The all-electric EV9 SUV is available with a choice of trim levels and rear or all-wheel drive.

In this instalment of Drive Time, John tries out the very large Kia EV9 – the company’s all-electric flagship and discovers why it has won so many awards – and finds out Dacia has reduced prices on its hybrid Duster and Bigster models.

Big and very bold, the all-electric EV9 SUV is the flagship of Kia’s range and it has collected numerous global awards since it was launched.

It is available with a choice of trim levels and rear or all-wheel drive and it takes the Korean manufacturer into competition with the luxury European brands.

The latest model to arrive is the GT version which I recently sampled and it cost a whopping £83,845 on the road.

All models share a 99.8kWh long-range battery pack which gives the AWD GT a range of 316 miles and up to 408 miles of city or town driving.

I sampled the EV9 in GT specification with six seats and you can also have it with seven seats if you wish.

At more than five metres long and almost two across, it is a very substantial car with lots of road presence.

The design is boxy but nice lights front and rear help its looks as do the roof rails, flush door handles, privacy glass and large 21-inch alloys.

Kia has also taken the cabin quality up a notch and it features a lot of recycled materials and a huge amount of tech and kit.

The comfortable seats are powered and can be heated or ventilated and the steering wheel can also be heated to make things feel good even in very cold mornings.

Second row passengers are also spoiled with heated and cooled seats.

A three-screen layout that merges into one includes a 12.3-inch driver display, a 5.3-inch climate control touchscreen and a 12.3-inch touchscreen navigation system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Thankfully, switches are provided for the temperature controls.

A good sound system features Bluetooth with voice recognition, a digital key, fingerprint recognition, ambient lighting and OTA software updates, streaming via Kia Connect Store.

The huge cabin offers stacks of space for driver and passengers and all the controls, dials and readouts are perfectly positioned for ease of use.

The high driving position provides good all-round visibility and cameras mean there are no blind spots.

This version is good for a sprint time of 0-62mph in just 4.6 seconds with a top speed of 136mph.

That is impressive for a huge SUV that weighs in at 2.6 tonnes.

The EV9 is a comfortable and quiet motorway cruiser but it does feel very large in town centres where the many parking assist systems become very useful.

Four levels of regenerative braking can be controlled from steering wheel paddles and make it possible to achieve single pedal driving.

The single-speed automatic transmission is smooth and responds quickly and provides rapid injections of pace when you need to overtake.

Surprisingly agile for its size, the EV9 offers a selection of driving modes called Eco, Normal, Sport and My Drive.

And there are also modes to tackle more challenging conditions named Snow, Mud and Sand.

Very practical for family use the EV9 offers 333 litres of luggage space even with all seats in use.

An additional 52 litres is available under the bonnet and this is an ideal spot for charging cables.

The tailgate is powered and there is a huge amount of storage space inside the cabin with many neat features.

Six USB ports along with a wireless charging pad up front mean smartphones and other electronics can stay charged during journeys to keep all the family happy.

When it comes to charging the 99.8kWh battery, it can be boosted from 10 to 80 per cent in one hour 23 minutes if using a 50kW charger or in just 24 minutes via a 350kW unit if you can find one.

Home charging takes just over nine hours on a 11kW charger.

All the latest safety systems are standard and include the likes of blind spot collision warning, rear cross traffic alert, dynamic brake control, trailer stability assist, forward collision avoidance assist, parking collision avoidance and much more.

This means the SUV has a five-star NCAP safety rating.

This flagship model with great performance and crammed with technology and practical features along with a more than decent range takes the Korean brand to a new level.

Big on size, style and performance it is easy to see why the EV9, spoiled with equipment and tech has collected so many awards and even badge snobs should give it a close look.

FAST FACTS:

Price: £83,845 with special paint.

Mechanical: 501bhp,two electric motors driving four wheels via automatic transmission.

Max speed: 136mph.

0-60mph: 4.6 secs.

Range: 316-408 miles.

Insurance group: 45.

CO2 emissions: Zero.

Warranty: Seven years/100,000 miles (eight years battery).

BIK rating: Two per cent.

Overall rating (out of five): 4.5.

In other motoring news, Dacia is cutting prices for Duster and Bigster hybrid 155 models by up to £1750, making two of the UK’s toughest, most useful SUVs even better value for money than before.

Across the Duster range, prices for hybrid 155 models have been lowered by £1750, while Bigster hybrid 155 models have been reduced by £1475.

That means a Duster hybrid 155 is now available from £23,345, while Bigster hybrid 155 now starts from £26,715.

There’s good news for Britain’s hard-working businesses, too, with Duster Cargo hybrid 155 now priced from £22,495 ex VAT.

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Both SUVs continue to be offered in a choice of Expression, Journey and rugged Extreme trim levels, making it easy for customers to choose the version that suits them best.

Expression gives drivers everything they need day to day, Journey adds more comfort and convenience, while Extreme brings a tougher look and feel for those who like to get out there and make the most of the weekend.

As a result of these changes, the jump into hybrid power is now smaller than before, while Dacia’s straightforward approach stays exactly the same: everything drivers need, and nothing they don’t.

