You may know the feeling. You’re supposed to have finished work for the day, but later, during your evening meal, you start mentally preparing for tomorrow’s meeting. Or just having a quick check of your emails while you half watch TV.

You might not mean to, or even want to. It’s just something that you end up doing as part of the price of enjoying some autonomy at work.

For a while now, research has claimed that professional autonomy was a good thing. Being able to decide how, where and when you worked was considered a major plus in terms of motivation, job satisfaction and overall health.

And although those benefits still exist, we now know that more autonomy can often also mean more work and less downtime.

Research shows that workers with a high degree of autonomy struggle to leave work behind at the end of the day. When you have control over your job, it can stay on your mind as you run through decisions and ponder unresolved problems. Switching off becomes difficult.

But the capacity to stop thinking about work during personal time, what’s known as “psychological detachment”, is a form of emotional and cognitive recovery. Without it, resources are never fully replenished. The person who cannot switch off does not just feel tired – they go back to work the next day already running on empty.

Autonomy can make this detachment harder precisely because of the sense of ownership it brings. Responsibility does not respect working hours, and the person who controls their own job carries it home in a way that the person purely following instructions does not.

Research my colleague and I conducted with 40 entrepreneurs – people whose working lives are especially autonomous – reveals another problem arrives when your work and identity are entwined. When work becomes bound up in who you are, detachment becomes virtually impossible.

One woman in her 20s told us that she would regularly lie awake at night, unable to stop thinking about her work. She explained: “I feel the pressure. I am still struggling with [what it means] to be an entrepreneur.”

“Sometimes, I feel I am not giving enough to the company. Like [at] 11pm, should I just work an extra hour and a half?”

She understood that this was unsustainable, but she could not stop. For her, the work and the self had become the same thing – the result of a working life in which she alone was responsible for every outcome. No changes to her evening routine could help her separate the two.

Another told us that she felt guilty if she separated her business from the rest of her life.

Working from everywhere

Separate research confirms that workers who have a high degree of autonomy over their schedules and tasks end up working more, not less. When people have autonomy, they repay the trust with extra effort.

This is especially the case in situations where autonomy removes visibility, such as when people work from home.

Being seen less in the workplace can mean having more to prove. In these situations, some workers end up showing their commitment by replying quickly, being online late or taking on extra projects.

The shift to working from home and the technology which allows it, has brought a big change in what it means to stop working for the day. When work requires being in a specific place, the end of the day has a physical logic to it. You leave that place and the day’s work is done.

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But for many that shift has gone and been replaced with constant availability. Being reachable shows commitment. Not being reachable requires explanation and justification.

And that problem cannot really be solved with legislation. Things like the “right-to-disconnect” or flexible working policies tend to address intrusions from outside – the manager who emails at 9pm, or the meeting which clashes with the school run.

Laws can do nothing about the work pressures inside employees’ own minds. Because in many cases, organisations have not simply given workers more freedom, they have also given the job of managing that work onto the worker themselves.

While autonomy is still worth having, it often comes at a personal cost. It can mean less power and more work – which is unacknowledged and unpaid.

Iran’s threat to target American warships with an enhanced ballistic missile appears to mark a new and potentially more dangerous phase of the Middle East conflict, six months in. Tehran says its solid-fuel Qassem Basir missile enables it to “take action against any threat, even before it is carried out”. Reports have suggested that the Qassem Basir was the missile used in tests Iran claimed to have carried out against US warships on September 5.

Washington acknowledged an Iranian attack on its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington and a guided-missile destroyer near the Strait of Hormuz. But it said it was unclear whether the new missile had been used and confirmed its vessels had evaded the attack. But the more assertive rhetoric coming out of the Islamic Republic suggests it is moving beyond the largely retaliatory strategy that characterised much of the war and is increasingly prepared to raise the stakes itself.

Tehran has also announced it is preparing to sign an agreement with Oman which would establish a new corridor through the Strait of Hormuz extending out into the Persian Gulf, although this has yet to be confirmed. Taken together, these developments suggest that Iran is no longer simply responding to escalation – it is increasingly trying to drive it.

