You might have noticed that the UK is seeing fewer wasps than usual this summer. And while that might sound like good news, experts think that this year’s unpredictable weather (remember the flooding that followed one of our many heatwaves?), which has been attributed to climate change, could be to blame.

Plus, it looks like our black-and-yellow-striped friends have been replaced by a new visitor.

This year, the National Trust says, we’re in a “hummingbird hawk-moth summer”.

And on Reddit, a delighted gardener was one of many who said they’d seen their first one in 2026: “I gasped!” they commented.

It’s a moth (who’d have guessed?) with a wingspan of 5cm to 5.8cm. And unlike many other species of moth, it’s a “day-flying” species, meaning you might catch it flitting around in your garden in the afternoon.

The hummingbird hawk-moth has grey forewings and orange hindwings. It’s also got a grey body and a black and white “tail,” The Wildlife Trusts explained.

Some viewers describe it as a “grey lump with orange wings”; like hummingbirds, it flaps so rapidly that its wings create a buzz.

Hummingbird hawk moths also have a large proboscis, which helps them to reach into flowers like honeysuckle, valerian and buddleia.

And while it’s not an especially massive species (a poplar hawk moth, the hulking presence of which once cleared my entire uni dorm, is about twice its size), ITVX said it’s often mistaken for a small bird thanks to its humming hover.

Indeed, one Redditor wrote: “Didn’t know what it was but thought it looked like a tiny hummingbird”.

They do usually make an appearance here from April to as late as December, when they fly up from Southern Europe and North Africa.

But one of the differences here is in the numbers.

In 2021, per the National Trust, we only recorded eight sightings of the moth.

However, we’ve seen far more this year. Speaking to ITV, the Wildlife Trust’s Strategic lead on Agriculture, Vicki Hird, said this year’s high figures are “really unusual” (however, other experts point out it’s too soon to compare numbers year-on-year for 2026).

Then, there’s location to consider. When the UK does get hummingbird hawk moths, they’re usually along the southern coast, which is closer to Europe.

This year, though, they’ve been spotted as high up and far inland as Stowe Gardens, near Buckingham. They could even be seen in Northern Ireland and Scotland – under the Reddit post we mentioned earlier, people said they saw them in the north-east and north-west of England and central Scotland.

Experts think that hot weather has driven them upwards into the UK, while extreme temperatures in mainland Europe could have depleted their food supply in their usual homes.

Winds might have worked in their favour as well. And they might be expected to stay longer than usual: “Warmer winters might… be allowing them to overwinter in greenhouses and sheltered locations,” the National Trust writes.

They love nectar-rich, tubular flowers like honeysuckle, buddleia, and valerian. And if you’re hoping for a longer stay, climbing ivy and shrubs (as well as greenhouses) can give them a safe space to overwinter.

Seen a hummingbird hawk moth? Simply sit back and enjoy the view – and, if you like, report your sighting to bodies like Butterfly Conservation, which has a National Moth Recording Scheme.

If there’s one thing that comes with the territory of being a parent, it’s lack of privacy – and sometimes that means your child walking in on intimate moments.

It’s nothing new. Parents have been experiencing this intrusion since time began (spare a thought for the 69 dad!). But whereas once kids might’ve been hurried back to their rooms, never to discuss what happened again, these days some parents are being more open with their children about what they’ve just witnessed.

But how open should you be exactly?

I asked former sex education teacher Kathleen Hema to walk me through how’s best to respond when a kid walks in on you having sex – and the key takeaway is, it doesn’t have to be a big a deal as you think.

Hema, who can often be found on social media teaching parents how to answer their kid’s sex questions, told HuffPost UK it’s important for parents to teach basic boundary setting early on in a child’s life.

This is because “when parents are setting and maintaining boundaries from an early age with their kid, it’s going to be so much easier to respond to a child walking in on you”.

Boundary setting can include teaching kids to knock on your bedroom door before entering (same goes for the bathroom) – and equally, you can reciprocate by knocking on their bedroom door.

This means that when a young child walks in and you’re in the middle of business, you could say: “Are you OK?” and the child might respond with “yeah” or “I thought I heard something”.

At this point, you can say: “OK. I didn’t hear you knock. It’s respectful to knock before entering someone’s room. Since you are OK, can we practice knocking? Can you go back out and shut the door and knock?”

This simple response gives parents a moment to gather themselves and put their clothes on, Hema suggested.

“When you go to the door and open it, you must praise them for knocking and then you can ask them a question,” she added.

You could say something like, “Great job knocking! I really appreciate you knocking when the door is closed. What’s up? I wanna help you. What do you need?”

She continued: “This type of response is positive and immediately focuses the conversation back to why they came into the room in the first place. For many young kids, that’s enough! They tell you they need a drink of water and you assist them with that request and walk them back to bed.