Lina Ribeiro, Dacia brand director for the UK, said: “Dacia has always been about giving customers the best value for money, and these new prices make Duster and Bigster hybrid 155 even more appealing.

“At a time when people are watching what they spend, cutting prices by this much makes a real difference.

“It means even more customers can enjoy hybrid power, strong equipment levels and the space and versatility these two SUVs offer.”

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The video, captured by local wagon driver Dave Henderson, shows the vehicle turning round after travelling south in the northbound carriageway near the Swarland junction in Northumberland.

Fortunately, nobody was injured and the vehicle was able to safely turn around. Local councillors have said the footage shows the urgent need for safety improvements on the notorious stretch of road through the county.

Coun Guy Renner-Thompson, who represents the Bamburgh ward and is a cabinet member at the county council, said: “This is just further evidence that this road isn’t fit for purpose.

“It is being added to the dossier the Northumberland A1 Road Safety Alliance campaign group are producing and it will also be seen by officers at the council. It is further proof for the Government that this road needs sorting out.”

Much of the A1 in Northumberland remains single carriageway, and campaigners have been calling for these to be made dual carriageway for decades.

However, there are some short sections – including the stretch that passes Swarland – that are already dualled.

There is now concern that many junctions on these sections are no longer fit for purpose and require significant upgrades. There has been a rise in the level of traffic using the road in recent years with the north Northumberland Coast becoming a particular hotspot for tourists.

Council leader Glen Sanderson has been calling consistently for the entire route to be upgraded to dual carriageway. He feels the poor junctions and repeated changes from single to dual carriageway cause confusion for visitors.

He said: “It’s a shocking video. Because of the way the A1 is and the amount of people that are using it, people simply get confused by the junctions.

“It is that confusion that often leads to tragedy. It needs a total rethink.

“People would normally think that this main route ought to be of to quality and safety standards that don’t cause confusion. I have great sympathy with people who get confused.”

The campaign to get the road dualled has been reignited in recent weeks after a number of serious accidents this year that have resulted in several people losing their lives. The NASA has started a parliamentary petition that has been signed by almost 3,600 people.

Coun Sanderson added: “I want to keep the campaign on. Every bit of evidence helps to build the case for action that is desperately needed.

“Saying it is not needed is misguided and very wrong. I am not going to accept this situation, and we will continue to fight and express our views on behalf of all the people involved and those who have suffered.”

The Government has committed to carrying out safety improvements on the A1 in Northumberland as part of the Road Investment Strategy (RIS). However, the dual carriageway scheme is currently off the table, with officials deeming the £500 million cost as too expensive.

Durham County Council intends to appoint a contractor to demolish the redundant Fyndoune Community College buildings in Sacriston before the site is levelled, graded and reinstated.

Planning documents state that preparation work is due to begin this month, with the demolition of Block 3 and Blocks 5, 6 and 7 planned as part of the first phase.

Block 1 is expected to remain in use for longer and is due to be demolished in summer 2028, once existing building users have vacated.

The work will include removing asbestos from the buildings before they are demolished.

Fyndoune Community College closed in April 2021 following a merger with Durham Community Business College for Technology and Enterprise in Ushaw Moor.

The former college site is now at the centre of plans for a new specialist school, providing 180 additional places for children with special educational needs.

The proposed facility would cater for pupils with special educational and medical needs, including secondary school-aged children who require additional support.

Durham County Council has submitted a pre-application for the wider redevelopment, with letters due to be delivered to nearby residents from Monday, August 17.

The council said the new school would provide a “dedicated, high-quality specialist educational curriculum” designed to prepare young people for life in their local communities.

It also said the development would provide benefits for the wider Sacriston community, with residents able to access indoor and outdoor facilities.

Further details of the proposed new school and its facilities are expected to emerge as the redevelopment progresses.

The Greater Anglia train derailed at 2.12pm on Friday south of Wickford railway station in Essex, British Transport Police said.

BTP said officers, paramedics and firefighters are at the scene after reports that the rear carriages of the train have derailed in an upright position.

No injuries have currently been reported.

No trains between Wickford and Southend Victoria are expected until further notice, National Rail says on its website.

It says: “There is a problem currently under investigation between Wickford and Southend Victoria. This has closed all lines running between these stations.

“As a result, Greater Anglia trains running between London Liverpool Street and Southend Victoria will be cancelled in full. You can use alternative services to travel between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield. You are advised not to travel between Shenfield and Southend Victoria as services are unable to run.

“Please note, the Southminster branch line is also affected by this issue, and services are currently unable to run between Wickford and Southminster.

“Major disruption is expected to continue until further notice.”

By ELINA SHIRAZI, US SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER

Published: 21:19 BST, 14 August 2026 | Updated: 21:40 BST, 14 August 2026

President Donald Trump just announced plans to declare the Strait of Hormuz a US territory following the defeat of Iran.

‘Pretty soon, I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States… we have the blockade… no ships get through unless we want them to,’ Trump declared at a Garden City rally.

Trump told a crowd of law enforcement officers that the war in the Middle East is still not over.

‘We have to make a little journey to the Middle East because we have to put out a potential disaster, a potential very big fire, a fire like you’ve never seen. We can’t let Iran keep going,’ Trump said during the rally, adding once again that they can ‘never have a nuclear weapon.’ 

