As the south of England enters the fifth (!!) heatwave of the year, you might be looking at your garden wondering whether some major changes are due in the years to come.

British summers are only going to get hotter and drier if Met Office data is anything to go by. The national weather and climate service noted the top five warmest summers on record have all happened since 2003.

Bone-dry lawns, withered shrubs and unbearably sunny spots are likely to become the norm in some gardens – especially in the south of England, which is currently facing hosepipe bans amid a persistent period of drought.

If you’re thinking about making a few changes to your yard so you can enjoy the outdoors come rain or extreme shine, three gardening experts have shared their top tips to heatwave-proof your outdoor space.

“Providing shade in gardens is going to be vital in hot summers to come to reduce temperatures and provide environments for other plants to grow at their bases,” Kate Gould, a landscape designer, told HuffPost UK.

Small trees are great for creating shade, she said, recommending: Malus sylvestris (European Crab Apple), Lagerstroemia indica (Crepe Myrtle) and Hibiscus syriacus, which can grow up to 4m tall.

Garden designer Agata Henderson recommends Japanese maples and ornamental cherries, too.

Parasols, pergolas and retractable awnings can also help offer much-needed shade.

If you’re looking to keep your back yard cool, Henderson recommends steering clear of artificial grass and composite decking or fencing which “retain a huge amount of heat”.

“Where possible, choose natural materials such as natural lawn, stone, gravel, bark mulch and timber fencing,” she said. “Not only do they stay noticeably cooler, but they also create a far more natural and wildlife-friendly garden.”

Similarly, if you’re planning a patio, steer clear of dark-coloured slabs. “Dark porcelain, black slate and other very dark materials absorb significant amounts of solar heat. During hot weather they can become so warm that walking barefoot becomes uncomfortable and, in extreme cases, may even cause minor burns,” she said.

“Lighter shades of natural limestone, sandstone or porcelain in soft beige and grey tones remain considerably cooler while creating a brighter, more inviting outdoor space.”

Kate Gould noted soil preparation is “the key ingredient to a flourishing garden”.

As summers warm up (and winters potentially get wetter), “adding structure in the form of organic matter [manure, compost, etc] to the soil will help retain moisture as well as the nutrients required for strong plant growth,” she added.

Rebecca Bevan, a garden researcher, shared with the National Trust that adding a 5cm deep layer of organic mulch to the surface of your soil when it’s moist in spring “will help conserve water in summer”.

In addition to using mulch to keep soil moist, Andy Simms, of MyBuilder.com, recommends investing in a water butt – especially as hosepipe bans become more common.

“They collect water during rainy periods, which you can use for your plants during periods of a potential hosepipe ban,” he explained.

Here’s our pick of some of the best water butts on the market.

Simms also suggested planting drought-resistant plants which “typically need much less water to survive than regular plants, and instead rely on special deep-root features to keep themselves going”.

“Lavender and rosemary are two common drought-resistant plants which are readily available, and should be planted around early spring, for full growth by summer,” he added.

Similarly, he advises considering drought tolerant grass. “It’s also worth remembering that most traditional garden lawns are quite thirsty, and may take up a lot of your attention during hot weather,” he added.

“Drought-tolerant grass, however, is available. Festuca arundinacea – or tall fescue – is particularly effective during dry periods due to its long roots, which can stretch to water sources beyond the reach of other grasses.

“Try to replace your grass before the hot season, though. While the job itself should only take a few days, you’ll need to water it every day for two weeks afterwards to help it establish new roots.”

As a garden designer, Henderson said one of the biggest mistakes she sees is “placing the main seating area in the sunniest part of the garden”.

If you’re thinking about landscaping in the coming months, observe where the sun and shade fall throughout the day – and think about when you’re most likely to use the garden.

“For many families, the garden is used most after work, making an evening sun terrace far more practical than a patio that bakes in full sun all afternoon,” she said. “As we get older, many of us also become less tolerant of prolonged heat, making shaded seating areas increasingly valuable.”

Make sure your garden has a mix of both sunny and shades places to sit. If you’re planning on getting a new lawn laid, the expert suggests doing it in spring – or “a month of two before the heatwave destroys it” – so that it stands a chance of growing back when the rain hits come autumn.

Listen, before we get started… we’re about to get into some major spoilers. Proper big ones.

So, if you still haven’t watched the House Of The Dragon finale yet, what we’d recommend is popping a little bookmark on this page, and coming back once you have. See you in a bit!

OK, for everyone else, let’s get into it.

As you’ll now know, the most recent instalment of House Of The Dragon, which brought an end to the third season, was a particularly action-packed one, setting the scene nicely for the fourth and final run, which we can probbaly expect to hit our screens in 2028.

