When London introduced the ultra low emission zone (Ulez) in 2019, the idea was straightforward: cut the dirtiest vehicle emissions and improve the air people breathe. But the big question at the time was whether this measure would actually translate into measurable health benefits.

Our new study, published in The Lancet Public Health, suggests that it has had benefits for children’s lung development.

Between July 2018 and April 2019, we recruited 3,414 children aged six to nine, and followed their development over five years. A total of 1,664 of these children lived in central London where the Ulez was introduced. A further 1,750 children lived in Luton – a comparable urban area without a clean air zone.

At the start of the study, before the Ulez was introduced, children in London had both higher exposure to air pollution and lower lung function than children in Luton. We assessed lung function using non-invasive breathing tests, including FEV₁, which measures the amount of air a person can forcibly breathe out in one second after taking a deep breath.

After accounting for other factors (such as sex, ethnicity, deprivation and whether they had asthma), average FEV₁ was about 38mL lower among London children. Their modelled residential exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), a pollutant closely linked to vehicle exhaust, was also almost 19μg/m³ (micrograms per cubic metre) higher.

Between 2019 and 2023, after the Ulez was introduced, the picture of air quality changed. According to a model of the two residential areas, nitrogen dioxide fell much faster in central London than in Luton. It dropped by 3.77μg/m³ in London compared with just 1.77μg/m³ per year in Luton.

Over the same period, children’s lung function improved faster in London. Annual growth in FEV₁ was around 10mL per year greater than in Luton. That may sound small, but lung growth happens gradually. Modest differences accumulated across childhood can matter for long-term health.

By the end of follow-up, the earlier gap had closed almost completely. The average FEV₁ was essentially the same for children living in both places. The proportion of children with clinically low FEV₁ (which is below the predicted range for their age) also fell more in London, from 14% to 8.8% – compared with 8.9% to 6.9% in Luton.

We also looked at forced vital capacity, or FVC, which reflects lung volume. This is the total volume of air a person can quickly exhale from their lungs after taking a deep breath. London children started with about 55ml lower FVC measurements. Their FVC increased faster than Luton children’s over follow-up, but the gap did not disappear. By the end of the study the London children still had approximately 25mL lower average FVC than the children in Luton.

In other words, one measure of lung function caught up fully, while another showed substantial but still incomplete recovery. Given FVC more closely reflects structural lung volume and growth than FEV₁ does, this may explain why it has taken longer to change.

These findings are important because impaired lung growth in childhood is linked to worse respiratory health later in life.

Our findings also point to a plausible mechanism. Across the whole cohort, higher long-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter pollution was associated with poorer lung function and growth overall.

While all pollutants were linked to lower lung development, the clearest association was with nitrogen dioxide. Given nitrogen dioxide is strongly linked to road traffic exhaust emissions, it is therefore particularly relevant to an intervention such as the Ulez.

Pollution and lung function

As this was a natural experiment rather than a randomised trial, it cannot prove causation definitively. It does, however, provide strong real-world evidence that cleaner air was associated with healthier lung growth.

This also does not mean that Ulez explains everything. London and Luton are not identical – and weren’t even at the start of the study. Our pollution estimates were based on modelled residential exposure, which cannot capture non-residential exposures – including school hours, travel and indoor environments.

The COVID pandemic also disrupted school-based follow-up – although we conducted analyses that tested whether this changed the interpretation. Overall, the main findings held up.

We are cautious about saying the Ulez “caused” these improvements in the way a clinical trial might establish cause-and-effect. But the timing, the faster fall in traffic-related pollution, the comparator town and the pattern of lung growth together make a causal interpretation plausible.

The broader message is that transport policy is also health policy. Clean air zones are often debated in terms of charges, fairness and inconvenience. Those concerns are real, and policies need to be designed fairly with support for people on low incomes and for those who rely on vehicles. But there is another side to the ledger: children’s health.

Many of the children most exposed to traffic pollution are not from the communities most responsible for generating it.

In central London, where car ownership is relatively low, many children still live, learn and play near busy roads. That means children can bear the health burden of traffic pollution even when their own households contribute relatively little to it. That makes air pollution an equity issue as well as an environmental one.