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Before the US launched military strikes against Iran earlier this year, the Strait of Hormuz served as a vital shipping lane for global oil. 

Since the onset of the conflict, maritime traffic through the narrow waterway has ground to a near-total halt, making transit rights a key sticking point in US–Iran peace negotiations. 

Speaking to supporters on Long Island, the president called for economic resilience amid the war with Iran, urging Americans to accept temporary gas price surges as a matter of national priority. 

‘For you to pay a tiny little bit more for your gasoline, just remember you’re doing it so that a very evil country cannot have a… it’s the number one state sponsor of terror in the world… We don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon,’ Trump said in an address at the Nassau County Policy Academy.

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Tehran has since walked away from Trump’s peace deal, attacking vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carries roughly a fifth of the world’s oil

Trump delivers remarks at the David S. Mack Center for Training and Intelligence on August 14, 2026 in Garden City, New York

President Donald Trump just announced plans to declare the Strait of Hormuz a US territory following the defeat of Iran

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While violence has declined since the signing of a preliminary US-Iran deal in June and the Lebanon-Israel agreement, Lebanon continues to report intermittent Israeli strikes and artillery shelling on the south

‘Remember that when you have to pay a little bit more, you’re at $4,’ the president continued, saying, he will ‘never apologize.’

‘I did the right thing,’ he exclaimed. 

The national average gas price stands at more than $4 per gallon in the US.

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The rising prices have added inflationary pressure on families as Trump prepares for midterm elections in less than three months.

Iran plans to ramp up aggression in the Strait of Hormuz to ratchet pressure on Trump ahead of the midterm elections, according to Tehran insiders and foreign policy experts.

Trump conceded last week that the US was now ‘low-keying’ peace talks with Iran after a ceasefire deal collapsed.

Former US diplomat Jonathan Wachtel told the Daily Mail that ‘Iranian leaders carefully study both American military capabilities and political calendars.’

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Two Iranian sources familiar with Tehran’s planning confirmed that the midterms are a key pressure point that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will hope to exploit.

Retired General Jack Keane said that Iran is gambling on Trump being unwilling to restart major military action ahead of November. 

‘My gut feel is that they’re likely going to get more aggressive because they don’t believe the President will do much prior to the midterms in terms of military actions,’ Keane told Fox News.

Wachtel agreed ‘this is a high–risk gamble,’ adding that ‘major confrontations often begin when one side misunderstands the other’s willingness to respond.’ 

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In this fourth part in our series on how the UK has changed in the past 25 years, we look at health.

Life expectancy and illness

Michael Murphy, Emeritus Professor of Demography, London School of Economics

A good way to follow the health of a nation is to glance at what is known as period life-expectancy. This calculates how long a person born today would live if the current death rates remained exactly the same for the rest of their life. This had two major turning points in the UK over the period: a marked slowdown in improvements from around 2011, and a sharp, historically unprecedented fall in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The slowdown in improvement from the early 2010s was part of a wider pattern across high-income countries. The UK and the other five largest of these nations, including France, Germany and Italy, experienced similar stagnation, although the UK’s was somewhat more persistent.

How has the UK changed since the start of the century? From Blair to Burnham, from the dotcom era to AI agents, time has certainly not stood still. In this six-part series, a team of some 35 experts look at everything from defence spending to species populations to the rise of populism to try and make sense of the intervening years.

The graph below also shows that contrary to frequent claims that the UK’s mortality performance is uniquely poor, its period life-expectancy gains were broadly similar to these comparator countries and the OECD average between 2000 and 2024. For example, France’s period life-expectancy increased by an annual average of only four days more than UK over that time.

Changing life-expectancy

The most dramatic disruption occurred with the COVID 19 pandemic. The UK’s 179,000 COVID-related deaths in 2020–21 represented the largest mortality shock since the second world war. As it turned out, the nation’s mortality rate peaked in 2020 and has fallen each year since. By 2024 it had returned to levels close to 2019, the lowest ever, and we’ve seen a similar trend across western Europe.

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Britain’s quarter century: shrinking families, ethnic tensions and queer winners and losers

The long-term implications of the pandemic remain uncertain, but they are potentially severe and likely to affect all groups of society. Many people have experienced life-changing effects from long COVID. Evidence from earlier pandemics, including the 1918–19 influenza pandemic, also suggests that babies in their mothers’ wombs may have experienced long-term negative health effects from exposure to the virus.

Causes of death

Underlying these mortality trends in the UK are shifts in the major causes of death. In 2024 cardiovascular disease (26%), cancer (26%), respiratory disease (12%) and dementia (9%) accounted for three quarters of deaths in England.

Changes in cause of death classification make it difficult to see whether these have changed long term. But the early 2000s saw rapid declines in cardiovascular mortality, for instance, driven by improvements in treatment, prevention and reductions in smoking.

However, these gains have slowed, and since 2019 progress in reducing cardiovascular deaths has stalled. This reflects a combination of fewer medical breakthroughs in related chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure, and rising pressures on the health and social care systems.

More generally, changing risk factors will be important for the future. We’re smoking much less today, from 26% of adults in 2001 to 11% in 2023, which reduces the scope for further mortality gains from tobacco controls.

