As the UK continues to experience extreme heat this summer, the chance of seeing rats in your garden may be greater – but experts say a 36p product from Asda could help keep them away

Asda shoppers have been told to snap up a 36p product which could prove vital in stopping rats from entering their homes. Following record-breaking temperatures throughout the UK and with heatwaves continuing to define the summer, the likelihood of spotting rats in your garden may be higher.

This is because the severe heat has depleted many of their natural water sources, forcing them to abandon the security of drains, sewers, and other subterranean habitats to seek out new areas in their search for hydration and relief from the soaring temperatures. Our gardens are particularly attractive to rats during the summer months, due to readily available water sources and the possible access to food waste from barbecues and other outdoor dining.

The UK is home to two species of the animal – the brown rat, also called the common rat or the sewer rat, and the rarer black rat, occasionally known as the ship rat. Rat populations fluctuate considerably, but are thought to number anywhere from 10 million to over 100 million.

They’re highly adaptable creatures, and anyone averse to them may be disturbed to discover rats can fit through openings around the size of a £1 coin, or 20mm, enabling them to gain access to homes, sheds, and beyond.

Saif Derzi, founder of cash house buyers Property Buyers Today, said: “Homeowners should check for gaps around pipes and cables, damaged air bricks, cracks in walls and foundations, and broken drains or drainage systems. The biggest mistake people make is assuming rats need a large opening to get inside.”

Saif continued: “People tend to associate rat problems with autumn and winter, but summer is often when populations expand, and infestations begin. The first step is identifying and sealing potential entry points before rats can get inside.

“Small gaps around pipes and cables can often be sealed using wire wool, and a pack of three at Asda costs only £1.08, which comes out to 36p per piece.

“Cement or specialist expanding foam can also work, while damaged air bricks should be fitted with metal mesh covers that maintain ventilation while preventing access.”

Offering further guidance, Saif added: “Homeowners should also ensure bins are securely closed, remove potential food sources where possible, and avoid leaving pet food outside overnight. If you spot signs of rats, it’s important to act quickly.

“Common warning signs include droppings, scratching noises, gnaw marks, and damage to insulation, wiring and pipework.

“While preventative measures can help, homeowners dealing with an active infestation should seek professional pest control advice as soon as possible.

“DIY solutions often fail to tackle the root cause of the problem.”

The specialist emphasised the need to tackle a rat infestation promptly rather than ignoring it, as the animals can cause considerable structural damage “from chewed electrical wiring and damaged insulation, to compromised pipework.”

Saif warned: “In severe cases, infestations can also impact a property’s saleability. Mortgage lenders may require evidence that an infestation has been professionally treated before approving a loan, which can delay or complicate a sale.”

Set in a suburban America, Avni Doshi’s new novel centres around an unnamed protagonist who thinks her world and her sense of self are stable. She knows herself and all that is to come in her life. She’s followed the pre-determined path of being a wife and a mother. She believes she has a marriage that is forever and a house that is safe. Hers is an identity that has already been carved in stone – or so she thinks.

However, First House starts with the ending of her marriage, something she did not see coming despite clear issues. This ending also marks the beginning of something the protagonist could never have imagined: her unravelling.

In astrology, the first house is the sign of self, the centre of one’s identity. This is where we begin the journey to finding our place in the world, where we belong, and who we really are. It is in the first house that we meet Doshi’s unnamed protagonist, herself a practising astrologist.

When her husband decides to leave her, suddenly she must start all over again and carve a new life. With this comes the discovery of a new identity and persona. But she has to fall apart first to find who she really can be.

The second part of the novel is a reckoning with who she was, and what she has become. She is folded back into her Indian parent’s lives once again, and back into the family home. Here she realises that this first house, the house where she was born and grew up, shaped her immeasurably.

What really is a marriage? This is a question that haunts her. Is it the marriage of her parents? Is it her father’s indifference to her mother, and her mother’s insecurities and feelings of emptiness?