Back in 2019, one of us (Ian Mudway) argued that Ulez should be evaluated as a public health intervention and evaluated carefully. Our study suggests that it was indeed a medicine worth testing, and that it may already be delivering benefits.

Cleaner air will not solve every urban health problem. But our findings suggest that reducing traffic-related pollution can help children’s lungs grow better. That is not a trivial gain. It is an
investment in healthier lives.

By AMELIA WYNNE, SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER

Published: 15:57 BST, 23 August 2026 | Updated: 22:08 BST, 23 August 2026

The Traitors star Freddie Fraser has come out by sharing loved-up snaps kissing his new boyfriend – a year after splitting from his stunning girlfriend.

The TV star, 22, has never publicly addressed his sexuality before but was seen packing on the PDA with new partner Bailey Ramsden this weekend.

Drag star Danny Beard commented under the post saying: ‘Welcome to the club gayyyy boiiiii,’ as fellow Traitors star Stephen Libby said: ‘The hard launch we LOVE to see.’

He simply put a white heart in the caption of the post which was a snap of a photobooth print out as they cosied up to one another. 

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Freddie’s new partner Bailey is a social media influencer with around 11,000 followers and lives in London.

Freddie will best be remembered from his famous shower scene on The Traitors which he has previously poked fun at. 

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The Traitors star Freddie Fraser has come out by sharing loved-up snaps kissing his new boyfriend – a year after splitting from his stunning girlfriend

It comes after last July it was reported that Freddie had split from his girlfriend Nisha after starring in the show

It comes after last July it was reported that Freddie had split from his girlfriend after starring in the show.

Freddie is said to have quietly separated from his university sweetheart girlfriend Nisha Davenport.

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At the time a source told The Sun: ‘Freddie quietly split from Nisha earlier this year, shortly after a loved-up trip to Budapest.

‘She’d been by his side throughout his Traitors fame but Freddie soon found himself living a showbiz lifestyle that he’d always dreamed of.

‘They were also both incredibly aware that after university it would be more difficult than ever to keep the romance going strong. The split was very amicable and there was no drama on either side.’

Then, last September Freddie was briefly linked to Love Island star Yasmin Pettet after they were spotted together at the National Television Awards 2025.

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Yasmin shortly after confirmed she had split from her boyfriend Jamie Rhodes who she had left the show with that summer.

One attendee told The Sun at the time: ‘Yasmin and Jamie weren’t together at the party a lot at all, compared to Harry and Shakira and Cach and Toni, who were glued to each other’s sides.’

They added: ‘Then I saw her holding hands with Freddie and pulling him away. She said, ‘We need to go somewhere private, no one can see.”

The Daily Mail contacted Yasmin’s representative for comment at the time.

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Drag star Danny Beard commented under the post saying: ‘Welcome to the club gayyyy boiiiii’, as fellow Traitors star Stephen Libby said: ‘The hard launch we LOVE to see’

The TV star, 22, has never publicly addressed his sexuality before but was seen packing on the PDA with new partner Bailey Ramsden this weekend (seen on The Traitors)

Freddie famously started his time on The Traitors as a Faithful but was recruited as a Traitor in the final week. He has gone on to have a successful social media career

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Yasmin penned on Instagram that week: ‘As per my recent TikTok myself and Jamie split before the NTAs but hadn’t formally announced it yet. 

‘We’re still really good friends and I’ll always have so much love and care for him for making my Love Island experience what it was.

‘I find it laughable that everyone thinks I cheated on Jamie with Freddie from the Traitors which is not true and anyone who knows me knows my type is late 20s, 30s plus.’

She added: ‘Jamie is literally the most amazing man ever and I’m forever grateful for the memories we made and time we spent together.’ 

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Yasmin was not seen out with Freddie again after that time. 

Freddie famously started his time on The Traitors as a Faithful but was recruited as a Traitor in the final week. 

He has gone on to have a successful social media career.  

Since Andy Burnham walked into No10, he has made much of his determination to devolve power to the regions.