In contrast, obesity has become the top lifestyle danger, with the proportion of adults classified as obese in England rising from 20% in 2001 to 30% in 2024. These trends imply a growing future burden of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and also certain cancers, with long lag times before the full effects are observed.

This rise in obesity will also be contributing to rising levels of non-fatal but disabling conditions. As many as 26% of adults report chronic pain, and half of those report high-impact pain (meaning long-term pain that severely limits your ability to function in daily life). Low back pain is now the leading cause of years lived with disability in the UK, mirroring global trends.

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Mental disorders are rising steadily, with common mental health conditions increasing from 17.5% in 2000 to 22.6% in 2023-24 among working age adults. The rates are higher among younger people: 26% among 16-24 year olds compared with 10% among those aged 75 and over.

There also appears to have been an increase in poor health in general. Witness the fact that healthy life expectancy in England increased modestly between 2000–02 and 2017–18 (the last period that did not include the COVID-19 pandemic), but only around half of additional years gained were spent in good health.

While mortality improvements are likely to resume, they may do so at a slower pace than in the late 20th century. The ageing population, rising obesity and worsening health among younger people all pose risks. The prolonged deterioration in US mortality linked to drug related deaths and “deaths of despair” also illustrates that you certainly can’t assume progress will continue. The UK’s future health will depend on its ability to address chronic disease, reduce risks like obesity and strengthen its ability to respond to future shocks.

Eating and drinking habits

David Dearlove, Principal Researcher, Healthy Life Mission, Nesta

Jurin Katayama, Analyst, Healthy Life Mission, Nesta

Lydia Leon, Senior Mission Manager, Healthy Life Mission, Nesta

In 2001 meal deals were a novelty, phones had buttons, and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) was a year-old watchdog. Twenty-five years on, Britain’s relationship with food is very different, with big changes in the types of food available and how we buy it, as well as how it is promoted and regulated.

When it comes to how people buy their food, supermarkets still dominate. The retail landscape has been disrupted by the rise of discounters like Aldi and Lidl, whose market share climbed from a mere 3% in 2002 to about 14% by 2021. But given that large supermarkets continue to supply over 80% of our average daily calorie intake, their influence over public health remains profound.

Food bought outside of the home has seen large changes. Across Great Britain, the density of fast food outlets – meaning per head of the population – rose by 36% between 2011 and 2024, outpacing the 17% growth in supermarket density. This supply surge reflects shifting demand – while only a quarter of UK adults ate out once a week or more between 2008 and 2012, in 2021 this rose to over 60%.

Unfortunately, food prepared out of home rarely is the healthy choice. Most of these meals exceed the recommended calorie intake for an eating occasion, and about 20% of meals contain over half the total recommended daily intake.

This physical saturation is mirrored in our digital lives, as ordering food to our door has become easier than ever. When Just Eat launched in 2001, ordering food online was a novelty. Today, platforms such as Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats connect us to thousands of takeaways at any hour, with their market worth £13.9 billion (2024). Online grocery shopping has also risen, from barely existing in 2001 to now making up around 12% of the grocery market.

Ever more marketing

The way food is bought and promoted has not only gone more digital, but is now dominated by pervasive marketing and personalised nudges. Outdoor food and drink advertising, covering everything from billboards to train carriages, has more than tripled in real terms over the past two decades, now accounting for £590 million in advertising-spend a year. The rise of apps and loyalty schemes has also expanded the ways customers can be reached, with regular notifications and time-limited “special” deals designed to make us order more often and in larger amounts.

Of the £2.4 billion spent on UK food advertising in 2024, investment in nutritious alternatives remains negligible. For instance, while advertising focusing on fruit and vegetables now accounts for less than 5% of traditional food and non-alcoholic drink advertising budgets, unhealthy foods account for closer to a third.

There has also been a shift in the regulatory landscape. We’ve seen a gradual move away from voluntary schemes such as Public Health England’s calorie, salt and sugar reduction programmes towards more interventionist policies, including the 2018 Soft Drinks Industry Levy, which incentivised many manufacturers to reduce sugar content to avoid charges.

Expanding on this, in 2025 the government announced the introduction of the healthy food standard policy. This will require large food businesses, including supermarkets, to report on the healthiness of their sales, and meet mandatory targets for improvement. Yet while the regulatory framework is improving, further intervention will be necessary to get the nation to eat more healthily.

Alcohol and drug use

Ian Hamilton, Honorary Fellow (Associate Professor) in Addiction at the University of York

Drugs, like fashion, change over time. Since the millennium, for instance, we have seen a surge in cocaine use. Once regarded as an expensive drug used by the elite, it is now more affordable than ever and more potent, which explains its greater popularity.

This has been facilitated by increased global supply and organised crime groups able to transport and distribute the drug effectively. Unfortunately, rising use has been accompanied by an equally rapid increase in cocaine fatalities, with nearly 1,300 in 2024 in England and Wales alone.

The last 25 years has witnessed the emergence of synthetic drugs, particularly synthetic opiates, which are much more potent than the traditional organic opiates such as heroin. Like cocaine, the rise in synthetic drugs has seen an increase in drug-related deaths, with the UK having the highest mortality rate in Europe.