This does not mean Iran has the upper hand militarily. Far from it. But Tehran appears to have concluded that prolonging and widening the conflict can improve its bargaining position by making the war increasingly expensive for the US and the rest of the world.

It’s an extraordinary reversal for a conflict intended to force Tehran’s hand and even possibly achieve regime change. Military superiority, while inflicting enormous damage on Iran, has not produced the political outcomes aimed at by the US and Israel.

The regime survives, its missiles continue to operate, the question of its nuclear programme remains unresolved, and its regional network retains offensive capabilities – something seen clearly in the latest attacks by Houthi rebels on Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz has become a potent instrument of economic leverage for Tehran.

Never-ending cycle of confict

The war seems to have settled into a cycle: escalation, diplomacy, agreement, renewed coercion and then another return to diplomacy. Far from resolving anything, however, the six-month conflict looks to have taught Tehran that resisting US pressure eventually produces better terms.

The latest escalation suggests Iran is now exploiting that lesson. Tehran does not need to defeat the US navy or completely control the Strait of Hormuz. It needs only to make passage sufficiently dangerous that shipping companies hesitate, insurance premiums rise and energy markets price disruption into every barrel of oil.

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Recent shipping data show commodity traffic through Hormuz falling to its lowest level since May. Tehran is now threatening wider restrictions on navigation and “economic warfare” if Washington continues trying to strangle the Iranian economy.

This changes the logic of the conflict. Trump sought to make Iranian resistance progressively more expensive. Iran is now making American coercion progressively more expensive too. It cannot match American firepower, but possesses something Washington cannot eliminate by force militarily: its geography and ability to control one of the world’s most important energy corridors.

The conflict should therefore be measured against its political objectives. The broader ambitions associated with the Trump-Netanyahu campaign were to fundamentally weaken or change Iran’s political system, eliminate its nuclear threat, destroy its long-range missile capability and break its network of regional allies.

Six months later, none of these objectives has been decisively achieved. The still-unresolved issue of Tehran’s nuclear ambitions particularly demonstrates the limits of military power. Bombs can destroy facilities, but not the political incentives that lead states to seek strategic deterrence.

Other regional powers are watching. Saudi Arabia has long sought domestic enrichment capabilities. If Middle Eastern governments conclude that a nuclear capacity provides protection against external attack, proliferation pressures could increase rather than diminish. Ultimately, the nuclear question returns to where it began: negotiation.

Trump’s escalation trap

Meanwhile the costs are becoming global. Energy, insurance and shipping costs have all risen and will surely have political ramifications. Meanwhile, Russia benefits from higher hydrocarbon revenues and China gains strategically whenever US naval assets, munitions and political attention are diverted from the Indo-Pacific.

Gulf states face an uncomfortable lesson too. US bases intended to guarantee their security can also make them targets in a conflict they did not start.

None of this means Iran is winning militarily. Its economy and infrastructure have suffered enormously – and America can still inflict far greater destruction. But Iran does not need to defeat the US. It needs to prevent Washington from using military superiority to force it into political submission while making continued armed conflict progressively more painful.

Trump is therefore caught in an escalation trap partly of his own making. He can tighten the blockade, but Iran can disrupt Hormuz. He can intensify bombing, but Tehran can widen its retaliation against Washington’s Gulf allies. He can negotiate, but Iran now has reason to demand stronger guarantees and potentially better terms than it accepted in June.

And US threats lose their coercive power when repeated escalation keeps bringing Washington back to negotiations.

The latest Iranian actions therefore represent more than another exchange of missiles. Six months after Trump and Netanyahu sought to force Iran into submission by force of arms, Tehran has learned that the longer it survives, the greater the costs it can impose and the stronger its eventual bargaining position may become.

America can still escalate far beyond anything Iran can match. What it can no longer assume is that escalation brings victory closer. Iran’s latest moves suggest Tehran now believes the opposite.

Birmingham Airport said the air traffic technical issue is affecting airspace in the south of the UK.