Indeed, he has called his plan to transfer a raft of decision-making powers away from Westminster and Whitehall the ‘biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen’.

But Sunday’s revelation that he plans to give regional mayors the ability to over-rule councils and force through planning approval for housing estates and tower blocks is not an extension of local democracy but the exact opposite.

The victims of this shameless power grab will, of course, be the residents of our villages, towns and cities who will have no power to object effectively to sprawling housing estates and the sort of ugly edifices the King once described as ‘monstrous carbuncles’ being built in their neighbourhoods.

This initiative contradicts the PM’s pledge to ‘bring power home’ and is just the latest step in the authoritarian and mendacious planning campaign Labour has been waging since winning the general election just over two years ago.

Under the new proposals, mayors will be able to direct local authorities to approve developments of more than 150 homes, commercial spaces above 15,000 square metres, and any building of about ten storeys or more.

And they will also be empowered to give their own upfront permissions for schemes so that developers will not even need to apply to councils for the right to start building. 

Since ten of the 14 metro mayors are Labour they may well be used to rubber-stamp central government policy. And if they should fail to toe the line, ministers will retain the power to impose their own decisions anyway.

The scheme will add another layer of bureaucracy to the planning process at a time when the country is already very short of planning officers, and may well do little to achieve the Government’s arbitrary target of building 1.5million new homes within five years.

London mayor Sadiq Khan already has similar powers, but instead of rising, the rate of housebuilding in the capital has been falling.

And Mr Burnham’s latest proposal is only the latest in a string of anti-democratic interventions.

Just last week the Government directed councils to give a default ‘yes’ to housing near railway stations, even in the Green Belt, as part of its unparalleled assault on supposedly protected countryside.

Nearly nine out of ten Britons oppose building in the Green Belt – the cherished, health-giving ‘countryside next door’ for 30million people – so the 2024 Labour manifesto said it would be ‘committed to preserving’ it and pledged not to change ‘its purpose and general extent‘.

It did propose developing odd bits of ‘lower-quality’ protected land, dubbed ‘grey belt’, but ministers consistently indicated that the land concerned would consist of eyesores such as old car parks and disused petrol stations.

That, as we now know, was more barefaced deceit.

In practice, vast areas of pristine, hitherto protected land are being classified as ‘grey belt’: an area bigger than the whole of Surrey is authoritatively expected to be opened to development. 

The truth is that just about every developer who wants to build on the Green Belt is claiming that its site should become ‘grey belt’ – and the Government usually agrees. Mainly as a result, the size of the area being developed around London more than doubled last year.

Scandalously, such devastation is entirely unnecessary, even to meet the Government’s target.

Housebuilders are already sitting on land with planning permission for 1.4 million homes. As an unpublished government report admitted in 2024, nearly half the dwellings given permission over the previous decade had never been built.

And the tendency of successive governments to over-promise and under-deliver when it comes to housebuilding shows no sign of changing.

As the housing minister Matthew Pennycook said the other day, the five-year target is ‘really stretching’. After more than two years, the Government is only a quarter of the way there.

This, however, is not for lack of dictatorial moves by this Labour administration. Sir Keir Starmer vowed to ‘knock down those standing in the way’ of his plans.

And ministers are amending the requirement for Sports England to be consulted on planning applications after it managed to block 90 per cent of almost 400 plans to build on playing fields, and they restricted the public’s right to take decisions to a judicial review.

Meanwhile, they have instructed the Environment Agency to wave plans through while they slash protection for wildlife, nature and the landscape from development.

Labour is vulnerable. Its MPs now represent more than half of the constituencies containing Green Belt land and their voters are getting angry.

Mr Burnham may end up reaping a whirlwind.

Annmarie O’Reilly, 30, originally from Clonmel in Co Tipperary, died after being found injured at her home in Ferntree Gully, a Melbourne suburb in Victoria, Australia

A man has been charged with murder in Australia after an Irish mum-of-three was found fatally injured at her home in a Melbourne suburb.