Another group of synthetic drugs that have emerged are novel psychoactive substances, also known as legal highs, even though they were banned a decade ago. Examples include spice, a synthetic form of cannabis, and the stimulant referred to as monkey dust.

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As with all drugs, the negative consequences of using them are not experienced equally. It is the vulnerable, poor, homeless and living in the most deprived areas of the UK that are more likely to die or suffer poor health from using these drugs. Synthetic drugs have caused havoc and misery in prisons and among rough-sleeping populations.

Drug use in the UK 2000-25

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Cannabis remains the most widely used illicit drug in the UK. Adult use has remained stable over the last 25 years. However, this disguises the trend of falling cannabis use for young people (aged 16-24 years) since 2020.

Alcohol and the internet

Without a doubt, the advent of the internet has directly and indirectly shaped which drugs are widely used and those that are not. For example the data shows that since the millennium, young people have shunned alcohol.

This is thought to be due in part to young people not wanting to be seen to be intoxicated or behaving badly because of drinking on social media. In parallel, this cohort are more health conscious and keen to adopt a healthy lifestyle which doesn’t include alcohol.

Over the same period, consumption of alcohol by adults has remained relatively stable. Older adults are now more likely to drink than their younger counterparts: 84% of those aged 55-64 years old compared to 65% aged 16-24 years old.

Alcohol-related deaths in the UK

The internet has also opened access to drugs through platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook and Telegram. People can simply browse dealer menus via Instagram, for example, or message a Telegram bot, and have drugs brought to their door within the hour.

What hasn’t changed is drug policy. Successive governments have stuck with the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act, despite the fact that applying a 50-year-old policy to contemporary patterns of drug use is a terrible mismatch. When this legislation was enacted many of the most widely used drugs today didn’t exist. There is also nowadays a consensus that drug use should be framed by health rather than penal policy.

Yet there is no political appetite for policy change, just the continued mantra of getting tough on drugs by trying to disrupt supply and distribution. In contrast, organised crime is innovative and adaptable.

Sexual behaviour

Soazig Clifton, Academic Director for Britain’s National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal), University College London

By the early 2000s Britain had experienced decades of social and demographic change dating back to the second world war. Marriage rates had fallen, people were having children later and in smaller numbers, and family structures had become more diverse.

These changes were accompanied by increasingly liberal attitudes towards sexuality. Same-sex relationships were becoming more socially accepted. Younger generations were having sex earlier and marrying or cohabiting later than previous generations.

Public concern had also shifted. The widespread fears around HIV/Aids that had characterised the 1980s and early 1990s were receding. Attention had turned to the UK’s rate of teenage pregnancy, which was among the highest in Europe, and rising levels of chlamydia and other sexually transmitted infections.

The best evidence on population trends in sexual behaviour comes from Britain’s National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal), one of the largest scientific studies of sexual behaviour in the world. Conducted approximately every decade since 1990, Natsal provides representative snapshots of the population, offering a unique window into Britain’s changing sex lives.

The most recent published survey, Natsal-3 (2010-12), documented substantial changes in women’s sexuality during the 2000s. Women reported higher numbers of sexual partners and more same-sex experiences, with one in six women reporting sexual experience with another woman.

Vaginal and oral sex remained the core of the heterosexual sexual repertoire since the first survey in 1990. However, the 1990s and 2000s also saw increases in heterosexual anal sex, reported by around one in six people by 2010-12.

Yet despite increasing diversity in sexual behaviour, Natsal identified another trend: people were having sex less often. Among 16-44-year-olds in 2010-12, the median frequency of sex was three times per month, compared to four times in the two previous surveys.

Where are we now?

The latest Natsal data, collected between 2022 and 2024, will be published later this year. It will provide the first comprehensive picture of Britain’s sex lives after a decade shaped by economic uncertainty, the COVID pandemic and the growing digitalisation of everyday life. For the first time, Natsal-4 collected data on online sexual activities, including pornography use and sexting, as well as expanding measures of gender to include transgender and non-binary identities.

Other data sources offer clues about what we might find. Natsal-COVID, an online survey conducted during the pandemic, suggested further declines in sexual frequency and potential reductions in behaviour associated with sexually transmitted infections (although these comparisons are limited by methodological differences).

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Meanwhile, data from the Office for National Statistics shows increasing numbers of people identify as LGBTQ+. Research with adolescents in Britain and other European countries has also shown declines in sexual experience. These changes sit alongside broader shifts in young people’s lives, including declining rates of smoking and drinking, rising levels of poor mental health and high rates of loneliness, more time online and less time socialising face-to-face.

Whatever Natsal-4 reveals, the picture will probably keep evolving. Societal change and new technologies including AI are likely to shape our sexual behaviour and intimate relationships in ways we cannot yet predict.

Mental health

Kevin Stone, Associate Dean for Partnerships and Business Development (Health and Social Care), University of South Wales

Sarah Vicary, Professor of Social Work and Mental Health, The Open University

In 2000, care in the community was gaining ground, but provision remained uneven. Although the closure of long-stay psychiatric hospitals had reshaped the system, hospital admission remained a dominant response to people experiencing an acute mental health crisis. Patient voices were also beginning to emerge more strongly against a backdrop of stigma, with growing demands for better quality care in both primary and secondary services.