There is a familiarity in her descriptions of the way marriages become an obligation in certain cultures, where secrets roam silent in the chasm between a couple, where people stay together forever because they are expected to, and where love does not exist in the ravines of loneliness.

In such marriages so many children, much like Doshi’s protagonist, grow up with a vision of married life where love does not matter, believing they do not need to love in order to stay married. These children grow up not even understanding love.

Here “marriage is a solution” and intimacy is merely “living alongside another body”. When home lives do not offer safety, these children grow up looking to be rescued, seeking safety at any cost, and “in exchange for any sacrifice”.

Carving a new life

And, finally in part three of the book, we see the embryo of a new identity emerging.

There are many books about divorce, about the liberation and freedom of separation, about marriage as an anti-feminist establishment. But there are very few good books about the unravelling of a marriage and the disintegration of a mind; this is one of them.

First House is about a woman who believed it was forever, who was given this “dream” and held fast to it. This is a woman who did not learn how to trust her own instincts or know her own desires. And even when she did, she pushed them away, buried them somewhere where they wouldn’t prod her or remind her of their existence.

She is a mother who loves her children, but did not want to have children. A wife who wants to stay married but is increasingly irritated by her husband, and imagines him dead or absent so she can be alone. But despite this, she chooses to stay married, and to have children, to continue the pretences of the roles she so despises.

These are the paradoxes that make this novel so potent: a fever-dream interspersed with myths and legends, with stories of cicadas who mate and die, of the way we somehow manage to decimate the very core of our own identity. There is a suffocation in the words, enveloping the reader like the putrid fragrance of a summer evening, when the heat becomes unbearable and the skin too clammy to touch.

Doshi’s writing is visceral and haunting, with a paradoxical weightiness in message and lightness in delivery. This is a story of finding love, desire and connection with our own selves. It is also the story of a woman who has to go mad and retreat into a yellow wallpapered room to discover that she is most comfortable with the burdens of her own body and mind – even when she was forced to dismiss and abandon the cry of her own longing for herself. This short book is intense but makes for engrossing reading.

This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something, The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

During a visit today to a brewery in Dorset, the monarch spoke candidly about the nation’s heartbreak over last night’s World Cup defeat

The King spoke for the nation saying it was “a good day to drown a few sorrows” as he pulled a pint of beer following England’s heartbreaking defeat to Argentina. On a visit to a Dorset brewery today, Charles received an applause and cheers as the Queen helped him behind the bar at the Hall and Woodhouse brewery near Blandford Forum.

After being shown how to pull a pint by Toby Heasman, 50, the company’s head brewer, Charles was told to do it “a bit quicker”. As Camilla helped her husband, the King said: “We’ll have to do it again.”

Noticing the pint still wasn’t full he laughed and said, “and again”. The Queen said “No, you’re going to spill it!” After finishing the task of pulling a pint of 3.4% ‘Fursty Ferret’, the King received applause and cheers from the staff.

Lifting the nearly-full glass, the King smiled and said: “Maybe it’s a good day to drown a few sorrows.” His quip received a round of applause and a few laughs.

Earlier, the King and Queen unveiled a plaque to mark the family brewery’s 250th anniversary. Charles heard how the Hall and Woodhouse brewery, whose pubs include the Duchess of Cornwall Inn, which was opened by Camilla in 2016, is run by a family now in its 9th generation.

Meeting Anthony Woodhouse, 61, and his son Matt, 34 – seventh and eighth generation family members respectively – Charles said that it was “remarkable” that the brewery had stayed in the family.

Upon arrival, Charles and Camilla met representatives from Teddy Rocks, a music festival sponsored by the Hall and Woodhouse Badger Brewery which raises money for children’s cancer charities.

Tom Newton, 37, told the Queen that he founded the three-day music festival after the death of his younger brother, Ted, who died aged 10 in 2010 of a rare form of bone cancer: Ewing sarcoma.