Annmarie O’Reilly, 30, who was originally from Clonmel in Co Tipperary, was found in a critical condition by emergency services at a property in Ferntree Gully on Friday morning local time.

Paramedics tried to save Ms O’Reilly, but she was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later, the Irish Mirror reports.

Patrick Stokes, 45, who is understood to have known Ms O’Reilly, was arrested nearby later that day and taken into custody. Stokes, who is reported to be from Ireland, was charged with one count of murder on Saturday, Victoria Police said.

Ms O’Reilly’s brother, Jimmy O’Reilly, paid tribute to her in a post on Facebook. “Rest in peace to my beautiful sister Annmarie, the nicest woman you’d meet, the best mother to her kids,” he wrote. “May you get the best bed in heaven … love you so much.”

Stokes appeared before Melbourne Magistrates’ Court and was remanded in custody to appear again on February 23, 2027.

In a statement, Victoria Police said: “Homicide Squad detectives have charged a man with murder after a woman was located deceased inside a residential property in Ferntree Gully yesterday morning.

“Emergency services were called to the residence on Ferntree Gully Road just before 10am on 21 August and located an injured woman.

“Despite efforts to revive the 30-year-old Ferntree Gully woman, she was declared deceased at the scene. A 45-year-old Ferntree Gully man was arrested nearby and taken into custody. The man has since been charged with one count of murder.

“He appeared at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court this evening via audio visual link where he was remanded in custody to appear on 23 February 2027. It is alleged the parties were known to each other.”

The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs said it is aware of the death of an Irish woman and is providing consular assistance.

Five teenage boys died following a collision on the M9 after the vehicle they were travelling in struck a family heading to Dublin Airport in the early hours of Sunday, August 16

The funerals of two young victims of the devastating M9 crash last weekend are set to take place.

Five teenage boys lost their lives after a high-powered BMW they were travelling in drove the wrong way along the M9, colliding with a family en route to Dublin Airport in the early hours of Sunday, August 16.

The BMW is believed to have been travelling at speeds exceeding 120km/h (75mph) when it struck the Hyundai near Junction 3 of the M9 in Co Kildare at approximately 3am.

Four individuals travelling in the Hyundai – sisters Niamh and Alma Kinsella and Ella Hendricken, along with a young boy – suffered catastrophic injuries and continue to receive hospital treatment.

Jeremy O’Brien, 18, from Carlow, Alex McCarthy, 16, from Carlow, Joey Carthy, 15, from Athy, Kildare, Jack Kennedy, 17, also from Athy, and Kamil Pustkowski, 17, from Limerick, all lost their lives in the collision, reports the Irish Mirror.

Three of the teenagers have already been laid to rest, with 15-year-old Joe Carthy becoming the first of the five to be buried on Friday.

His funeral was held at St Michael’s Church in Athy just before 11.30am, while Alex McCarthy’s service took place in Askea, Carlow, on Friday afternoon.

A small gathering of mourners also assembled in Limerick on Friday to pay their final respects to Kamil Pustkowski, who lay in repose at a local funeral home before a cremation ceremony was held.

A funeral mass for Jeremy ‘Bobbles’ O’Brien will be held on Monday at 11am at the Church of the Holy Family, Askea, followed by burial at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Carlow.

Jack Kennedy’s funeral mass will take place on Tuesday at 11am at St. Michael’s Parish Church, Athy, ahead of a private cremation later that afternoon.

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A motorcyclist who lost his leg after he was crushed by a firetruck in Los Angeles was awarded an astonishing $28 million.

Robert Danbom was headed through an intersection in East Hollywood on September 2, 2021, when firefighters in a 65,000-pound truck were traveling across it.

Sitting on his 2005 Harley Roadster, Danbom was proceeding through a green light when, according to his lawsuit, he had just moments to react before the devastating crash, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The bike flew into the air while he was crushed beneath the truck’s wheels.

According to the outlet, he dislocated his shoulder, and his leg was so badly damaged that it later had to be amputated below the knee.

The lawsuit claimed that the first responders failed to stop and check for cross traffic.

