Happy Rooms will be hosted at Middlesbrough Town Hall from July 27 to August 30, featuring 12 immersive, artist-designed rooms that explore happiness through colour, creativity and play.

The event, designed to spark imagination and fun in visitors of all ages, will include a mix of returning favourites and new spaces.

It will feature 12 immersive, artist-designed rooms that explore happiness through colour, creativity and play (Image: Dave Charnley Stella)

Rachel Willis and Lyndsey Stephenson, directors of Teesside-based Stellar Creates, are behind the project.

Ms Willis said: “This year brings a perfect mix of returning favourites and brand-new rooms, designed to surprise and delight visitors of all ages.”

Lyndsey Stephenson said the event aims to capture what happiness really means, adding: “Happy Rooms delves into the essence of happiness.

“We want visitors to celebrate play, the great outdoors, colour, family, rest and relaxation this Summer.”

Quiet and relaxed sessions will also be available daily (Image: Dave Charnley Stella)

Happy Rooms will be open Tuesday to Sunday from 9.30am to 5pm, with entry every 15 minutes and the last admission at 3.30pm.

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The experience lasts between 60 and 90 minutes.

Quiet and relaxed sessions will also be available daily at 9.30am and 9.45am.

Tickets are £6.50 for children and £8.50 for adults, with family bundles and off-peak discounts available.

To book, visit: www.happyrooms.co.uk

North Yorkshire Police is on the scene on the A59 at Whixley, near Knaresborough, on Thursday afternoon (April 30).

Motorists are facing delays with people urged to avoid the area, the force said.

“We are working to recover the vehicles and get the road fully open as soon as possible,” a police spokesperson said.

“There will be delays in the area at this time.”

Jenny Gilruth, SNP candidate for Mid Fife and Glenrothes, said: “The SNP has transformed childcare in Scotland – providing 1,140 hours of free, high-quality early learning and childcare, worth around £6,000 to families every year. But we have heard from families across Scotland who need more support.

The group warns the current system is “outdated, increasingly unaffordable, and too rigid” — piling pressure on public finances as the population ages.

At the centre of the proposals is a dramatic shift away from the traditional pension model.

Instead, the think tank wants a new “lifespan fund” – allowing people to build up state-backed support not just through work, but also caring responsibilities and education.

That support could then be used during key moments in life – including unemployment, retraining or caring for family.

Tom Smith, director of economic policy at the Tony Blair Institute, said: “Britain’s state pension system was built for a different era.”

He added: “We can’t keep pouring money into a system that is increasingly unaffordable.”

Triple lock ‘cannot continue’

The report takes direct aim at the triple lock — the policy that guarantees the state pension rises each year by the highest of earnings, inflation or 2.5%.

Smith said: “Pension spending must be contained, and that means the triple lock cannot continue after the next election.”

He added: “Ending it will require political leadership from all parties — but that should only be the first step.”

A £66bn warning

The intervention comes amid stark projections about the future cost of pensions.

The report warns that the number of pensioners is set to surge from 12.6 million today to nearly 19 million by 2070.

At the same time, spending on the state pension could rise sharply – from around 5% of GDP to 7.8%, putting pressure on taxes and public services.

By contrast, the proposed new system could limit spending to around 5.5% – potentially avoiding £66 billion a year in extra costs by 2070.

‘Real freedom’ but with a catch

Under the plans, people would be able to dip into their pension pot earlier in life but would later repay it through higher National Insurance contributions.

Smith said: “TBI’s proposed Lifespan Fund offers that better alternative.”

He added: “It gives people real freedom to use support earlier in life… and to top it back up before retiring on their own terms.”

Big political battle ahead

The think tank is urging cross-party talks to push through reforms before the next election – setting the stage for a major political debate over the future of pensions.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “Age UK firmly believes that the Triple Lock should be retained into the next Parliament.

“Over time this policy has rebuilt the value of the State Pension, helping to improve the living standards of some of our poorest pensioners.

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“Today, we continue to hear from older people who are struggling financially, and the extra money the Triple Lock delivers makes a meaningful difference to many lives.

“In new polling, 3 in 10 pensioners say they are struggling financially – even before the worrying rise in energy prices.