A Birmingham Airport spokesperson said: “There is currently an air traffic technical issue affecting airspace in the south of the UK, which is impacting a significant number of departing flights across the country.

“We apologise to customers whose journeys have been impacted.

“Passengers are advised to arrive at Birmingham Airport (BHX) in line with their airline’s check-in requirements and to contact their airline directly for the latest flight information and updates.”

Passengers are facing travel chaos as flights at airports across the UK have been grounded due to an air traffic control ‘technical failure’. 

Thousands of holidaymakers, including at Heathrow and Gatwick, are facing hours of delays, with disruption expected to last until at least 9pm this evening. 

It’s not yet clear how widespread the disruption to travel is but Belfast City Airport is among those online warning about possible delays. 

According to Flightradar24, at least ten airports across the UK are facing minor to major disruptions as a result of the issue. 

They include Aberdeen International Airport, Edinburgh Airport, Manchester Airport, Nottingham East Midlands Airport, Birmingham Airport, Bristol Airport and London Stansted, Gatwick, Heathrow and City Airports.

In an update this afternoon, National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said it had identified an issue in its ‘flight processing system’, which it was working to resolve. 

Some inbound flights from continental Europe are also being held on the ground, it is understood. People are being advised to check in as normal and check with their airlines before travel. 

One passenger who is travelling from Dublin to Malta told the Daily Mail their flight has been affected due to the ‘issue in London’. 

They said: ‘Our Aer Lingus flight to Malta was due to depart at 2.20pm and we’ve had zero information from the Aer Lingus. 

‘They just keep saying an update will be provided in 15 mins – there’s an issue in London but no information regarding departure time or how long we will be delayed.’ 

Flight radar data shows planes stuck at airports across London due to an air traffic control failure

Others have shared their experiences of being stuck at airports on social media. 

One person posted on X: ‘We are currently sat on Alicante tarmac going to Manchester and this is affecting us. Not just London!’ 

‘Luton airport too! We’re stranded on the actual plane,’ another added. 

A spokesman for NATS said: ‘We are investigating a technical issue which is causing some disruption to flight departures.

‘Our engineers are on site and we will provide an update as soon as we can.

‘We apologise for the delay this will cause to journeys, passengers should check with their airline on the status of their flight.

‘We will provide updates on www.nats.aero and on X – @NATS.’

A spokesman for Heathrow Airport added: ‘The air traffic control service is experiencing a technical issue which is impacting departing flights at UK airports. Arriving flights are not currently impacted. 

‘We are supporting our local NATS team in their efforts to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We will provide updated information when we have it. 

‘We apologise to those disrupted and advise passengers to check with their airline for latest flight information.’

People are being advised to check in as normal and check with their airlines before travel

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A spokesman for Jersey Airport said: ‘UK air traffic control is currently experiencing issues which is impacting flights across the UK including services between Jersey and UK.

‘Passengers are advised to check the latest flight information directly with their airline.’

A spokesman for Gatwick added: ‘We are aware of a NATS technical issue that is currently affecting a number of UK airports, including London Gatwick.

‘Passengers are advised to check with their airlines for more information regarding their flights.’

It is the latest issue to affect passengers flying out of the UK, with flights at Gatwick brought to a standstill last week after a plane became stuck on the runway. 

The plane was surrounded by several fire engines and the runway was closed for around 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, in July passengers at Gatwick were left without running water due to an issue with the supply. 

Flyers were unable to flush toilets, wash their hands or refill water bottles for hours during the outage. 

Heathrow has also been affected by two grass fires this summer, which have caused delays to flights. 

One flight from San Francisco was diverted away from Heathrow towards Manchester and another from San Diego landed in Birmingham due to a blaze on September 5.

In early August, flights were disrupted after a grass fire ignited near Heathrow’s southern runway.

One hectare of grassland was destroyed by the fire as 18 inbound flights were diverted to other airports.

Are YOU affected? Email: olivia.christie@dailymail.co.uk 

Residents tried to save a girl, seven, and her aunt from a house fire in Grangetown, Middlesbrough.

