The Tottenham hierarchy now have a huge decision to make.

Thomas Frank’s future at the club is uncertain. That isn’t a secret, of course – it has been the case for weeks.

Large sections of the supporters want him sacked. The boos that rang round Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at full-time were testament to that prevailing feeling from a disgruntled fanbase.

Crucially, there has been a loss of support towards the Dane internally.

So, the fact Frank’s disastrous first season in charge lurched to deeper depths following this defeat by Newcastle may have significant consequences.

If Nottingham Forest, who occupy 17th, beat Wolves on Wednesday night they will go level on points with Tottenham.

Frank is understandably hesitant to admit his side are in relegation fight – but the numbers don’t lie.

That said, it may not be Frank’s problem for much longer – Tottenham‘s latest loss will push the beleaguered manager closer to what appears an inevitable exit.

Indeed, such has been the level of contemplation regarding Frank’s immediate future at Tottenham in recent weeks that this loss will almost certainly trigger further soul-searching from the club’s leadership group.

The fact the Spurs board have stuck by Frank during such a difficult period proves they want the appointment to work.

The easier decision would have been to show Frank the door by now.

However, the Tottenham hierarchy believe Frank has been dealt a rough hand.

There’s an acknowledgment that the season has been disrupted by multiple injuries to key players.

There is also recognition that the squad needs repair work – particularly considering the departures of their two main sources of goals in Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.

There is also a sense behind the scenes that the squad is lacking in leadership. It was why they signed England international Conor Gallagher and tried to land Andy Robertson from Liverpool – both with plenty of Premier League experience.

There is also a sense from Tottenham‘s executive team that the club require a period of managerial stability.

But by the same token, sources have told BBC Sport that work towards a contingency plan in the event they make a decision they really don’t want to make illustrates the precarity of Frank’s position.

If the club decide to part with Frank in the immediate aftermath of this Newcastle defeat, they will have 12 days until their next fixture against Arsenal on 22 February.

That leaves Tottenham with a prolonged window to execute their replacement plan and leave Frank’s successor with time to implement a blueprint for the north London derby.

The pressure on Frank is at breaking point. We are about to find out if Tottenham crack.

Ernest Howlett was spotted weaving all over the road in his VW Up before clipping the door mirror of the car, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The occupants of the car followed the 75-year-old, who continued to drive aggressively and brake heavily before crashing into their car again.

Charlie Thompson, prosecuting, showed the court a seven-minute clip of dash-cam footage which captured the incidents as they unfolded.

“The complainant followed the defendant towards Blackhall Colliery where the defendant repeatedly braked sharply, which the complainant believed was an attempt to cause a collision,” he said.

Mr Thompson said both cars eventually pulled over together and following a confrontation the defendant denied clipping the car before driving off at speed.

“While driving along Middle Street, the defendant has emerged suddenly from a side street causing a low-speed collision.

“He has got out of the car and aggressively approached the vehicle and began hitting the driver’s window and struck the complainant’s face.”

The court heard how the defendant denied that he had been driving dangerously telling police – ‘that’s how we drive in London’.

The defendant had 33 convictions for 89 offences on his record including 39 historic driving offences.

Howlett, of The Sidings, Blackhall Colliery, County Durham, was convicted of dangerous driving and failing to stop after an accident following a trial at magistrates’ court.

Jamie Adams, mitigating, said his client moved to the North East to get away from his past and he had worked a lorry driver for a number of years.

He added the pensioner rarely leaves him home due to his disabilities and ailing health but had handed in his licence as a result of the incident.

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Recorder Taryn Turner sentenced Howlett to 12 months in custody suspended for two years, and made him subject of a six-month curfew between 8pm and 6am.

She added: “Driving is a privilege and not a right, and when that privilege is exercised as it was here, irresponsibly, the potential consequences are grave.

“It was only good fortune and good driving on your part that the outcome was not more serious.”

Howlett was also banned from driving for three years.