“Going forward, we need a national debate to determine the purpose and appropriate value of the State Pension as, at present, it is set too low to provide those reliant on it with a decent standard of living throughout their later lives.”

What do you think about these proposals to replace the triple lock? Let us know in the comments.

The Met Office has forecast temperatures could surge to 26C on Friday across the UK, with 38 counties across the UK expected to hit 20C or above during the warm spell.

The Met Office has forecast temperatures could rocket to 24C within hours as Scotland enjoys a welcome warm spell.

Despite “showers” expected to arrive in the west and south-west tomorrow, with rain spreading northeastwards, the Met Office says conditions will be feeling “much warmer” in the east. It will “feel humid for many”, the national weather agency confirmed.

The Met Office’s afternoon forecast predicted highs of 26C in southern areas tomorrow, while temperatures are expected to climb to 24C in the north. Saturday is also set to be a warm day, with highs of 23C in the south and 20C in the north.

Temperature anomaly maps for tomorrow show the UK blanketed in deep red, indicating where temperatures are forecast to rise well above the seasonal average. Glasgow and Edinburgh are expected to see highs of 18C.

The ECMWF weather model predicts highs of 23C tomorrow, with the warmest conditions concentrated in the south-east of England, particularly in and around London. Afternoon highs of 22C and 23C are also expected across the Midlands and South Yorkshire, reports the Mirror.

Overall, the ECMWF model suggests as many as 38 counties will see temperatures reach 20C or above. Disappointingly for residents of Northern Ireland and Wales, all of these counties fall within either England or Scotland.

UK counties facing 20C or above on Friday

Scotland

• Sutherland
• Ross-shire and Cromartyshire
• Nairnshire
• Morayshire
• Banffshire
• Aberdeenshire
• Berwickshire
• Roxburghshire

England

• Northumberland
• Durham
• Yorkshire
• Lancashire
• Cheshire
• Shropshire
• Staffordshire
• Leicestershire
• Nottinghamshire
• Derbyshire
• Lincolnshire
• Norfolk
• Suffolk
• Cambridgeshire
• Northamptonshire
• Warwickshire
• Worcestershire
• Herefordshire
• Oxfordshire
• Buckinghamshire
• Bedfordshire
• Wiltshire
• Berkshire
• Hampshire
• Surrey
• Kent
• Sussex
• Essex
• Middlesex
• Devon

BBC Weather forecasts for Friday: “A band of cloud and showers will sweep into many western parts tomorrow. Eastern areas will be sunny and warm, particularly in south-east England. Showers will later push east into north-east England.”

It also predicts for the weekend: “Over the weekend, it will become unsettled and cloudier with frequent scattered showers, or even longer spells of rain on Sunday, for England and Wales, with a chance of thunder. Cloudier with lighter showers further north. Monday will be mainly cloudy with some lingering spells of rain. Some sunny breaks may develop towards the far south and north-west.”

Despite the scorching temperatures, this warm period is not anticipated to be classed as an official heatwave. An official heatwave is only declared when temperatures meet or surpass the heatwave threshold for three consecutive days.

The heatwave threshold ranges between 25C and 28C across the UK. It sits at 28C in the south-east of England where temperatures tend to be higher, dropping to 25C the further north you travel.

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To mark International Dawn Chorus day we’ve asked wildlife experts to make their case for why their favourite songbird deserves your vote. Cast your vote in the poll at the end of the article and let us know why in the comments. We hope their words will inspire you to step outside and soak up some birdsong this spring.

Song thrush

Championed by Cannelle Tassin de Montaigu, Research Fellow in Ecology and Evolution, University of Sussex

When people talk about the UK’s best bird songs they often go straight for the big names – loud, dramatic performers that grab your attention. But quietly in the background is the song thrush, a bird whose song is far more impressive than it first appears.

What sets the song thrush apart is not volume or flair, but structure. Its song is built from short, clear phrases, each repeated two or three times before moving on. It’s as if the bird is politely checking that its audience is paying attention. In a dawn chorus that often feels a bit chaotic, there’s something refreshingly organised about it. It’s a bird that’s actually thought things through.