‘LAFD’s massive fire tender failed to follow basic safety standards by failing to stop, or even slow, the massive vehicle before entering a very busy intersection,’ the lawsuit alleged.

At the time of the crash, the firetruck was en route to Kaiser Permanente in response to a call that was later determined to be a false alarm.

Robert Danbom won $28 million after he was crushed by a firetruck while headed through an intersection in East Hollywood on September 2, 2021. The accident left this leg so disfigured it needed to be amputated from the knee down 

Filippo Marchino, Danbom’s attorney, said he believed the $28 million payout was the largest ever awarded in a case involving a below-the-knee amputation.

However, Marchino criticized the city attorney’s office and claimed his client would have been satisfied with half that amount.

‘But there was zero engagement with the city attorney’s office,’ the attorney told the outlet.

‘These people don’t realize it’s not their money, it’s the city’s money, it’s the taxpayers’ money. It’s offensive because cases like ours could have been settled for significantly less than what the verdict is.’

Footage uploaded to YouTube by Marchino appeared to have been captured by a surveillance camera on the day of the accident.

The video appeared to show the firetruck entering the intersection without stopping moments before Danbom was seen sliding beneath the vehicle.

LAFD Apparatus Operator Vincent Leong claimed the truck stopped at the intersection and made sure it was clear before proceeding, according to a transcript of an interview from the scene cited by the outlet.

Filippo Marchino, Danbom’s attorney, said that the defendants maintained that they stopped before entering the intersection (Stock Image)

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LAFD Apparatus Operator Vincent Leong claimed the truck stopped at the intersection and made sure it was clear before proceeding, according to a transcript of an interview from the scene cited by the Los Angeles Times (Stock Image) 

 ‘This is a blind intersection, you know, so I slowed down,’ he said, according to the transcript, which was later presented as evidence in court.

‘I started creeping forward. … I didn’t see anybody.’

Marchino told the outlet that the defendants maintained that position throughout the trial.

‘If you sat through our trial, you’d be like, ‘These guys are high,’ Marchino said. ‘They kept saying, ‘They stopped,’ and we had video showing they didn’t stop.’

Los Angeles settlement and jury-verdict payouts have spiked by more than 350 percent over the past decade, rising from nearly $64 million to $289 million last year, according to the outlet.

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Los Angeles Fire Department for comment.  

It has received rave reviews from customers

A hidden gem in Cambridge offers the opposite of modern hospitality and transports customers back to a time where only cash was accepted and devices weren’t used.

Dom’s Coffee on Mill Road is hidden in plain sight in a spot which hundreds of people walk past every day not knowing of its existence. There are no signs outside, and you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a plant shop with all the different plants in the window.

Inside, the quaint shop has basic decor along with its many plants. No laptops or phones are allowed to be used inside, so that people can be present in the moment and enjoy their drinks.

It’s a cash only cafe, and operates on a ‘trust bowl’ payment system. Whilst your drink is being made, you pay for it by placing your money in the bowl of coins and notes, taking out any change that you need.

Dom’s Coffee has been raved about in reviews and has managed to attain an almost perfect rating of 4.9 stars out of five on Google.

One person wrote on Google: “Really cute place, the plants are wild and it’s very homely and comfortable inside. No devices are permitted in the café which is a very cute idea, definitely keeps you in the moment and allows you to appreciate the coffee and take in the relaxed vibe.

“The coffee was perfect. Do bring cash though, they do not take card payments- I’m assuming as part of the analogue experience. The owner was friendly and a kind person.”

Another pleased customer said: “Believe the hype! More than just coffee, a friendly escape where there are no phones used or photos taken, just enjoy the coffee and chat.

“Had a delicious espresso and chatted about coffee and travels. Loved watching the preparation of the various coffees.”

What makes the perfect holiday? A glossy travel company might tell you it’s five-star facilities, personalised service and a Michelin-starred banquet every night. 

For most of us though, the most memorable holidays are a delicate balance of lots of things – and often it’s definitely not about how much your getaway has cost. 

If you’re with the right group of family or friends, then a £15-a-night camping trip can be heaven on earth. Childhood holidays stay etched in our memories, possibly glorified by nostalgia, in a way that many trips in adulthood don’t. 