One such example would be the death of Phia Saban’s character Helaena Targaryen, who jumped to her own death after being imprisoned by Rhaenyra (and, in a particularly gruesome touch, died after being impaled by spikes at the bottom of her fall).

During a subsequent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Phia revealed that she got a call from the Game Of Thrones prequel’s showrunner Ryan Condal to warn her about her character’s fate.

“I sort of saw it coming, really,” she admitted. “And also, I think I was having less formal conversations with the people who make the show and was being like, ‘Come on, I know when I’m gonna die’. And they were like, ‘Yeah’.”

She continued: “But Ryan did give me the official call, which is quite exhilarating and exciting, really, because you know that you’re building towards something.

“And also, I feel quite honoured to die on TV in this universe. So it’s a bit of a bucket list.”

Variety reported that Ryan Condal recently told the press that he’d been “taking time off” from the fantasy world of Westeros while season three was airing, as he “needed to step away from all of this”.

However, he noted that he’s already handed a first draft of the season four opener to HBO, insisting: “We have an incredible season coming. As crazy and big as season three was, I think season four is going to be even bigger.”

Sir Rod Stewart has pulled out of two live shows in the space of a week on medical grounds.

The 81-year-old crooner had been booked to perform in Cincinnati, Ohio on Sunday night, but postponed the show that morning “due to an unforeseen but minor medical procedure that required prompt attention”.

In a statement posted by the venue, it was said that “rescheduling is currently underway”, and that Sir Rod is “expected to make a quick recovery and looks forward to returning to Cincinnati”.

Following this, the Maggie May star also cancelled a show that was scheduled in Cleveland, Ohio on Tuesday night.

“Following a period of monitoring, doctors have advised Rod Stewart to rest for at least 48 hours,” Cleveland’s Rocket Arena said on their website, adding: “Rod is disappointed to miss the show and appreciates everyone’s understanding. He looks forward to returning to the stage soon.”

HuffPost UK has contacted Sir Rod Stewart’s team for comment.

Sir Rod is currently in the middle of his One Last Time tour, which has taken him across Europe and the US.

In 2024, he maintained that he has “no desire to retire” but told fans this would probably mark the end of him performing “large-scale world tours”.

He wrote on social media: “I love what I do, and I do what I love. I’m fit, have a full head of hair, and can run 100 meters in 18 seconds at the jolly old age of 79.

“I’d like to move onto a Great American Songbook, Swing Fever tour the year after next-smaller venues and more intimacy…”

“But then again, I may not,” he added, signing off his message: “The ambiguous Sir Rod Stewart.”

The Grammy winner previously teased to TalkSport that he’d be taking part in a UK tour in 2027, including a date at London’s iconic O2 Arena, “and that’ll probably be it, I think”.

Back in June, Sir Rod was forced to briefly pause a live performance in West Valley City, Utah so he could be administered with an oxygen mask.

Reform UK has slumped to third place in a new opinion poll.

In a fresh blow to Nigel Farage ahead of Thursday’s by-election in Clacton, the Lord Ashcroft survey showed support for the party has fallen to 18%.

That is down 3 points on the Tory peer’s previous poll a month ago.

At the same time, the Conservatives have gone up by 2 points to 23%, while Labour is up 6 points to 27%.

The poll is further evidence that Labour is enjoying a bounce in popularity under new prime minister Andy Burnham.

It will also be welcomed by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who has won praise in recent weeks for her improved performance.

But the poll is a further reality check for Reform, who have come under pressure over the financial arrangements of both Farage and the party itself.

It emerged in April that Farage had not declared a £5 million gift he received from Thailand-based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne shortly before he ran for parliament in 2024.

Parliment’s standards commissioner launched an investigation, but that was put on hold when Farage resigned as MP for Clacton to trigger a “people versus the establishment” by-election in the seat.

He is expected to be re-elected when that takes place on Thursday, although his only serious rival is Count Binface after Labour, the Tories, the Lib Dems and Restore Britain all refused to put up candidates.

Assuming he makes it back to Westminster, the standards probe will then re-start, which could see him suspended from parliament if he is found to have broken the rules.

The Lord Ashcroft poll confirms a trend which has seen Reform slip from top spot since Burnham became PM.

A poll of polls compiled by Election Maps UK puts Labour on 25.6%, with Reform second on 24.3%.

It is a far cry from the start of the year, when Reform led Labour by 10 points.

Both parties were neck-and-neck on July 24, but since then a succession of polls have put Labour in the lead.

A new poll released by YouGov on Tuesday put Labour up 2 points to 24%, with Reform down a point on 22% and the Tories also up 2 points to 21%.

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

Andy Burnham has ordered one of his top ministers to find a way to keep the killers of PC Andrew Harper in prison.