The deadly blaze engulfed a home on Birchington Avenue, trapping seven-year-old Valentina Foster inside with her aunt Natalie McDonald, 34.

Their cause of death was confirmed during a brief opening of inquest into the tragedy, which has left the Teesside community grieving.

The young girl and her aunt both died from the effects of the fire, coroner Paul Appleton confirmed.

Ms McDonald was described as ‘bright, bubbly and full of life’ and she was newly married.

The coroner also outlined what happened on the morning of Wednesday, August 26, before suspending the hearing due to a separate, ongoing murder case linked to the deaths.

Six people were inside the property when the fire broke out on Wednesday morning, the fire brigade said.

The emergency services received reports that people were believed to be trapped in the property, the coroner said.

Mr Appleton said: ‘Prior to the arrival of the emergency services, members of the public made attempts to rescue people in the property.

‘Very sadly, Valentina was recovered from the property and was subsequently pronounced deceased at the James Cook University Hospital.’

The 34-year-old succumbed to her injuries at the scene.

One resident, who gave her name as Ellie, told the MEN how ‘neighbours came out to help’ after waking up to hearing ‘children screaming.’

Two girls ‘jumped out of the bedroom window,’ while an older woman crying in pain was taken away in an ambulance, she said.

A man and a woman were also injured in the fire and taken to the hospital.

Ms Foster’s body was identified by her mum while Ms McDonald was identified using dental records and a tattoo, the coroner said.

In a statement released by the police, Ms McDonald’s family said she had married her husband Anthony just nine months earlier.

They said: ‘She had the biggest, most beautiful wedding – she sparkled like the shining beauty she was.

‘She was loved by everyone, she was bright, bubbly and full of life, the heart and soul of our street and community, loved by all.

‘Her family has lost its beautiful, kind soul.’

Ms Foster’s family said previously: ‘It is with overwhelming sadness that we share the heartbreaking news that our beloved daughter has passed away.

‘She was deeply loved and will be missed beyond words by her family, friends and everyone whose life she touched.’

Jaden Wright, 23, appeared at Teesside Crown Court charged with two counts of murder, and offences related to the injured victims.

The Grangetown fire happened near the scene of a deadly wrong-way crash some days earlier, which killed five young men and two Cleveland Police officers.

Police confirmed there was no link between the incidents after online speculation.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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Wales football legend Speed would have turned 57 today

TV presenter Dan Walker says he was “forever changed” by the pain of losing good friend Gary Speed – and admits he still thinks about the Wales legend every day.

Walker and Speed were colleagues on BBC show Football Focus, and appeared on-screen together in what was the Welshman’s final public appearance before he tragically took his own life aged 42 in 2011.

BBC presenter Walker was one of the last to speak to Speed – who would have turned 57 on Tuesday – and, in an interview with the Mirror last year, he explained how he vividly remembered their final conversation.

“We left on great terms,” he said. “Gary’s last words were: ‘I’ll ring you Monday and we’ll organize a game of golf’.”

Speed’s death sent a shockwave through the footballing world, and Walker himself was left “poleaxed” by the news, adding he has since gone over everything in “minute detail”.

“I’ve thought about that day a gazillion times about, you know, should I have seen something? Could I have had a conversation with him?,” he added.

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When Football Focus aired for the final time earlier this year, Walker admitted: “I will never forget Gary Speed’s last show. That is a programme I still think about all the time.

“I know his death had a profound effect on so many people and it remains a tragic and important milestone in how we talk about mental health. That’s one of the things Focus was always able to do. We never shied away from the serious stuff and I think the viewers knew and appreciated that.”

The painful episode, Walker says, has helped shape his outlook on life, including his passion to improve children’s’ mental health. Last year, along with Olympian Jessica Ennis-Hill and comedian Jon Richardson, he launched a children’s mental health campaign called Bright Young Dreams.

“The darker times including Gary have informed a lot of conversations that I’ve been having around the charity,” he said at the time. “You can’t be unchanged by that. I think maybe, hopefully, it’s turned me to be a better listener.”