The annual festival, held in May at a venue two miles from the brewery, began in 2011 when it raised £400. Now it has grown to a festival that welcomes 6,000 people a day across three days. This year it raised £185,000 with a total of more than £1million to date for five charities.

In the Maltings Room, Toby Heasman, the head brewer who has been with the company for 20 years, presented Charles with a bottle from a fresh batch of their 7% Coronation Ale, which was created for the 2023 Coronation.

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The Queen met Jill Meyerhoff, head of recruitment and apprenticeships and some apprentice chefs to hear about the company’s chef apprentice scheme.

Looking at the chicken dishes and pastries created by the chefs on the eight-month apprenticeship programme run by the brewery, Camilla said that it made her want to “tuck in”.

Charles and Camilla unveiled a 250th anniversary plaque and pulled a pint at the brewery which was founded in 1977 by Charles Hall, a Dorset farmer.

The Queen was given a posy of flowers as she left when she met some of the 9th generation of the family: Bowie Waterhouse-Clarke, 5, and his brothers River, 3, and 11-month-old Rudi.

Later, the King and Queen visited the historic Corn Exchange in Blandford Forum, a Georgian riverside market town on the banks of the River Stour.

The Grade I Listed building has recently undergone a significant renovation project including a newly-restored George II royal Coat of Arms, which was originally gifted to Blandford Forum Town Council in 1893 by Frank Blanchard.

In the Main Hall, the King and Queen were shown stalls showcasing the work of charities from across Dorset, including veteran and prison services, community and domestic abuse support, volunteers and faith, arts and education groups in the area.

A Northern Ireland Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service received a 999 call at 12:55 on Thursday, 16th July, following reports of an RTC on the Antrim Road area, Belfast.

“NIAS tasked four Emergency Ambulances and four Paramedics to the incident.

“Following assessment and initial treatment at the scene, four patients were brought to Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast by Ambulance.”

The Argentina star on the receiving end of a slap from Jude Bellingham had goaded England‘s stars throughout their fiercely-contested World Cup semi-final clash. 

Valentin Barco, an unused substitute during Argentina’s dramatic 2-1 victory, was seen sprinting on to the field of play and taunting the Three Lions after Enzo Fernandez drew the reigning champions level in Atlanta.

Footage showed John Stones pushing Barco away in apparent frustration as England’s players waited for the lengthy celebrations to subside.

It has been reported that the Chelsea-bound star had been winding up the England bench for the entirety of the 90 minutes.

And the ill-feeling resurfaced at full-time. In the moments before the confrontation, Tottenham captain Cristian Romero was seen appearing to goad Bellingham after the final whistle.

Then, the England midfielder appeared to slap the back of Barco’s head after the Argentinian appeared to aim a comment in his direction.

Barco went to hug a team-mate when he turned and appeared to say something, although it was unclear who his comment was directed towards or what was said. Moments later, Bellingham seemed to lose his composure, with the exchange culminating in him aiming a slap at the back of Barco’s head.

He was also at loggerheads with defender Nicolas Otamendi as other players tried to stop them

Bellingham appeared to slap Barco on the back of the head 

The full-back then turned around and pushed Bellingham with tempers flaring. Nicolas Otamendi also came over and gave the England man a shove.

Several Argentinian players attempted to act as peacemakers, but it looked as if Bellingham and Otamendi wanted more head-to-head action – even when they were separated.

Later, once Bellingham’s tempers had cooled, he was seen being comforted by family and friends.

Footage showed the Real Madrid star embracing his father, Mark Bellingham, and mother, Denise Bellingham, while wiping away tears. His close friend and England team-mate Morgan Rogers was also seen hugging his parents.

The 23-year-old was also spotted sitting alongside his girlfriend, Ashlyn Castro, 28, appearing visibly downcast by the afternoon’s events.

Meanwhile, there have been calls for Argentina to face disciplinary action from FIFA, after the players held aloft a banner after the match that read ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’ or ‘the Falklands are Argentine’.