The prime minister wants justice secretary Alex Norris to “work through further options” to prevent the early release of Jessie Cole and Albert Bower.

They were sentenced to 13 years for manslaughter in 2000, but are due to be freed in January under controversial measures to stop prisons running out of spaces.

Burnham has been hit with a furious backlash since it emerged that Norris and Cole would benefit from the early release scheme.

On Monday, Downing Street said it was “not possible” to exempt “one or two offenders” convicted of manslaughter from the scheme.

However, Norris will now look at ways to keep “a greater number of the the most serious offenders” behind bars.

A government spokesperson said: “The prime minister has asked the justice secretary to work through further options to keep a greater number of the most serious offenders in prison, including the killers of PC Harper.”

PC Harper was fatally injured when he got caught in a strap attached to the back of a car and was dragged down a country road as the killers fled the scene of a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in 2019.

Burnham announced he was pausing the early release scheme two weeks ago following public anger.

It was then announced that those convicted of rape, serious child sex offences and grooming offences would not be included in the scheme – but that meant that Cole and Bower would still be released.

Last week, the PM said he had “pushed to the very limits of what is possible to do without risking the prison system reaching capacity and collapsing”.

However, more than 880,000 people have signed a petition calling for PN Harper’s killers to remain in jail.

A government source told The Times: “[Burnham] has never accepted that he would be forced to choose between perpetrators of rape, grooming and the killers of police officers.

“The public wasn’t satisfied with that answer and neither was he.

“He has never accepted the line that it is impossible to prevent the release of the most serious offenders and has continued to push the system on a daily basis.

“He is now increasingly confident that a solution can be found to prevent the release of the killers of PC Harper.

“He has asked the justice secretary to present a plan to parliament that keeps a greater number of the most serious offenders in prison, including the killers of PC Harper.”

The early release changes were part of the Sentencing Act passed earlier this year that cut the minimum amount of time many offenders would have to spend in prison.

Those freed will face tougher probation conditions, including electronic monitoring, random drug testing and possible bans from driving, pubs and events such as football matches.

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

A senior Reform UK figure has condemned Zia Yusuf for calling a former Tory cabinet minister who served in the Army “a traitor to Britain”.

In a further sign of the tensions at the top of the party, Tim Montgomerie went public to say Yusuf’s comments were “inappropriate and counter-productive”.

Yusuf, Reform’s home affairs spokesman, hit out at former defence secretary Ben Wallace after he criticised the party’s plan to fix the shortage of prison spaces by sending foreign criminals abroad.

Writing on X, he said: “Incredible that this moron was defence secretary.

“Our policy today is in direct response to your government’s failures.

“If their home countries won’t take back, their citizens that are languishing in our jails, we are renting spaces in countries like El Salvador to put them.

“They will serve their full jail terms there, and will be banned from ever coming back to Britain.

“They may well include some of the thousands of Afghans you imported, including those who had not been vetted properly and including Taliban fighters (!).

“You know, the ones you took a super injunction out to keep secret from the British people? That’s why I call you a traitor to Britain. You fit the dictionary definition.”

But Wallace hit back: “Oh look a lesson from a man who never put a uniform on…just worked at bank.

“A man who is literally making policy and facts up.”

Commenting on the spat on X, Montgomerie – a leading political commentator who quit the Tories to join Reform – said Yusuf’s language “isn’t acceptable”.

He said: “I don’t agree with Ben Wallace on this issue but Zia’s language and attitude towards any opponent is inappropriate and counter-productive.

“Opponents are opponents… they aren’t enemies… or “moron”s. One of the biggest question marks over Nigel Farage’s leadership is whether he brings Zia under control.

“ZY is a man of huge talents but too much of his social media output is intemperate and reinforces Reform’s number one problem: our negative tactical voting challenge.”

Montgomerie went on to say that he had raised the issue of Yusuf’s language “privately and repeatedly” with both him and Farage.

But despite his comments, Yusuf doubled down on his attack on Monday night.

Responding to Wallace on X, he said: “You imported thousands of Afghans to Britain without proper vetting, at a cost of billions to the British taxpayer.

“Some were literal Taliban fighters, others were kicked out of the Afghan army for sexual misconduct. You flew them to Britain in secret. You took out a superinjunction to keep the British people in the dark.

“PS: you want to talk about banks? You have made vast sums by hawking yourself out to private banks – where you then viciously attack Nato allies. Your actions constitute treachery, and many serving in the military use that word to describe you.”

Following the alleged murder of Ann Widdecombe, Yusuf called for an end to the “hostility” aimed at Reform, which he said was putting their politicians at risk.

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

President Donald Trump is facing criticism for using the press and others aboard Air Force One as decoys last month when he faced a threat from Iran ― all while reportedly dodging that threat himself.