Looking back on the events of 15 years ago, Walker said he is heartened by how well the late footballer’s sons Tommy and Ed – who were just 13 and 14 at the time – have done in coming to terms with such a loss.

““Thankfully his two sons, Eddie and Tom, are in a decent place,” he said. “I can’t imagine what it’s like for two teenage boys to go through losing a dad like that,” he added.

The two boys featured in Walker’s book ‘Remarkable People’, which included a chapter on Speed that Walker claims sparked “the nicest email I think I’ve ever received” from Ed, who was in America at the time.

“It said ‘I hope that one day if I ever need to explain to my wife, partner, about who I am, and why I am, they need to read that chapter.’

“I’m glad that they were happy with how I represented them and their dad. That’s the important thing to me.”

English pupils have pulled ahead of the rest of the UK in international reading, maths and science tests, new data suggests, with Scotland and Wales falling further behind.

The 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) saw reading and maths scores slump in each UK nation except England, while all four saw an uptick in science, with that rise again most notable in England.

The latest Pisa report, which is published every three years, also warned of a worldwide decline in teenagers’ reading skills.

Teenagers were losing the skills that “matter most in the age of AI”, such as being able to critically evaluate information from different sources, it said.

The share of “hasty readers”, who rush through texts to give quick, incorrect answers, has almost doubled between 2018 and 2025. The report warned the fall was greatest in those from “relatively well off” families.

Run by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Pisa tests assess teenagers on their ability to solve problems, think critically and communicate, before asking them a wider range of questions about their education in a questionnaire.

Although the UK performed well overall, the rankings varied significantly again, with results showing England, where the curriculum is significantly different, pulling consistently ahead of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

England’s schools minister, Georgia Gould, said the government wanted to “build on” the positive results and “go further so all young people leave school with strong literacy and numeracy”.

As Nigella Lawson makes her judging debut in the tent, she wasn’t the only person to be invited in for the first time

As Channel 4 bosses hope for a ratings boost thanks to the Nigella effect, the new Bake Off judge admitted she’d found the weekly eliminations really hard. “I agonise quite a bit,” she confessed. “I just look at the floor, I’m so frightened of making eye contact.”

Speaking at the launch of the new Channel 4 series Nigella, 66, said she and fellow judge Paul Hollywood carried on talking about the cakes long after the cameras stopped rolling. “You get so involved, you can’t just switch it off.” The agonising came as she tried to fairly evaluate all the ups and downs: “This person’s done well on this front but maybe fallen down a bit here – and these things are crucial. It’s just cake – but it matters. So you really have to be sure you’ve looked at everything and really thought about it. You don’t want to make any mistakes.”

She said her aim had been to be both fair and upbeat. “I always try and look for the positive as well, because you don’t ever want criticism to be something that makes people feel inadequate. I think it’s very important to let someone know what they’re doing well and what needs to be a bit better.”

In the end she found that all she could actually do was tell the truth – and be herself. “Ultimately, you can’t do anything except be honest, because all you have to go on is your honest reactions. Does it help someone to say something worked if it didn’t? No. Because they’re there to get better.”

“You can only ever be the person you are. Television is very interesting in that way – in one sense it’s an artificial medium because you’re made to look nicer and all that sort of thing. And yet, it’s a great phoniness detector.”

Paul said he’d loved watching Nigella give her first ever critiques in the tent. “I was curious to see the reaction the first time Nigella gave judgment on a cake. For me, I found that the most magical time. Obviously, I did it with Mary for seven years, 10 years with Prue. So it was fascinating – it was fantastic.”

And while he doesn’t mind dishing out the “constructive criticism” himself, he confessed to feeling a bit choked himself, on occasion, by the departures. “It was quite emotional, this year in particular, even I felt it at times. They were a tight group.”

This year the show will have a first when it comes to the challenges – the introduction of a round in which friends and family are invited into the tent to help out. “It’s the first time we’ve ever done it. It really worked. The atmosphere changed in the tent,” Paul explained. The idea had come from the viewers at home. “It was chaos,” presenter Noel Fielding joked, saying the family members ended up having “proper full-on fights”.