The chef inspector of education has warned of ‘weaknesses’ in the development of key skills such as reading and numeracy

Literacy, numeracy, digital skills and teaching quality are not good enough in Wales’ schools, says the chief inspector of schools in Wales, Owen Evans.

Pupil progress is being limited by “ongoing weaknesses in literacy, teaching quality and leadership, particularly in secondary schools,” the annual report from the head of education watchdog Estyn has warned.

Mr Evans’ stark assessment of how the system in Wales is performing highlights what he describes as “weaknesses” in the development of key skills such as reading, maths and digital competence overall.

He said there were examples of good practice, but high quality teaching and learning was not consistent across Wales, or even within different departments in the same schools.

In his report, published today, Tuesday, February 10, the head of Estyn, said he outlined examples of strong practice, but warned that “ongoing weaknesses” in key areas “limits progress for too many learners”. Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here.

On literacy and numeracy the Chief Inspector highlighted four problems:

• “A small number of schools fostered a genuine reading culture, enabling pupils to engage critically with texts and transfer skills across subjects. Yet in too many cases, provision was tokenistic.”
• “Activities were not well aligned to progression, limiting pupils’ ability to develop higher order reading skills or to write with precision. Oracy remained underdeveloped. Without a sharper and more consistent focus on literacy, learners will continue to fall short of their potential.”
• “In (primary) schools where teachers focused well on developing pupils’ mathematical knowledge, pupils often demonstrated a secure understanding of concepts when applying their numeracy skills.”
• “The provision for developing pupils’ literacy, numeracy and digital skills was not strong enough in the majority of secondary schools.”

On teaching the Chief Inspector focused on another four issues:

• “If teaching does not improve in depth and consistency of quality, Wales will not deliver the gains it seeks from Curriculum for Wales.”
• “The provision for developing pupils’ literacy, numeracy and digital skills was not strong enough in the majority of secondary schools.”
• In primary schools he warned that “teaching quality remained variable” and that “provision to develop pupils’ literacy, numeracy and digital skills was inconsistent”.
• His assessment of secondary school teaching was bleaker: “We saw consistently high-quality teaching in a minority of schools”.

The report added that in all-age schools the provision for pupils to progressively develop their literacy, numeracy, and digital skills varied significantly.

Special schools fared better with the chief inspector finding that “most pupils made strong progress from their individual starting points in a wide range of skills.”

Mr Evans added: “As chief inspector, I have the privilege of meeting education and training professionals on a weekly basis, seeing the passion and experience they bring to ensuring that learners in Wales fulfil their potential.

“What I also see though is a system that has been held back by inconsistency, mixed priorities and at times a lack of good quality teaching and learning driven by strong leadership. “

Drawing on inspection evidence from across schools, colleges, training providers and other education services during 2024–2025, he concluded that, although there were many strengths, Wales’ education system as a whole “has not yet worked cohesively enough to secure consistently high-quality teaching and learning”.

His report noted what were described as long-standing challenges, including “inconsistency” in self-evaluation – one of the cornerstones of Wales’ education reforms.

On top of this, Mr Evans said there were problems recruiting staff, an issue that has also been raised for years by schools and teaching unions.

The chief inspector also described “uneven access” to high-quality professional learning for teachers.

His report acknowledged huge social and financial challenges for schools, adding: “We are, however, acutely aware of the increasing pressures on providers, including financial, growing numbers of learners educated other than at school and rising demand for specialist provision.”

But he warned that “the concerns around levels of literacy and teaching quality across Wales remain and without a sharper and more sustained focus in these areas, too many learners will continue to fall short of their potential”.

The HMCI’s annual report looks back at findings from inspection and thematic reports over the last academic year. As well as schools, Estyn looked at non-maintained nursery settings, FE colleges, apprenticeships, initial teacher education, Welsh language immersion arrangements and youth work. All these were inspected and feature in the annual report.

Mr Evans said ” decisive action is needed to address systemic weaknesses.”

The inspectorate would continue to play its part in improving standards by highlighting best practice, challenging underperformance and supporting improvement for learners, he said.