Likewise with coming-of-age travel, taking on a big adventure in a foreign destination can be truly transformative.   

We’d love to hear about your ‘best holiday ever’. Here, we asked Daily Mail writers and those who work in the travel industry to recall their favourite trips and tell us why they meant so much…

A seaside grand dame 

My most memorable holiday was when we stayed in one of the iconic Victorian turrets of the Grand Hotel in Scarborough around 2011, when I was ten. They once housed original water towers and are set high above the historic building on Saint Nicholas Cliff. 

I used to love getting the little tram up the hill to the hotel and the huge round windows, offering panoramic views of the South Bay promenade. While I’ve stayed at much ‘posher’ hotels since, I still remember it as one of my favourite – and most memorable – holidays. 

Marti Stelling, Health Writer 

A real-life Who Do You Think You Are? in snowy Latvia 

Erin Waks took her grandmother Marlene (known as ‘Moen’) on a journey of discovery to trace her family roots in Riga, Latvia earlier this year

Erin and Moen went on the trail of finding out more about Vera Trembatzki, Erin’s great-grandmother, who grew up in Riga

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No trip could come close to the adventure I took with my granny in January of this year to Latvia. 

Spurred on by a DNA test confirming my ancestral roots hail from this part of the world, I convinced my 80-year-old grandmother to embark on an adventure back in time, tracing our family back more than 100 years across the Baltic state.

In line with the rising trend of heritage travel, we attempted to learn more about where our ancestors came from. 

My family, of Jewish eastern European origins, fled to South Africa before the Second World War, largely evading the Nazis. 

Family memories were at best hazy for her, and photographic evidence and information anecdotal at best, so attempting to find even a whiff of our ancestors was a real challenge.

But we managed to find the apartment in which her mother, my great-grandmother, grew up, as well as a cemetery with the graves of her predecessors.

The most off-beat trip of my life, yes – a far cry from the beach and city break holidays I usually favour – but my granny and I both agreed the opportunity for us to travel alone together would never arise again. That, coupled with the intense significance of the trip, means it is the one I will never forget. 

Erin Waks, Travel Writer 

Read the full account of Erin’s trip here   

No menu, no matter in Crete 

Greece is the word: A childhood trip to Greece proved truly memorable for Poppy Atkinson-Gibson

The best holiday I ever went on was in the summer of 2008 – my first holiday abroad. We went to Crete to visit my grandad, who’d recently moved out there. I remember the intense heat hitting as we disembarked the plane and the spectacular coastal views as we drove to his house. 

In the mountains, we tasted fresh honey and I remember eating at a small taverna where no English was spoken but it didn’t matter. 

Instead of a menu, we were beckoned into a kitchen and shown the various pots bubbling away. Water was handed to us in a jug, filled up from a fresh spring running down the side of the road.

In the shade of a terrace, hundreds of feet above sea level, I felt such a sense of adventure as we feasted on what was delivered to our table… amazing gigantes beans in tomato sauce, lamb chops, green beans and great dollops of tzatziki and bread.

Poppy Atkinson-Gibson, Features Writer

Sign me up for the Crocodile Club 

Pontin’s forever: The holiday brand rivalled Butlin’s in the 1980s…with its Crocodile Club a funhouse for young tourists  

I remember vividly the moment one of the Bluecoats (Pontin’s answer to Butlin’s Redcoats) uttered the words to the 50 or so children sat on the dancefloor before him: ‘And for the last prize of the day, the first person to hand me anything white gets a t-shirt.’ 

In slow motion, I glanced down at my feet, ripped the white plastic sandal from my foot and lobbed it forwards with all the force of an Olympic shot putter. It hit him on the shoulder and I walked away with the prize.

Clearly in my Hi-de-Hi era, a week at this, sadly long gone, Pontins South Devon Holiday Camp in Paignton, was bliss. 

It was the late 80s, I was about seven, and I spent the week as an enthusiastic member of the Crocodile Club kids’ club, lapping up everything from badminton tournaments to disco dancing competitions. I ate Devon fudge at breakfast too. 