The Washington Post and The New York Times on Monday reported that last-minute travel changes on July 8, as the president left a Nato summit in Ankara, Turkey, were far more extensive than the public had been led to believe.

Trump had arrived in Turkey on his new plane, a $400 million gift from Qatar. On departure, however, he sent that plane ahead to a US military base in the United Kingdom. Trump, his staff and the media then boarded an older Air Force One plane.

But Trump was not on that older Air Force One plane when it took off.

Right after boarding, he hid in a catering container truck, which took him to a third aircraft ― a US military C-32A ― while the press and some of his staff stayed aboard the previous Air Force One, all while letting them remain under the impression that he was aboard as well.

Once all three planes were on the ground in the UK, Trump secretly returned to the older Air Force One aircraft and exited as if he had been there the whole time. Everyone then returned to the Qatar-gifted jet to complete the journey back to the United States, according to the reports.

Trump not only didn’t disclose the ruse to the media on the plane he left behind, but later made light of the situation when reporters asked why they had to keep the shades down when the plane was in Turkey. He said it was because they had been aboard a “dangerous flight” due to the threats he was facing from Iran.

“But if I go, you go. Right?” Trump said. “So perhaps someday you want to change professions.”

Critics called out the president for placing the press and others aboard the original plane at risk while dodging the danger himself via his catering truck swap:

With A-level and GCSE results days getting closer, the tension in many homes is starting to rise.

For an increasing number of young people, the anxiety goes beyond pre-results nerves. Welcome to FOMU: not ‘fear of missing out’, but ‘fear of messing up’.

Fear of messing up is not something teenagers are born with. Babies and toddlers are brilliant, relentless failers. They topple, stumble and babble their way through thousands of mistakes without a flicker of shame, because no one has yet told them that failing is something to dread.

That changes, though. Somewhere along the way, a telling look from a teacher, a disappointed sigh over a less-than-perfect mark, or the sting of coming second instead of first teaches children that mistakes are something to hide, not learn from.

By the time young people reach their GCSE and A-Level years, many have spent a decade absorbing the message that winners are celebrated while those who fall short are to be avoided.

Society’s obsession with achievement, league tables and early success has created an environment where failure feels binary: you either win or you lose.

Anxiety increases based on how much we care and how uncertain the outcome feels. Exam results hit a nerve for a reason. For teenagers, everything is tied up in who they are, where they belong, and what comes next.

At the same time, they have no real control over what’s inside that envelope. Add in the pressure of school culture and parent or teacher expectations, especially in the UK’s results-focused system, and it’s easy to see how nerves can tip into something closer to fear.

That fear then affects the brain. The amygdala, which helps detect threat, can react to failure like it’s a real danger and temporarily override clear thinking. That can push young people into automatic responses: fighting, running away, freezing, or people-pleasing instead of making their own choices.

Fear of messing up does not always look like the stereotype of a sobbing teenager. It can show up as avoidance: your teen suddenly deciding they “aren’t a maths person” or that a subject “isn’t for them” rather than risking failure.

It can appear as perfectionism, where nothing ever quite feels good enough, and they get stuck endlessly reworking the same things; or procrastination, where starting revision feels too risky, so putting it off feels like the safer option.

And it can manifest as people-pleasing, where your teen follows their friends’ choices about subjects, universities or career paths instead of their own.

When young people learn the wrong lesson from failure (“I failed that test, therefore I’m stupid”), they can carry that false belief for years, sometimes decades, limiting what they believe is possible for themselves.

So, the single most powerful thing you can do is create an environment where it feels safe to fail by separating failure from fault. A poor result does not indicate that your child is flawed; rather, it reflects their position on the learning curve.

Resist the urge to immediately fix the situation or offer platitudes like “just try harder next time”.

Instead, ask your teen what they need from the conversation: do they want to be helped, hugged or heard? Occasionally the most valuable thing you can offer is simply listening without judgement.

Encourage self-compassion. Research shows that young people who are encouraged to be kind to themselves after a setback study harder and are more likely to adopt a growth mindset.

The internal voice matters enormously. After a disappointing result, if your teen’s inner dialogue sounds like “I’m such an idiot”, gently help them reframe it: “That was hard, and I can try a different approach.”

Ultimately, the best thing you can do is model how to handle failure constructively. Be honest about your stumbles, and don’t rush past them as if they never happened.

Young people learn that making mistakes is not the end of the story when they witness adults in their lives freely and shamelessly admitting their mistakes.

Failure is part of growing up, learning, and moving forward.

Dr Melisa Buie is the co-author of Faceplant: FREE Yourself From Failure’s Funk (Practical Inspiration Publishing), and a speaker, facilitator, and organisational strategist with 30+ years of experience in industry, government and academia.