Since then, we have seen significant changes in attitudes and responses to mental health needs. Mental health is no longer seen simply as a private struggle that should be hidden, but increasingly as a public health concern.

Awareness-raising has helped to create a culture in which speaking about mental health is more acceptable than it was in 2001, and more actively encouraged everywhere from workplaces to schools to the home. For those with severe diagnoses, the shift away from institutional care before the 1990s towards community-based support has also been clear.

Nonetheless, we are seeing more children and young people reporting adverse childhood experiences, trauma and neglect, all of which can lead to significant mental health needs. We also continue to see high numbers of detentions under mental health legislation involving people in severe mental distress, with a disproportionate impact on men from ethnic minority groups.

Mental health-related absences from work continue to be a problem – stress, depression and anxiety cost 22 million working days in 2024/25. Societal barriers like stigma still prevent many people from discussing their declining mental health or seeking help early, which undermines effective prevention.

The transformation

When it comes to raising awareness, anti-stigma campaigns such as Time to Change, led by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, alongside World Health Organization initiatives, have contributed to changing behaviour and attitudes. World Mental Health Day each October and campaigns led by YoungMinds have helped reinforce this message. The same goes for public figures and people with lived experience, such as Stormzy and Davina McCall.

We have seen the growth of mental health first aiders in the workplace, mental health champions in schools, and helplines offering non-judgmental listening and support.

The principle that mental health should be valued as highly as physical health (known as parity of esteem), has increasingly shaped NHS policy. The NHS commissioners who oversee health services within particular areas have reinvented mental health services to place greater emphasis on community-based support and treatment.

This has included dedicated mental health workers in emergency departments, and doctors connecting patients to non-medical community activities to help improve their outlook (this is known as social prescribing). Access to psychological therapies has also improved and is now recognised through NHS Talking Therapies in GP practices and primary care settings.

The authorities are also giving more attention to societal factors affecting people’s mental health. When patients come to GPs with anxiety triggered by things like debt or poor housing, they are expected to refer them to a link worker to help overcome these problems. It’s now increasingly recognised that responses to mental health needs should never be about medication alone. There has also been growing recognition of the role played by family members, nearest relatives, friends and unpaid carers.

Yet NHS services are still too often forced to respond to crisis rather than prevent it. Funding pressures and workforce shortages have combined with the increased demand for mental health services to place the system under growing strain.

As well as addressing this, the wider challenge is to build a society and system that values prevention, compassion, choice, dignity and timely support. That way, mental health won’t just be protected in moments of crisis, but throughout the course of everyday life.

For you: more from the Britain’s quarter century series:

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When a dairy cow miscarries, a farmer loses far more than an unborn calf. Feed has been grown, land and water used, and greenhouse gas released during the cow’s pregnancy but milk production, a future animal and income will be lost.

One of the most important of these greenhouse gases is methane. Methane is produced by microbes within a cow’s stomach during digestion (known as enteric-methane) and most of it is breathed out into the atmosphere. Instead, healthier animals are more productive, so the amount of methane they emit is associated with more milk or meat, reducing the emissions associated with each litre or kilogram produced.

My research focuses on diseases in farm animals such as cows, goats and sheep. In a recent peer-reviewed journal paper, my team and I examined evidence from livestock systems around the world. We found that preventing disease can improve growth, milk production, fertility and survival, often lowering the emissions associated with each litre of milk or kilogram of meat. However, the available evidence is not yet strong or consistent enough for animal health to be included confidently in climate policy.

Studies investigating greenhouse gas emissions in livestock make different assumptions and usually use estimations rather than directly measuring them. Building on ongoing research supported by the Global Methane Hub (an international philanthropic alliance formed from more than 20 major climate foundations), we developed a new project called Halow (Health Approaches for Lowering Livestock Emissions). Recently approved as a major international research initiative of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases, it will test when improvements in animal health deliver genuine climate benefits.

There is no single way to transition to more sustainable livestock farming globally. Much of the debate in high-income countries focuses on eating less meat and dairy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, in low- and middle-income countries, demand for milk, meat and eggs is growing while access to diverse diets remains unequal.

The priorities for food production vary across different parts of the world. Wealthier countries looking to reduce excess consumption and total emissions, while many poorer countries need to improve access to nutritious food without allowing emissions to grow at the same rate. Livestock also provide income, savings, manure and power for farming. Preventing animals from dying or producing far below their potential could provide more food and income from resources already being used. That makes animal health part of a fairer climate response, but is not a licence for unrestricted expansion of livestock numbers.

What the losses mean

We previously calculated the potential impacts of reducing calf deaths and reducing pregnancy loss in livestock in our Kenya and Tanzania study.

Modelling data from farms in northern Tanzania, we calculated that cattle miscarriage increased emissions per kilogram of milk by 4% in Indigenous cattle and 15% in higher-yielding cattle. Including the losses from both cattle and goats, the estimated milk and meat protein lost was equivalent to the current annual animal-protein consumption of about 649,000 Tanzanians.