Commenting as his report was published, Mr Evans told WalesOnline there were some tough messages from his report, but as he put it, there was “no need to panic”.

“It is a concern that our literacy levels are too low and we struggle with numeracy as well. I don’t want to panic people, but there are some things we could be better at.”

He said alongside the structural reforms to education in Wales there should have been more focus on what was happening in classrooms and professional learning for teachers. He believes this is now happening and wants that work to continue.

Estyn currently has a three year focus on driving up literacy standards and he will be watching this year’s Pisa results, which are published in September, with interest. Wales has lagged other UK nations in the Pisa international comparisons of performance in literacy and numeracy. Mr Evans said Pisa comparisons were important, although not the whole picture.

He also has concerns around the widening attainment gap between pupils eligible for free school meals and their better off peers. Some schools in less advantaged areas are performing well and lessons from those could be learned and shared, he said.

Responding to the report, a Welsh Government spokesperson said: “Estyn’s report provides an important, independent view on our education system and we will carefully consider the findings. Estyn is clear there are significant strengths to celebrate but there are also challenges.

“We are investing £13.2 million over three years in national professional learning for literacy and have allocated over £6.6 million worth of new maths and numeracy projects providing more consistent support and expertise for maths teaching across Wales.

We also providing an additional £2.5 million year on year to local authorities to enhance their capacity to support schools on literacy and numeracy.”

“We continue to work with the teaching profession and partners as we develop our Strategic Education Workforce Plan, which will be published in March. We are also making significant progress in tackling staff workload and have increased teachers’ pay by 4% for 2025/26.”

Measures to improve literacy include £8.2m to establish the Centre for the Advancement of Literacy (CAL:ON Cymru) which will provide staff with training and resources “so that they are better able to teach reading and wider literacy skills, including phonics, and the use of targeted interventions and assessment tools”.

A further £6.6 million has provided new maths and numeracy projects. This includes £2.7 million to work with primary and secondary schools to help children move effectively to secondary – something highlighted as a key issue.

£2 million has been spent developing enhanced professional learning for primary schools and £1.6 million to provide professional learning to help pupils go on to further education in maths beyond school.

There has also been £290,000 funding to boost maths confidence and perceptions about maths among learners, staff, parents and carers

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The man’s family described him as the ‘sweetest person’, while a close friend said he would ‘always help everyone’.

Tributes have been paid to a father and pub chef, who was described as a “true legend” in a Cambridgeshire village. Andy Tillman, who lived in Stilton, died aged 55 on December 31, 2025.

Andy was a father to three daughters, and had one grandson. He worked as a chef in The Talbot Inn pub in Stilton, and was a big West Ham supporter.

At his funeral on February 6, many villagers and friends wore West Ham kits to honour his beloved club. Andy was considered a “true legend” in Stilton.

His family and friends have paid tribute to him. In a statement, his family said he was the “sweetest person”.

They added: “He would always do everything he could to put others before himself. He was always the life of the party. He loved West Ham so much. He made friends with anyone he could, he was funny and kind.”

Two of Andy’s closest friends, Debbie Nash and Melvin Clarke, also shared tributes. Debbie said Andy was her “best friend”.

She added: “I knew him for 16 years. He was the most genuine person you could meet. He would give you his last penny and he was always help everyone.

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“The world is a sad place without him. [He was] my brother from another mother.”

Melvin said: “Andy was my closest friend. He cared for everyone he met from all over the world, and his West Ham family.”

Becca Holgate said there wasn’t a “bad word to say about Andy”. She added: “The man was a true legend. He helped anyone and everyone before putting himself first. He was always there to give you a cuddle, just a genuine good soul.

“He had friends all over the world and his funeral proved that. It was the biggest turn out I’d ever seen. I know for certain my life doesn’t feel so full without him being around.”

Ali Shailer described Andy as “special”, while Sandra Waldin-Walker said Andy was “one of the best” and a “really good friend”.