Thrillingly for my dad, ex World Snooker champion Ray Reardon, who I’d never heard of and who famously looked like Dracula, even made an appearance, showing off trick shots. 

There’s been holidays of every kind since, almost all of them more expensive and adventurous, but for a week’s out-and-out holiday joy, that one’s still hard to top. 

Jo Tweedy, Travel Writer 

‘Ice caps the size of cathedrals’: A spontaneous trip to the frozen north

A photo taken by Daily Mail producer Emily Cooper during a trip to Arctic archipelago Svalbard

Deafening silence of nature: Emily describes Svalbard as ‘the most unique holiday destination I have ever been to’

Having studied geography at university, I was well acquainted with Svalbard – the world’s northernmost settlement and home to the Global Seed Vault – but I had never considered going on holiday there. 

When my partner and I were planning a holiday to Norway, we soon realised that flights from Oslo to Longyearbyen were relatively cheap so, at the last minute, we changed our itinerary to include Svalbard – and it ended up being the most extraordinary place we have ever been.

Svalbard itself is small and worth only a few hours of exploration, with the highlight being the free-roaming reindeer that graze on whatever grass they can find. But it’s what lies just beyond the town limits that made this trip so spectacular – although you are cautioned not to wander far without a firearm in case you run into a polar bear.

To venture beyond Svalbard safely, we opted for dogsledding. After meeting the huskies at the kennel, we were immediately told to take the reins (literally). 

Driving the dogs was easy and we only had to travel for five minutes before we lost all signs of human influence. We were surrounded entirely by mountains and snow. It was beautiful and so, so quiet.

We also went on a speed boat tour to see some nearby glaciers. I may have been freezing and my lips may have turned blue but it was worth it to see the true magnitude of the rugged landscape that surrounds Svalbard. Think ice caps the size of cathedrals.

Svalbard is without doubt the most unique holiday destination I have ever been to and therefore the most memorable. Need I mention that it is also the only inhabited place on Earth where you can see the Northern Lights 24 hours a day?

Emily Cooper, Producer 

Malaysia’s delicious menu had us hooked 

Malaysian reunion: Genie Harrison and boyfriend Will pictured on holiday in Malaysia three years ago

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In 2023, I travelled from Tokyo, where I was living at the time, to meet my boyfriend in Malaysia. 

We spent ten days exploring this beautiful melting pot country, travelling from the lively capital Kuala Lumpur, to the island of Langkawi and the country’s food capital, Penang.

Given its diverse population – you’ll meet people in Malaysia with Chinese, Singaporean, Indian and indigenous heritage – there are no shortages of cuisines to try here, and I loved trying oyster omelettes, flaky Roti Canai, even the notoriously smelly durian fruit in the night markets.

Coming from Japan, where folks tend to keep to themselves, I was also amazed by how friendly everyone we met was, keen to tell us about the best hikes to do, or the top restaurants to visit. 

Bar a rather close encounter with some – shall we say overfriendly – monkeys, it’s a holiday I’ve since found difficult to beat.

Genie Harrison, Travel Writer 

The Canary Isle trip that gave a new perspective on Travel 

Dad-ventures in the Canary Islands: Ben with his son Theo enjoying the beaches of Lanzarote

I loved the jungles of Borneo and Oahu’s North Shore surf towns in Hawaii, but they were not my best-ever holiday. That was a week in Lanzarote.

I know, I know – how could a dry, volcanic Canary Island possibly compete? Yet away from the busy resorts and familiar tourist trails, it is surprisingly easy to slip gently off the map without travelling very far from home. 

We – me, my wife and our then 18-month-old son – rented a villa on the island’s southern coast, close to broad stretches of pale sand but far enough away that, if we wanted, we could spend much of the day seeing only a handful of people. 

Slow mornings began with pan con tomate, days were spent doing little under a brilliant blue sky, and evenings slipped by with the help of Spanish wine. The private pool became the centre of our day, and I watched our son transform from tentative in the shallows to a remarkable water baby. 

For once, there was nowhere else I wanted to be.