In the same paper, we looked at the productivity of local beef cattle in western Kenya, where 16% of calves died during their first year and most diagnosed deaths were linked to infection. At the current mortality rates, the protein loss was equivalent to the annual beef-protein consumption of about 4.5 million Kenyans.

Halving mortality to 8% reduced estimated enteric-methane emissions per kilogram of beef by 3.2%. However, as more calves survived, the herd produced more beef but also more enteric methane in total. The footprint of each kilogram became smaller, while emissions to the atmosphere increased.

This is not an argument for allowing calves to die. It is an argument for measuring food security, livelihood and climate outcomes together rather than assuming that improved efficiency guarantees an absolute reduction greenhouse gas emissions from livestock.

From evidence to climate policy

Countries estimate livestock emissions from animal numbers and standardised figures. Better health can change milk yield, growth, fertility, mortality and the number of replacement animals needed, however existing methods don’t always capture these effects accurately.

The Halow platform allows scientists like us to compare interventions across farming systems. It enables researchers to evaluate which ones work, at what cost and whether they reduce total emissions or only emissions for each unit of food. It will consider who benefits and recognise that negative results will matter too.

Animal health will not solve the livestock sector’s climate impact on its own. However, leaving disease out of climate policy ignores emissions that don’t produce food or benefit livelihood. A fair livestock transition means reducing excess consumption where it is high, improving access to nutritious food where it is low, and cutting avoidable losses everywhere.

Passengers on a Ryanair flight allegedly passed out and threw up after being left in a sweltering cabin without air conditioning.

Flight FR7268 was due to leave Malta for Birmingham at 5.40pm on August 10, but did not depart until around 7pm.

Ryanair blamed the initial delay on a minor technical issue, with a passenger falling ill causing further disruption.

But the wait to board allegedly brought fresh problems, as passengers struggled in the extreme heat.

Eva Gregory, 16, claims she and her family spent around 30 minutes on a bus without air conditioning before being moved to another vehicle. 

She said they were then moved to a second bus, which apparently had only limited air conditioning, for approximately another 30 minutes. 

However, according to the airline, passengers were taken to the plane by bus and stayed in the vehicle for an extra ten minutes where air conditioning was available. 

The holidaymaker from Derby alleged passengers had to wait on the tarmac in the blazing heat for a further 20 minutes before boarding.

Holidaymakers were allegedly transported on a bus with limited air con before boarding the plane which apparently didn’t have air con until it took off

Eva claimed the cabin was still not air-conditioned when they boarded. She ended up experiencing nausea before having a panic attack as she watched the situation unfold around her.

‘When we boarded, it was immediately obvious the air conditioning was not on,’ Eva told NeedToKnow.

‘It was like walking into extreme heat. We got on the plane but were sitting and waiting in the heat with no air conditioning at all for over an hour.

‘All the passengers were extremely agitated and quite quickly became frustrated. People were taking their tops off because of the heat.’

Eva said she saw two passengers lose consciousness and claimed other travellers were being sick.

She added: ‘Two people passed out, although I’m not sure how many were throwing up.

‘I was experiencing the feeling of needing to throw up, but as I have a phobia of being sick, it gave me a panic attack.’

Eva continued: ‘They [the staff] didn’t even offer free bottles of water to anyone, even those experiencing medical emergencies.’

Eva said she saw two passengers lose consciousness and claimed other travellers were being sick

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According to Ryanair, the crew opened the onboard bars, allowing passengers to buy drinks and snacks if needed. 

Eva claimed the cabin crew tried to stop passengers from boarding until the issue had been addressed. 

She said: ‘The Ryanair cabin crew absolutely did their best. They were telling them not to let us onboard until the air conditioning was fixed.

‘The other workers did not listen to the cabin crew and then the crew were the ones dealing with passengers’ anger when it was not their fault.’

The air conditioning allegedly began working gradually after the aircraft became airborne.

Eva said: ‘The heat and witnessing medical emergencies made me feel uneasy. The whole situation makes me feel extremely angry.’

Footage shared online by Eva showed passengers standing in the cabin as crew appeared to attend to people on board.

According to Ryanair, the onboard bars were opened by crew so passengers could buy drinks and snacks (stock)

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Text over the video alleged people were ‘passing out, throwing up, crying and having panic attacks’.

A Ryanair spokesman told the Daily Mail: ‘This flight from Malta to Birmingham (10 Aug) was delayed prior to departure due to a minor technical issue with the aircraft and subsequently became delayed after a passenger became ill onboard.

‘Following an inspection of the aircraft by engineers, the aircraft was cleared to operate, and this flight departed Malta at 7pm local.’

The Government sent the emergency alert on Friday evening, which began appearing on mobile devices from 7pm in “the most extensive use” of the UK’s mobile phone alert system.

The Government sent the emergency alert on Friday evening, which began appearing on mobile devices from 7pm.

Mr Burnham had earlier visited Stourbridge in the West Midlands, where a wildfire destroyed 19 homes on Thursday, the hottest day of the year so far.

The Stourbridge blaze spread across more than 500 acres, with the West Midlands Fire Service summoned to “hundreds and hundreds of incidents” throughout its patch, according to the area’s chief fire officer Simon Tuhill.