Jade Smith described Andy as a “selfless caring individual”. She added: “Andy lived a busy life, loved his family in their entirety, cherished his many friends and made the reciprocation of every conversation feel worthy of his time. Never a judgement or bad word from his lips, a half glass full always.”

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In his honour, Janice Williams created a postbox topper that is now in Stilton. Janice said Andy “always loved” the postbox toppers, and so she wanted to create one for him.

She said: “It felt only right to make this one especially for him. What makes it even more special is that the wool used for his jeans belonged to his mum. After her passing, Andy very kindly gave me her beautiful sewing basket and it contained some wool, so I’ve put it to good use. Being able to use it here feels incredibly meaningful, a little piece of her stitched in a tribute to him.”

Janice praised Andy for being a “devoted dad” and a “proud grandad”. She added: “He was a huge West Ham supporter and a much-loved friend to so many in our village and beyond. This one is made with love for a kind soul taken too soon.”

One man and a much-anticipated trim.

But it has started to feel, for Manchester United, that Ilett’s long wait for the club to win five games in a row has become an unwanted irritation.

There was a time when it seemed as though United were prepared to play along with the gag. They did, after all, include a barbers’ room in their £50m training ground upgrade at Carrington. What better way to have a bit of fun?

Now though, in public and private, they are having nothing to do with it.

Skipper Bruno Fernandes and manager Michael Carrick were dismissive when asked about it after victory number four, against Tottenham – although Carrick’s admission he had been told of the saga by his kids hints at the wider attraction.

Ilett’s daily social media updates and the before and now pictures scattered across the digital sphere were initially quite amusing – but serve as a reminder of how bad the team’s form has been.

Ilett plans to donate his hair to the Little Princess Trust and set up a JustGiving page for the children’s cancer charity, for those who wanted to offer financial support.

His initial fundraising target of £500 for the the Little Princess Trust has been exceeded significantly and by Tuesday afternoon stood at £6,132.

As attention-grabbing initiatives go, his pledge didn’t seem especially outrageous when he made it.

United had completed five-in-a-row eight months earlier, the 11th time it had happened – including the end of the 2015-16 season and start of 2016-17 – in just under 11 years following Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.

The longest gap was from 25 January 2019, when United won the last of their eight successive wins following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s arrival and the end of five victories in a row under the Norwegian in April 2021.

It says a lot for United’s chronic form since Ilett made his vow that they had only won three in a row twice until Carrick arrived, changed the formation and turned his old club into winners once more.

To put that into context, United’s fellow ‘big six’ clubs have all won five times on the bounce in recent memory. Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool have done it this season – Chelsea have done it already this year.

Even Tottenham, whose form has been atrocious for 18 months now, managed it early last season, when United were one of the teams they beat.

Yet some fans have come to the conclusion they do not appreciate Ilett’s humour.

One supporter was given an indefinite ban from Old Trafford by United for attacking Ilett on a concourse at the home game with Chelsea in September 2025.

Others have taken exception to him taking part in an advert for a major gambling company and monetising what was meant to be a charitable gesture. Ilett has denied making the kinds of sums being mentioned.

However, many have defended Ilett and most responses to his appearance on the leading Stretford Paddock podcast were positive.

The vast majority though, for and against, just want to see an end to it.

The draw came at a greater cost to United fan Frank Illet – ‘The United Strand’ – who had pledged to not cut his hair until United had won five games in a row. He had gone 493 days without a haircut in that challenge which gained online traction. Tonight’s result means that those five games will now reset once more, and his wait for a trip to the barbershop goes on.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday will revoke a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change, the White House announced.

The Environmental Protection Agency will issue a final rule rescinding a 2009 government declaration known as the endangerment finding. That Obama-era policy determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare.

President Donald Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin will “formalize the rescission of the 2009 Obama-era endangerment finding” at a White House ceremony, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday.

The action “will be the largest deregulatory action in American history, and it will save the American people $1.3 trillion in crushing regulations,” she said. The bulk of the savings will stem from reduced costs for new vehicles, with the EPA projecting average per vehicle savings of more than $2,400 for popular light-duty cars, SUVs and trucks, Leavitt said.