It might not have the dramatic flair of the common nightingale, and it’s less showy than some of the usual favourites. There are no soaring crescendos or dramatic flourishes. But that’s part of its charm. The song is neat, rhythmic and surprisingly memorable once you start listening for it.

In the early morning soundscape, where many birds seem determined to out-sing one another, the song thrush isn’t trying to steal the spotlight. It just quietly does its thing, and does it very well. Underrated? Definitely. Worth your vote? I’d say so.

Robin

Championed by Judith Lock, Principal Teaching Fellow in Ecology and Evolution University of Southampton

The European robin is a delightfully common sight in gardens. You will very likely have heard the characteristic “tic”, followed by a tuneful verse lasting a few seconds. In noisy urban environments they sing louder, less complex songs, in order to be heard.

The male robins use their spring song (January to June) to signal their quality to females, then forming breeding pairs, and to signal competitive ability to other males. The spring song lasts one to three seconds, composed of four to six short motifs. They have an impressive repertoire of about 1,300 motifs, indicating that song is the particularly important for robins, in comparison to birds that rely more on colourful plumage or behavioural displays to communicate with each other.

Most birds sing mainly in the morning but robins sing all day. People often mistake their lovely evening song for a nightingale’s. Constant territory defence from non-migrating robins means that the robin song is a year-round soundtrack too. From July to December, both males and females sing the autumn song, of higher-pitched long, descending notes, with interspersed warbles. This song is to defend their individual winter territories. This indicates that song first evolved first in songbirds to ensure survival, before it became a signal used by males for reproduction. Each robin’s song is dynamic, constantly changing in response to the condition and age of the bird, and their rival.

Great tit

Championed by Josh Firth, Associate Professor of Behavioural Ecology, University of Leeds

Its song may not be as flashy as the nightingale or as poetically melancholy as the blackbird. But scientists have been taught so much by the great tit’s song, heard across British habitats from ancient woodlands to urban gardens. This spring marks 80 continuous years of UK-based scientists studying great tits at Wytham Woods, Oxford, the world’s longest-running study of individually-marked animals.

The unique dataset includes a family tree totaling over 100,000 great tits, with some birds’ lineages traceable back 37 generations. Early research on
Wytham’s great tits during 1970s-1980s resulted in some the first studies to inform the scientific world about how bird song can help males find mates and defend territories, how larger song repertoires can bring more reproductive success, and how young birds learn these repertoires from neighbours (not just their fathers).

And a pioneering study published in 1987 taught us how male great tit song even tracks female fertility, increasing their singing efforts as their female partner’s egg-laying period approaches, and then quietening after she starts laying. Modern technological advances are allowing insight into the hidden meaning embedded in great tits’ songs. In-depth processing of 109,000 recordings of great tit songs has revealed how each bird’s melody tells the story of their own identity as well as that of their local culture and social circles.

A great tit’s age also affects their song: older males keep singing rarer, fading song types while younger birds adopt newer ones. So, Britain’s greatest song belongs to the great tit’s “teacher-teacher” call, for all it has taught us, and for all we have left to learn.

Chaffinch

Championed by Joey Baxter, PhD Candidate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Sheffield

Why change a winning formula? As far as I’m concerned, the chaffinch sings the biggest banger that UK birds have to offer. While the blackcap attempts to impress with ostentatious bells and whistles, the chaffinch keeps things simple with a catchy riff. Where the starling goes for quantity and novelty, with a frankly plagiaristic repertoire of mimicry, the chaffinch goes for quality, singing proudly in the knowledge that it is delivering a true earworm.

Bubbling trills accelerate before tumbling downwards, slowing to rich watery chirps and finishing with the final flourish. This jaunty lick, the real hook of the song, is often punctuated by an upward inflection at its end, the rising intonation giving it the air of an unanswered question. The chaffinch’s song has rhythm, it has melody, and it’s instantly recognisable. It possesses the wisdom that sometimes it is better not to do everything, but to do one thing well.

The identity of United’s next full-time manager remains uncertain with only four matches left to play this term, though former long-serving midfielder Carrick is widely believed to be the frontrunner for the permanent role after impressing since taking the interim reins in January following the sacking of Ruben Amorim after only 14 months in charge.