Ben Parker, Acting Travel Editor

Falling in love with Colombia 

Jessica during her three-week trip around Colombia

After visiting Colombia for the first time in my mid-twenties, I’ve yearned to go back. 

It’s a country that has everything – tropical landscapes, a fascinating history and some of the kindest and most hospitable people I’ve ever met.

In the three weeks I spent there, my travel pal and I visited the UNESCO World Heritage site of Cartagena, hiked through Tayrona National Park (where we had a near-miss with a crocodile), and soaked up the culture in Medellín and Bogotá.

We’d been warned by other travellers that Colombian food leaves much to be desired but we embraced the meat and carb-heavy cuisine (fuel for the hiking).

We also made friends with a girl from Bogotá who took us around the city, showed us the nightlife and invited us for Sunday lunch with her father and sister, at a restaurant full of locals with not a tourist in sight.

It was impossible not to fall in love with Colombia after being welcomed so warmly by its people. I hope I manage to visit again one day. 

Jessica Taylor, Commercial Partners Editor 

An unforgettable family holiday in Iceland  

Karla with one of Iceland’s many beautiful waterfalls, Seljalandsfoss

Iceland was the gift that wouldn’t stop giving. In June 2023, my family and I arrived in Reykjavík, but decided to save the capital for the final days of our 12-day road trip. After picking up our rental car, we made our way down the southern coast and stopped in the fishing town of Grindavík. 

As it was our first proper opportunity to stretch our legs, we had a little wander around. However, the town seemed almost entirely abandoned, giving it an apocalyptic feel. It made us all question what kind of holiday we had booked by choosing to explore some of the lesser-known areas of the country. 

We then headed east to our Airbnb, which sat between Selfoss and Hella along the southern coast, and once again found ourselves surrounded by what looked like the middle of nowhere.

The Nordic-style wooden cabin was the perfect base for chasing waterfalls and spectacular hilltop views, including Skógafoss and the famous Svartifoss in the Vatnajökull National Park. 

After a few days, we got back on the road and made our way to Borgarnes, crossing paths with the capital once again, but this time continuing north along the western coastal roads overlooking the North Atlantic. 

One of the best parts of the trip was our day trip to the beautiful National Park at the western tip of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. There, we got to see the infamous stratovolcano Snæfellsjökull from Jules Verne’s 1864 novel Journey To The Centre Of The Earth.

There are only a handful of things that could top that experience, which made returning to Reykjavík bittersweet. For our final two days in Iceland, we toured the city and took in sights such as Hallgrímskirkja church and the Perlan museum. 

But something we hadn’t expected at all was to wake up on the morning of our flight back to Manchester on July 10 to a news notification on our phones: the Fagradalsfjall volcano had erupted. If only that had meant we had to stay for an extra couple of days.

Karla Hallett, Weekend Magazine Sub-Editor and TV Previews

Cruising for the first time  

First-timer cruiser: Alesia on board Tui’s Marella Voyager ready to explore six destinations 

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Cruising around the Mediterranean and exploring six different destinations in one week has to be my favourite-ever holiday. 

Earlier this summer I went on a week-long cruise on Tui’s Marella Voyager with my fiancé, and finished the break off with two relaxing nights in a hotel afterwards. 

I managed to tick off bucket-list spots like the Acropolis in Athens and had the best time. 

One of my favourite stops was Santorini where we started the day trekking up 600 steps from the port all the way to Fira before then hopping on a bus to Oia – another bucket-list destination for myself. 

We took photographs with blue domes and white-washed buildings, and even had time to fuel up on some classic Greek souvlaki before returning to the ship. 

It was my first time on a cruise and before the trip I was sceptical whether there would be much for younger cruisers like myself to do on board. 

Fortunately I was not disappointed and found this type of holiday can appeal to all ages. In between the ports we made the most of the cruise ship’s endless food offerings, entertainment and spent plenty of time in the whirlpools – there wasn’t a moment of boredom.

Of course, we also got involved with lots of bingo and quizzes – though we didn’t manage to win! 

Alesia Fiddler, Travel Writer