The endangerment finding is the legal underpinning of nearly all climate regulations under the Clean Air Act for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources that are heating the planet. It is used to justify regulations, such as auto emissions standards, intended to protect against threats made increasingly severe by climate change — deadly floods, extreme heat waves, catastrophic wildfires and other natural disasters in the United States and around the world.

Legal challenges certain to come

Legal challenges are certain for any action that effectively would repeal those regulations, with environmental groups describing the shift as the single biggest attack in U.S. history on federal efforts to address climate change.

“The Trump administration is abandoning its core responsibility to keep us safe from extreme weather and accelerating climate change,’’ said Abigail Dillen, president of the nonprofit law firm Earthjustice. “There is no way to reconcile EPA’s decision with the law, the science and the reality of disasters that are hitting us harder every year. Earthjustice and our partners will see the Trump administration in court.”

EPA press secretary Brigit Hirsch said the Obama-era rule was “one of the most damaging decisions in modern history” and said EPA “is actively working to deliver a historic action for the American people.”

Trump, who has called climate change a “hoax,” previously issued an executive order that directed EPA to submit a report on “the legality and continuing applicability” of the endangerment finding. Conservatives and some congressional Republicans have long sought to undo what they consider overly restrictive and economically damaging rules to limit greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

Zeldin, a former Republican congressman who was tapped by Trump to lead EPA last year, has criticized his predecessors in Democratic administrations, saying they were “willing to bankrupt the country” in an effort to combat climate change.

Democrats “created this endangerment finding and then they are able to put all these regulations on vehicles, on airplanes, on stationary sources, to basically regulate out of existence … segments of our economy,” Zeldin said in announcing the proposed rule last July. ”And it cost Americans a lot of money.”

Peter Zalzal, a lawyer and associate vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund, countered that the EPA will be encouraging more climate pollution, higher health insurance and fuel costs and thousands of avoidable premature deaths. The EPA is focusing solely on industry costs while ignoring the rule’s climate and health benefits, he and other advocates said.

Zeldin’s push “is cynical and deeply damaging, given the mountain of scientific evidence supporting the finding, the devastating climate harms Americans are experiencing right now and EPA’s clear obligation to protect Americans’ health and welfare,” Zalzal said.

Supreme Court has upheld endangerment finding

The Supreme Court ruled in a 2007 case that planet-warming greenhouse gases, caused by burning of oil and other fossil fuels, are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.

Since the high court’s decision, in a case known as Massachusetts v. EPA, courts have uniformly rejected legal challenges to the endangerment finding, including a 2023 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Following Zeldin’s proposal to repeal the rule, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine reassessed the science underpinning the 2009 finding and concluded it was “accurate, has stood the test of time, and is now reinforced by even stronger evidence.”

Much of the understanding of climate change that was uncertain or tentative in 2009 is now resolved, the NAS panel of scientists said in a September report. “The evidence for current and future harm to human health and welfare created by human-caused greenhouse gases is beyond scientific dispute,” the panel said.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of the Environmental Protection Agency at https://apnews.com/hub/us-environmental-protection-agency

___ Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim in Washington and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz said Tuesday that he expects the federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota will end in “days, not weeks and months,” based on his recent conversations with top Trump administration officials.

The Democratic governor said at a news conference that he spoke Monday with border czar Tom Homan and with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles on Tuesday morning. Homan took over the Minnesota operation in late January after the second fatal shooting by federal officers and amid growing political backlash and questions about how the operation was being run.

“We’re very much in a trust but verify mode,” Walz said. He added that he expected to hear more from the administration “in the next day or so” about the future of what he said has been an “occupation” and a “retribution campaign” against the state.

While Walz said he’s hopeful at the moment because “every indication I have is that this thing is winding up,” he added that things could change.

“It would be my hope that Mr. Homan goes out before Friday and announces that this thing is done, and they’re bringing her down and they’re bringing her down in days,” Walz said. “That would be my expectation.”