The first episode is as much about Nigella Lawson’s arrival as it is about the 12 new bakers. A few days ago she claimed in an interview that she had dramatically changed her decades-long presenting style, insisting: “I’m not flirtatious.”

But viewers will soon see that this is not actually the case, as she sidles up to 22-year-old Moyin in the tent to tell him “You’re the only person I’ve ever seen look chic in shorts.” And tasting Tom’s chocolate and stout cake after the first Signature challenge, she informs him suggestively: “This is giving me a lot of pleasure.”

Overall, she was hugely impressed by the bakers. “I don’t think you can underestimate what it takes to be in that tent. You’re offering something up for judgment. It’s a bit like taking a driving test,” she explained. “I was just amazed at how quickly they took all that in their stride.”

Co-presenter Alison Hammond said she wanted to help out the new judge, but hadn’t needed to. “It is quite a daunting moment when you first walk into that tent so we wanted to look after Nigella and make sure she was OK. She didn’t need any advice whatsoever. She was magical with the bakers and in front of the camera.”

It was a different story for the emotional bakers. “You have to be there to remind them that, ultimately, we are dealing with cake.”

– The Great British Bake Off returns to Channel 4 at 8pm on 22 September

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

If your clothes are coming out of the wash still stained or smelling bad, try this

If you’ve ever put a wash on, only to take it out and find the stains haven’t shifted and it still smells, you’re not alone.

Luckily, there’s an easy trick that takes the stress out of laundry day – and could save your clothes from ending up in the bin. Advice from consumer champions at Which? say the answer could be as simple as baking soda.

Also sold as bicarbonate of soda, it’s the inexpensive cupboard staple best known as a raising agent for light, fluffy bakes – and it can be picked up for around 59p at Morrisons or about 65p at Aldi. In its top tips, Which? recommends using it to “pre-soak any smelly items” before they go in the wash.

It explains: “If your laundry basket is full of grass-stained rugby kit or sweaty gym gear, the chances are it’s already not smelling its best. Rather than chucking these items straight into the machine, give them a good soak beforehand to help minimise the chance of odours clinging on through the wash.

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“You can dissolve half a cup of baking soda in a basin of warm water, soak the garments for half an hour and then wash them in the machine as normal. You can soak particularly smelly items for longer if necessary.”

Chances are you’ve already got baking soda in the cupboard, but if not, white vinegar is another option that Which? says “works well too”. Mix one part vinegar with four parts water and use it in the same way as the pre-soak. Just make sure you rinse items thoroughly before putting them into the drum, as leftover acidity could damage your machine.

According to popular baking brand, Dr Oetker, “you don’t just have to use baking soda for cooking. It’s also great for tackling all kinds of tasks around the home thanks to its alkali properties”.

This includes:

• Pop some in an open bowl in your fridge to eliminate any unsavoury odours.
• Make a paste with lemon juice to help remove grease from your oven
• Add a scoop to your washing machine to get rid of stains in clothing
• Try mixing bicarbonate of soda with vinegar to create a kitchen cleaning spray

Don’t leave it

As soon as the cycle ends, take your washing out and hang it up. Which? says leaving clothes sitting in a warm, damp drum for hours can make them smell worse – and fabrics like cotton and wool hold onto moisture for longer, so they’re even more likely to pong.

It explains: “The general rule is that a few hours is the limit before you’ll need to wash the items again, but in an ideal world, you’d remove your clean items as soon as possible when the cycle ends. The delay-start setting on your machine could come in handy here, allowing you to schedule a load to finish when you’ll have time to handle it.”

Skip the fabric softener

Which? explains that while it “may sound counterintuitive repeatedly adding fabric conditioner to your washes can actually make your clothes smell worse over time.” That’s because it can leave a build-up on fabrics over time, stopping detergent from soaking in and cleaning properly.

“It can also essentially ‘trap’ odours in your clothes by creating a coating over the top of them, making them much trickier to shift for good”, it adds.