Despite FIFA’s ban on political flags, Tottenham captain Romero, Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez and ex-Spurs midfielder Giovani Lo Celso celebrated with the controversial sign after the final whistle.

Captain and star player Lionel Messi was also seen dancing alongside the banner.

Footage showed the Real Madrid star embracing his father, Mark Bellingham, while wiping away tears

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Bellingham was spotted sitting alongside his girlfriend, Ashlyn Castro, 28, appearing visibly downcast by the afternoon’s events

FIFA has yet to comment, but the governing body is under huge pressure to punish Argentina for flouting its rules. Manchester United and Spurs are being urged to punish Romero and Martinez.

Twelve years ago, the team carried the same banner at an international friendly and was fined just £20,000.

But there are growing calls for the players who carried the banner at a match of such magnitude – watched by an estimated 950million people worldwide – to face tougher sanctions.

A total of 255 British servicemen were among the 907 people who died in the 1982 Falklands War, which saw UK armed forces retake the islands after an Argentine invasion.

Britain first landed on the uninhabited islands in 1690 and claimed them for the Crown in 1765. It has maintained a permanent presence there since 1833 – 47 years before Argentina became a fully unified state following its declaration of independence from Spain in 1816.

The last official referendum of Falkland Islanders was held in 2013, when 99.8 per cent of voters chose to remain a British Overseas Territory.

The offensive banner made a terrible night even worse for England. The team were leading 1-0 with just five minutes remaining before Messi’s men fought back to win.

Thomas Tuchel is facing calls to be sacked over his tactical decisions and defensive substitutions as England stood on the verge of reaching their first World Cup final since 1966.

The German manager insisted after the game that he had ‘no regrets’, but pundits and fans have turned on him after his team surrendered the lead when he took off speedy goalscorer Anthony Gordon and replaced the winger with defender Ezri Konsa.

Tuchel then took off Declan Rice for Nico O’Reilly and Reece James for Dan Burn in a further retreat ten minutes later. Enzo Fernandez equalised with five minutes left and Lautaro Martinez won it for Argentina in stoppage time.

There have been calls for Argentina to face disciplinary action from FIFA, after the players held aloft a banner that read ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’ or ‘the Falklands are Argentine’

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Bellingham, who enjoyed a brilliant tournament, appeared pained at that. In seeming frustration at Jordan Pickford, who produced a number of impressive saves, he looked to the sky, stretched out his arms, and appeared to say: ‘It’s in the middle of the goal.’

Tuchel concluded to BBC Sport: ‘We’re disappointed, we were so close but we got too passive after we scored and conceded a lot of chances.

‘We could not turn the ball possession around and then conceded so many crosses, chances and shots. We were close but couldn’t keep the level up after we scored.

‘Of course we wanted to go for the second goal but I did not have the feeling that offensive substitutions would help. We stayed in our 4-4-2 but we became passive, more and more passive.

‘We couldn’t win any balls, we couldn’t keep the ball so I think it was not a structural problem, we changed nothing. But the match changed completely.’

Harry Kane said: ‘I’m gutted for the boys, the team, the staff, the fans. We played a good game for the vast majority of it. Once we went 1-0 up, we seemed to try and hold on. At this level that’s not enough. Just gutted as we worked so hard to be here and the boys gave every last bit of sweat, blood, and tears.

‘We struggled to get pressure on the ball. First half, start of second half, we pressed well and put them under pressure. After the goal, whether it was them putting more men forward or us not being able to match them man-for-man, it was wave after wave. Lads were putting blocks in but it wasn’t enough.

‘The boys are ready for any moment. When we went ahead, the messaging was to go again and get another goal. Once they scored their two goals, it was to try and find something but we couldn’t get the momentum.

‘We had a lot of good moments in this tournament, a lot of good games. We’re close, we just need to find that missing piece in the final stage of the tournament. These tournaments take it out of you, so much effort and pressure and mentality. We’re missing that final piece.’