Officials with the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the governor’s remarks.

Walz said he has no reason not to believe Homan’s statement last week that 700 federal officers would leave Minnesota immediately, but the governor added that still left 2,300 on Minnesota’s streets. Homan at the time cited an “increase in unprecedented collaboration” resulting in the need for fewer federal officers in Minnesota, including help from jails that hold inmates who could be deported.

The governor also indicated that he expects the state will get “cooperation on joint investigations” into the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers, but gave no details. That’s been a point of friction between federal authorities and state investigators, who complain that they have been frozen out of those cases so far with no access to evidence.

Walz called the news conference primarily to denounce the economic impact of the enforcement surge. He spoke at The Market at Malcolm Yards, a food hall where owner Patty Wall said the entire restaurant sector of the local economy has become “collateral damage” from the surge.

Matt Varilek, the governor’s employment and economic development commissioner, said Malcolm Yards would normally be bustling, but is now struggling because employees and customers are afraid to come due to the crackdown.

“So it is great news, of course, that the posture seems to have changed at the federal level toward their activities here in Minnesota,” Varilek said. “But, as the governor said, it’s a trust-but-verify situation. And frankly, the fear that has been sown, I haven’t really noticed any reduction in that.”

Even as Walz was expressing optimism that the crackdown would end soon, federal officers made a highly visible arrest inside the lobby of the main county building in downtown Minneapolis.

After a short foot chase, ICE officers grabbed a man who had arrived for a court appearance on charges of possessing over 50 pounds of methamphetamine.

The county’s top prosecutor, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, protested that the arrest was “disruptive and disturbing to many” and left staffers in the building afraid to leave their offices for fear of being racially profiled.

The man could go unpunished on the state drug charges if he’s deported first.

“Using local government courthouses for federal civil immigration enforcement interferes with the administration of justice, prevents witnesses from testifying and robs victims of their opportunity to seek justice,” Moriarty said in a statement. She has also objected to earlier arrests by ICE officers of people making court appearances there.

Matthew Buckley, 37, was later found to be involved in the supply of cocaine and cannabis, due to messages found on his phone.

A drug dealer was discovered to be involved in the supply of cocaine and cannabis after he dropped his phone while riding his electric bike. The device was subsequently picked up by the police who found messages in which the dealer was directing runners to peddle cannabis.

Matthew Buckley, 37, was witnessed by police riding a Sur-Ron electric bike in Newport on March 1 last year when he was seen pulling up next to a Ford Transit van. After carrying out what appeared to be a drug deal, the defendant got back on his bike and rode off.

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday heard Buckley had dropped his phone which was picked up by a police officer and later analysed. Don’t miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here.

The phone was attributed to the defendant and messages revealed he was involved in supplying cocaine to a friend on one occasion.

The messages also showed Buckley had been purchasing and supplying cannabis, as well as controlling and directing runners to deal on his behalf.

On one occasion, the defendant was told one of his runners had threatened a user’s mother for £200, and he said he would “sort it”.

There were also images on his phone depicting several bags of cannabis.

Prosecutor Jason Howells said there was evidence Buckley had been dealing for financial gain and utilising runners.

The defendant was arrested on May 22 last year and he gave a “no comment” interview.

Buckley, of Fosse Road, Newport, later pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of class A and B drugs.

The court heard he has three previous convictions of a dissimilar nature.

In mitigation, Gareth Williams said his client hadn’t been in trouble with the courts for nine years before his current offence, and there was a “realistic prospect of rehabilitation in his case”.

The barrister said the defendant has “cut ties” with his former associates and has stopped smoking cannabis.

He said his client has three children and provides care for his partner who has medical problems.

Recorder Christian Jowett sentenced Buckley to two years imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.

The defendant was ordered to carry out 200 hours unpaid work, a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement, and to pay costs of £1,000.

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Are you one of those people who can’t drop off to sleep if it’s “too quiet”? If so, you’re not alone. According to a 2023 survey of UK participants, 50% of people listen to some kind of noise to help fall asleep.