The message which appeared on mobile devices was “the most extensive use of the UK’s emergency alert system in response to an active incident”, Cabinet Office minister Louise Haigh, the First Secretary of State, said.

She said the decision to send the alert “reflects the seriousness with which the Government is acting to safeguard people and property”.

Ms Haigh continued: “During this period of extreme heat, we are asking people to take simple steps to limit the risk of further fires.

“By following the safety guidance, everyone can play their part in protecting local communities and supporting our frontline services who are working around the clock to keep people safe.”

“The Government will continue to provide every assistance to communities being impacted by these fires, including the deployment of 100 additional military personnel in major incident areas.”

Angela Rayner, the Communities Secretary, said: “As well as supporting firefighters on the ground now, my department will hold a summit bringing together fire chiefs, the National Fire Chiefs’ Council, the Fire Brigades Union and other key organisations to look at our future response.

“To the residents affected, particularly those who lost their homes and their life’s possessions to fire – we will work with the mayor and local leaders to make sure you are supported.”

The alert read: “There is a very high risk of wildfires nationally.

“Residents, landowners and visitors should not undertake any activity that could start a fire, including disposable barbecues, firepits, garden incinerators or fireworks.

“Even a small flame can rapidly develop into a major wildfire placing lives, homes, businesses and emergency responders at risk.

“Follow official updates and report signs of fire immediately by calling 999.”

Mr Burnham wrote on X: “This evening, an emergency alert has been sent to people across England and Wales as the wildfire risk remains very high. The request came directly from fire and rescue services.

“I was in Stourbridge today and saw first-hand the devastating impact these fires have had on people’s homes and lives.

“Our priority now is to keep everyone safe and prevent more fires from starting.

“During this period of extreme heat, I’m asking everyone to take extra care. Please do not light any fires in gardens, the countryside or other open spaces, including parks, moorland and wooded areas.

“Our firefighters and emergency responders are working around the clock in incredibly difficult conditions.

“We can all help them. Please take the emergency alert seriously and follow the guidance in place.”

The Prime Minister earlier announced a ban on disposable barbecues in England, Wales and Scotland has come into force “until further notice”.

He said: “The temporary ban on barbecues, disposable barThebecues, comes in today.

“All retailers will be receiving notification of that ban, and we ask them to, obviously, implement it in full until further notice when we can remove it.”

Following the wildfires on Winter Hill in 2018, fire wardens now patrol the area in a bid to prevent another such blaze breaking out.

Bolton Council has warned that strict rules to protect the open space, which attracts scores of visitors, remain in place, as major incidents across Greater Manchester serve as a reminder of the dangers of wildfires.

Those breaking the order face a hefty fine.

The One Show’s 20th anniversary special episode has been disrupted minutes after starting by a blasting Government alert about wildfires.

The BBC chat show was just beginning an extended hour-long anniversary special when hosts Alex Jones and Roman Kemp were drowned out by an alarm.

When introducing the segments set to air across the episode, Kemp was explaining how former host Christine Lampard was returning to the studio when the alarm could be heard on the broadcast.

While Kemp pushed through and kept speaking, Jones shook her head and raised her hands, before she said: “You couldn’t make that up could you. Is that a fire alarm?”

Kemp then faced someone off camera and asked: “Is there some sort of fire alarm?”

“We continue,” they both said, before running through the rest of the segment introductions before the alarm cut out and Kemp said: “Ok, it’s stopped”.

The noise was an emergency alert sent out to the phones of people across England and Wales to warn communities from the growing threat posed by wildfires.

The alert, which were sent on a rolling basis from 7pm, warned people not to light anything that could spark a fire, including barbecues, campfires, and fireworks.

Recipients have also been urged to report any fire immediately by calling 999.

Following the airing of a segment, Kemp then told viewers: “As you will probably be aware that was actually a wildfire alert on everyone’s phones.

“You would have heard it on the opening of our show, but as always we hope everyone is staying safe, of course.”

Later in the show presenters Clara Amfo and Angellica Bell also faced disruption.

When presenting a segment outside, an ambulance could be heard driving past with its sirens on, nearly drowning the presenters out for about 15 seconds as they tried to speak.

Elsewhere during the episode, the event celebrated the long-running show, speaking to former presenters, guests and people who have been assisted by the programme.

While being reunited with some people she helped in past episodes, Bell broke down in tears, with Jones declaring: “Angellica doesn’t cry often, so that’s a result!”

The episode also looked back at celebrity interviews and past musical performances from artists including Harry Styles, Elton John, Olivia Dean, Stormzy and Take That.

Wrapping up the show, Jones then asked to share a message with viewers, in which she said: “A huge thank you to the team and crew who work relentlessly hard on this programme to make it a brilliant show for all of you every day.

“Thank you for all of the guests for entertaining us, being so generous with their time and just being all-round nice people. Thank you to all of my co-hosts over the years. I’ve been so lucky to sit next to all of them.

She added: “Lastly, thank you to all of you at home. You are the most important people in all of this. Thank you for being with us every weekday. It’s a real privilege for us all to be with you all at seven every night.”

The episode then ended with a performance from Tom Grennan.

By WILL GRIFFEE

Published: 17:49 BST, 14 August 2026 | Updated: 20:21 BST, 14 August 2026