Dan Burn added: ‘Absolutely gutted. I thought we had the gameplan pretty well for the majority of it. But obviously, when we scored, we went a bit passive and dropped off and were ultimately punished for it.

‘We probably conceded too many chances and if you do that, they are going to get goals. Disappointing from us. We have defended games better and seen them out. When you get that close to the World Cup final, that hurts.’

How much is David Beckham set to pocket from his World Cup brand deals? Take on our quiz in our newsletter HERE.

“The protocols and the powers of all state bodies involved in the death of a child must be thoroughly reviewed, updated, and critically, harmonised across all agencies so that every single piece of evidence, in particular, relevant social media data, is preserved and available to the coroner from the earliest opportunity.”

Michelle McFadden, 46, is alleged to have doctored paperwork to claim that a Scottish Police Credit Union account was empty at the time of her separation.

A police officer is to face court accused of a £4,600 attempted fraud by forging a document to be used in divorce proceedings.

Michelle McFadden, 46, is alleged to have pretended to her former partner, Mark McLennan, and two solicitors involved in the case at Paisley Sheriff Court, that a Scottish Police Credit Union account was empty at the time of their separation.

The charge states that McFadden knew that the actual sum in he account, which would have been deemed a joint matrimonial asset, was £4,600.

She is further accused of submitting a “forged copy” of the account to her solicitor, showing zero funds.

Court papers allege she pretend to have transferred the money to relatives and to a credit card account in November 2022, in a bid to conceal the true sum and attempt to induce solicitors Tony Caplan and David Forbes and her ex partner to accept that her “entitlement to a financial provision on divorce was more than it ought to have been”.

McFadden faces a single charge of attempted fraud, aggravated by the alleged abuse of her former partner.

She is alleged to have committed the offence between March 7 and May 1 2024.

McFadden’s address was listed in court papers as Police Scotland’s professional standards department in Dalmarnock.

The case called for a first hearing at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Thursday.

The police officer was not required to attend court and her solicitor did not lodge a plea on her behalf.

Sheriff Paul Reid continued the case to a further hearing next month.

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The 2026 men’s football World Cup has provided great goals, shock results and plenty of entertainment. It has also been extremely lucrative, earning Fifa billions of dollars in broadcasting rights, ticket sales and commercial sponsorship.

Those commercial partnerships include alcohol producers, whose brands have appeared across television broadcasts, digital platforms, social media and stadiums.

For example, Fifa has a long-standing sponsorship arrangement with the world’s biggest beer company. AB InBev owns Budweiser, which is the tournament’s official beer, and Michelob Ultra, the sponsor of the player of the match awards.

AB InBev and Fifa are delighted with the strength of their long-standing partnership and the World Cup’s ability to connect brands with millions of fans worldwide. From a business perspective, it is one of sport’s most successful sponsorship arrangements.

But from a public health perspective, what does it mean for the millions of children and young people who have been watching the tournament? For alcohol sponsorship has become an increasingly prominent feature of elite sport.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, branding was largely confined to adverts on TV or pitch-side boards, or some tournament sponsorship, such as the Carling Cup (now known as the Carabo Cup after the Thai energy drink brand that sponsors it).

But in 2026, marketing is far more sophisticated. Alcohol brands are heavily integrated into the fan experience, appearing in digital content, interactive promotions, fan zones and social media feeds that extend far beyond the 90 minutes on the pitch.

This evolution reflects broader changes in sports marketing, where sponsors have moved beyond being simply advertisers. Now they have become partners in creating the emotional experience surrounding major events.

But research consistently shows that greater exposure to alcohol marketing is associated with earlier drinking among adolescents, and increased alcohol consumption among those who already drink.

Marketing also increases positive attitudes towards alcohol, strengthens brand recognition and reinforces the perception that drinking is a normal part of sport and celebration.