Many people have turned to pink, white or brown noise to help them drift off. But a new study has found listening to pink noise, an alternative to white noise, even to drown out irritating background sounds, can disrupt the quality of sleep you get.

What is pink noise?

Not all noises are equal though when it comes to sleep. Noises range from structured sound like music and speech, with patterns and meaning, through to others that have some arrangement and perhaps calming effect, like birdsong, ocean waves or wind chimes to noise with no order at all.

We can describe sounds by how much energy each frequency of the sound has. White noise is a totally random sound. Each different frequency in white noise has the same energy, so it sounds like a hissy continuous sound. A 2017 study found white noise seems to help some people concentrate.

Pink noise is different. Instead of equal energy at each frequency, the energy halves with every doubling of frequency (so 500Hz has twice the energy of 1000Hz). This mimics a lot of sounds in nature (like running water) and gives a deeper, more rumbly sound. It sounds less harsh than white noise.

You can also get brown noise – stop laughing – which is named after 18th-century scientist Robert Brown rather than anything bowel related. It is sometimes referred to as red noise instead. Higher frequencies have less energy
(500Hz has four times the energy of 1000Hz). It is even more bass-heavy than pink noise, sounding like heavy rain or a roaring waterfall.

What did the study find?

The new study by the University of Pennsylvania, sponsored by the US Federal Aviation Authority, compared the affect of pink noise and earplugs upon participants’ sleep when intermittent noise of planes flying overhead was played over a loudspeaker.

The control condition here was a noise-free night where the participants were monitored, but were not having their sleep interrupted. The researchers then tested the same participants under different conditions on different nights of their stay during the experiment. They measured brain activity, heart rate and muscle activity while participants slept, which allowed them to analyse the different stages of sleep.

The researchers first looked at how pink noise affected participants’ sleep when there was no other background noise and compared the effect to the control night. They found that pink noise led to a reduction of the amount of participants’ rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which should make up about a quarter of our sleep. REM sleep isn’t considered a restful type of sleep but it is the sleep state in which we dream. REM is important for memory formation, brain plasticity and emotion regulation, particularly for children.

In the next phase of the experiment, they found that the environmental noise, by contrast, reduced the amount of so-called N3 sleep compared to the control night. This is the deepest non-REM type of sleep. It is where the body grows and repairs itself, and about a quarter of sleep should normally be of this type too.

The researchers then tried to block the environmental noise. When they used earplugs to see if they would help participants’ sleep, they worked well, restoring about three quarters of the lost N3 sleep. When they tried pink noise to see if it could help, they found that it actually made the sleep structure worse, reducing both N3 and REM sleep.

So is silence best?

Perhaps, and especially for babies and toddlers whose brains are still undergoing the most change and development. For adults though, there does seem to be some suggestion playing nighttime sounds helps. A 2022 review found that there was widespread, but low-quality, evidence that sounds at night time (especially pink noise) helps with the amount of sleep people get and also that people felt that it was better quality sleep. This was self-reported, rather than measured using equipment like in the new study from Pennsylvania, which might help to explain the different findings.

Other things may stop you getting to sleep. Many people experience tinnitus, a ringing or buzzing sound in the head or ears, which can be worst before bed and affect sleep quality. A silent room can make it seem even louder. Some people find a background sound, whether a “colour” of noise, nature sound, music or a podcast, helpful here to get to sleep. Being able to pick which “colour” of random sound you prefer has been shown to help people with tinnitus.

However, there are reports of potential harm from using any of these “random” sounds to help with tinnitus instead of more patterned noise like music or speech. This is because the random sounds can show the same kind of effect as ageing does on the brain. How this works, whether potential noise-induced hearing loss acts as an step in the chain, and how broadly it happens, remain areas of investigation.

So it’s not quite time to put the story of sleep quality and noise to bed just yet. In the meantime, trying some earplugs if there is unwanted sound, or keeping any noises calm, not too loud and relaxing for you may be the best bet for a good night’s sleep.