If he throws the dice nationally, there are good odds he will win a large majority of his own, escape the manifesto trap he faces and scatter his opponents.

“Given the split on the right, he faces a unique set of circumstances. He would have not only his best shot at power but could relegate the Conservatives to a state of near-extinction.

“For a man built on Labour traditions, is there any stronger temptation than that?”

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

Anne Hathaway is shrugging off the internet’s latest wild rumour about her.

The Devil Wears Prada star is having an absolutely massive 2026, with no fewer than five films hitting cinemas in the space of a year.

If that wasn’t exciting enough, the Oscar winner also recently confirmed that she and her husband Adam Shulman are expecting another baby.

Unfortunately, social media being the way it is in 2026, the US actor has recently found herself at the centre of speculation, mostly from bored TikTok users, suggesting that she’s actually faking her pregnancy.

It seems that Anne herself may have caught wind of this conversation, which she appeared to effortlessly shut down in a new Instagram post.

Sharing behind-the-scenes footage of herself at the premiere of her new film The End Of Oak Street, she joked in the caption: “Fake hair, real bump.”

“Enjoy the [End Of Oak Street] Block Party chaos with me as my outfit literally melts in the heat!!” she quipped.

So far this year, Anne has already received praise for her work in Mother Mary and The Devil Wears Prada 2, and she can currently be seen in action in one of the year’s biggest movie events, The Odyssey, in which she stars as Penelope, opposite Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson and Mia Goth.

During an interview with Extra while promoting her latest project, she said with a laugh that “two of the movies have done unbelievably well”, while the other was “very well-respected”.

Before the end of the year, Anne is also due to appear in Verity, a dark thriller based on the book of the same name by Colleen Hoover.

Even then, she’s not done, as next year she’s set to star alongside Adam Driver in the military drama Alone At Dawn, which is already in the post-production phase.

As the south of England enters the fifth (!!) heatwave of the year, you might be looking at your garden wondering whether some major changes are due in the years to come.

British summers are only going to get hotter and drier if Met Office data is anything to go by. The national weather and climate service noted the top five warmest summers on record have all happened since 2003.

Bone-dry lawns, withered shrubs and unbearably sunny spots are likely to become the norm in some gardens – especially in the south of England, which is currently facing hosepipe bans amid a persistent period of drought.

If you’re thinking about making a few changes to your yard so you can enjoy the outdoors come rain or extreme shine, three gardening experts have shared their top tips to heatwave-proof your outdoor space.

“Providing shade in gardens is going to be vital in hot summers to come to reduce temperatures and provide environments for other plants to grow at their bases,” Kate Gould, a landscape designer, told HuffPost UK.

Small trees are great for creating shade, she said, recommending: Malus sylvestris (European Crab Apple), Lagerstroemia indica (Crepe Myrtle) and Hibiscus syriacus, which can grow up to 4m tall.

Garden designer Agata Henderson recommends Japanese maples and ornamental cherries, too.

Parasols, pergolas and retractable awnings can also help offer much-needed shade.

If you’re looking to keep your back yard cool, Henderson recommends steering clear of artificial grass and composite decking or fencing which “retain a huge amount of heat”.

“Where possible, choose natural materials such as natural lawn, stone, gravel, bark mulch and timber fencing,” she said. “Not only do they stay noticeably cooler, but they also create a far more natural and wildlife-friendly garden.”

Similarly, if you’re planning a patio, steer clear of dark-coloured slabs. “Dark porcelain, black slate and other very dark materials absorb significant amounts of solar heat. During hot weather they can become so warm that walking barefoot becomes uncomfortable and, in extreme cases, may even cause minor burns,” she said.

“Lighter shades of natural limestone, sandstone or porcelain in soft beige and grey tones remain considerably cooler while creating a brighter, more inviting outdoor space.”

Kate Gould noted soil preparation is “the key ingredient to a flourishing garden”.

As summers warm up (and winters potentially get wetter), “adding structure in the form of organic matter [manure, compost, etc] to the soil will help retain moisture as well as the nutrients required for strong plant growth,” she added.

Rebecca Bevan, a garden researcher, shared with the National Trust that adding a 5cm deep layer of organic mulch to the surface of your soil when it’s moist in spring “will help conserve water in summer”.

In addition to using mulch to keep soil moist, Andy Simms, of MyBuilder.com, recommends investing in a water butt – especially as hosepipe bans become more common.

“They collect water during rainy periods, which you can use for your plants during periods of a potential hosepipe ban,” he explained.

Here’s our pick of some of the best water butts on the market.

Simms also suggested planting drought-resistant plants which “typically need much less water to survive than regular plants, and instead rely on special deep-root features to keep themselves going”.

“Lavender and rosemary are two common drought-resistant plants which are readily available, and should be planted around early spring, for full growth by summer,” he added.

Similarly, he advises considering drought tolerant grass. “It’s also worth remembering that most traditional garden lawns are quite thirsty, and may take up a lot of your attention during hot weather,” he added.

“Drought-tolerant grass, however, is available. Festuca arundinacea – or tall fescue – is particularly effective during dry periods due to its long roots, which can stretch to water sources beyond the reach of other grasses.

“Try to replace your grass before the hot season, though. While the job itself should only take a few days, you’ll need to water it every day for two weeks afterwards to help it establish new roots.”

As a garden designer, Henderson said one of the biggest mistakes she sees is “placing the main seating area in the sunniest part of the garden”.

If you’re thinking about landscaping in the coming months, observe where the sun and shade fall throughout the day – and think about when you’re most likely to use the garden.

“For many families, the garden is used most after work, making an evening sun terrace far more practical than a patio that bakes in full sun all afternoon,” she said. “As we get older, many of us also become less tolerant of prolonged heat, making shaded seating areas increasingly valuable.”

Make sure your garden has a mix of both sunny and shades places to sit. If you’re planning on getting a new lawn laid, the expert suggests doing it in spring – or “a month of two before the heatwave destroys it” – so that it stands a chance of growing back when the rain hits come autumn.

Listen, before we get started… we’re about to get into some major spoilers. Proper big ones.

So, if you still haven’t watched the House Of The Dragon finale yet, what we’d recommend is popping a little bookmark on this page, and coming back once you have. See you in a bit!

OK, for everyone else, let’s get into it.

As you’ll now know, the most recent instalment of House Of The Dragon, which brought an end to the third season, was a particularly action-packed one, setting the scene nicely for the fourth and final run, which we can probbaly expect to hit our screens in 2028.

One such example would be the death of Phia Saban’s character Helaena Targaryen, who jumped to her own death after being imprisoned by Rhaenyra (and, in a particularly gruesome touch, died after being impaled by spikes at the bottom of her fall).

During a subsequent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Phia revealed that she got a call from the Game Of Thrones prequel’s showrunner Ryan Condal to warn her about her character’s fate.

“I sort of saw it coming, really,” she admitted. “And also, I think I was having less formal conversations with the people who make the show and was being like, ‘Come on, I know when I’m gonna die’. And they were like, ‘Yeah’.”

She continued: “But Ryan did give me the official call, which is quite exhilarating and exciting, really, because you know that you’re building towards something.

“And also, I feel quite honoured to die on TV in this universe. So it’s a bit of a bucket list.”

Variety reported that Ryan Condal recently told the press that he’d been “taking time off” from the fantasy world of Westeros while season three was airing, as he “needed to step away from all of this”.

However, he noted that he’s already handed a first draft of the season four opener to HBO, insisting: “We have an incredible season coming. As crazy and big as season three was, I think season four is going to be even bigger.”