Normalisation

Yet recent research my colleagues and I conducted suggests that some young people have quite a sophisticated understanding of alcohol sponsorship.

Many recognise that companies sponsor football and rugby because they attract huge audiences and create positive emotional associations with brands. As one participant put it: “People see [the product] – they want to get it.”

Lots of our research participants described how commonplace alcohol branding had become, saying they encountered it every time they watched football or rugby, at the stadium, on television and social media.

And many of the 44 young people aged 11 to 17 in Scotland we spoke to questioned why alcohol was linked to sport at all. They described the relationship as “confusing” and “ironic”, struggling to reconcile elite athletes and healthy lifestyles with unhealthy products that can increase the risk of cancer and liver disease.

At the same time, though, they understood why companies invest so heavily in sport.

Football is one of the few global events watched by entire families, meaning children are exposed to alcohol branding from an early age simply by watching matches with parents and siblings. As one young person observed: “If you’ve got it shown to you from a young age, it’s going to be more hardwired into your brain.”

This reflects decades of evidence showing that marketing works through repeated exposure rather than any single advertisement. Sponsorship links brands with excitement, belonging, celebration and national pride, making those associations part of people’s memories of the event itself.

The challenge is becoming even more complex as alcohol companies increasingly promote zero-alcohol products and use “alibi” marketing that relies on familiar colours, logos and slogans rather than explicit references to alcohol. Although these sponsorship campaigns are often presented as more responsible, our research suggests many young people do not distinguish them from advertising for alcoholic drinks.

As one participant explained: “I just saw the alcohol brand, I never really thought of the zeros.” Others viewed these campaigns as a way of working around advertising restrictions while continuing to promote core alcohol brands.

None of this means that every child who watches football will go on to drink alcohol. Young people’s behaviour is shaped by families, peers, culture and many other influences. But alcohol marketing is one of those influences, and unlike many others, it is something governments can regulate.

Our research shows that young people themselves recognise the disconnect between promoting healthy sport while surrounding it with alcohol branding. If they can see that contradiction, perhaps the people who run international football should too.

Most people will have a block of parmesan cheese in their fridge to use in a range of Italian meals.

Producers of parmesan have warned that there could be supply issues on the way, making it harder to buy.

Parmesan could become more expensive, with prolonged periods of extreme weather making it more difficult to produce.

The weather means cows are producing less milk. (Image: Getty)

Why could parmesan become more expensive?

Temperatures reaching above 40C in the Emilia-Romagna region are causing cows to eat less and produce around 10 per cent less milk, according to the Grocery Gazette.

Nicola Bertinelli, the president of Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium, has said the hotter weather has been affecting the quality and quantity of milk being produced.

Authentic parmesan cheese can only be made in five Italian provinces using milk from cows fed on locally grown grass and hay.

The lack of rainfall is also causing problems for the production process.

Nicola said: “If it doesn’t rain, grass doesn’t grow, hay cannot be produced and it’s impossible to obtain the milk needed to make the cheese.”

Farmers have been using fans and water-misting systems to keep cattle cool, but the equipment has increased electricity costs.

Climate-controlled warehouses used to age the cheese wheels are also using more power.

The daily energy consumption of the two warehouses operated by Magazzini Generali delle Tagliate rose by around 30 per cent during the most intense heatwaves.

Producers are worried that more frequent and prolonged extreme weather could push up the prices of parmesan while affecting the volume and quality of cheese.

GranTerre international sales director Paolo Ganzerli said: “If extreme events become longer-lasting and more intense, they will certainly have an impact on both the quantity and quality of milk, but above all they will lead to higher costs.

“We don’t want to be the last generation to eat it.”

The Parmigiano Reggiano industry supports thousands of jobs in the region and generates around four and a half million euros in annual revenue.

Exports made up more than half of global sales in 2025, with the US being the cheese’s largest overseas market.

Are you worried about the rising costs of food products? Let us know in the comments.