“Oftentimes with young kids, they don’t have any questions because they may not have really seen anything.”

Sometimes, with primary school-age children (aged five and up), a bit more explaining might be needed as a child might ask their parent “was [name] hurting you?”.

Hema said this is a common question from a young child when this situation happens and said parents can respond by saying: “Nope. [Name] wasn’t hurting me. I am OK. When adults are alone, we sometimes do adult activities and it may have looked uncomfortable to you, but I will reassure you that I am OK.”

You can then redirect them with another question: “Do you need anything else before going back to bed?”

You don’t even have to call it sex. In fact, Hema said she recommends for parents to say “adult activities” because kids understand this.

“There are loads of things that kids observe as ‘adult stuff’. For example, drinking coffee or alcohol, driving, going to work. This is just another thing they can tack on to this list,” she said.

If your child does have questions, the crucial thing is that you stay calm and relaxed while you have these conversations. Parent Map advises using “factual, plain language” and answering any questions a child asks “without supplying additional information or answering questions the child isn’t asking”.

And maybe a trip to B&Q for a bedroom lock could be a wise move afterwards, too.

Raising teens can be a bit of a minefield – where once your sweet, adoring child worshipped the ground you walked on, all of a sudden they simply don’t want to know.

You might be facing more arguments, major mood and sleep changes, as well as having to become a full-time translator while your kid keeps calling everyone “chat”.

But there is one innocent mistake parents might be making in the teenage years, according to a child psychiatrist – especially if you want them to be able to open up to you.

Child psychiatrist Dr Willough Jenkins said in a TikTok video that it “might sting a little” for parents to hear, but she wants everyone to know: “If you’re doing most of the talking, you’re probably not having a conversation with your teen… that’s called a lecture.

“You want them talking more than you. That’s how you learn what they’re really thinking, and how they learn that you’re really listening.”

Her advice to facilitate more conversations with teens is simple: “Start with a question. Then pause. And really listen.”

In a separate video, the psychiatrist said one of the things that makes a successful parent is “listening more than lecturing”.

She also suggested “staying calm when things go wrong”, “repairing after you mess up” and “setting boundaries with love, not fear” are “what real success looks like”.

Therapists previously told HuffPost UK that creating a space that feels emotionally safe and low-pressured is important to help teens open up – especially if you think they might be struggling mentally.

Make conversation by asking open-ended and emotionally neutral questions and statements. You could say something like: “How’s everything going lately?” or “How are things feeling for you at school/with friends/life right now?”.

BACP-accredited therapist Lauren Young also suggested resisting the urge to fix everything for teens and instead, validating their feelings and thanking them for trusting you if they come to you with a problem.

All of this can help teenagers know that you’re there for them. As BACP-accredited member and psychotherapist Debbie Keenan told us: “Sometimes, the goal isn’t to get your teen to ‘open up’ immediately, but to remind them that they’re not alone, that emotions are valid, and that you’re a reliable presence in their life.

“Trust is built in the quiet, everyday moments, often more than in the big talks.”

A mum revealed how a simple TikTok hack helped her track down her three-year-old when she went missing in a large play area.

Krista (@krista.piper) said she’d managed to go seven years without losing one of her children – but when it did eventually happen in a very public place, she remembered to “look loudly”.

In a matter of minutes her daughter Lily was found safe and sound.

“Another mum actually found her for me and found her way faster than if I had done what I normally would have done,” said the wedding photographer in an emotional TikTok video recalling the gut-wrenching moment she lost sight of her child.

It’s a method where a parent shouts a description of what their child looks like and is wearing, rather than their name.

So, for example: little boy, bright green t-shirt, blue shorts, age seven, black hair.

The idea is that rather than relying on a young child to respond to their name, you’re putting dozens, if not hundreds, of people on high alert to find the child.

Krista, who has two children, recalled: “I started calling her name. Right after I started calling her name, a little lightbulb went off in my head and I remembered a TikTok I had seen probably over a year ago.”

The video, she said, was of a mum who had lost her child in a supermarket and instead of shouting her child’s name, she shouted the description of what her child was wearing.

“So that is what I did,” said the mum-of-two. “I stopped calling out her name and I started yelling: little girl, pink shirt, pink Minnie Mouse shirt … I’m sure people thought I was a little crazy.”

She started to hear other mums repeating it, and within a couple of minutes another parent said she’d spotted a girl fitting that description, and she was reunited with her daughter.

“It got the job done really fast,” she added.

Some people commented on the post to say they know of parents who’ve used the tip and successfully found lost kids.

“This happened at the pumpkin patch last year,” wrote one person in the comments. “Hundreds of people and a mum was screaming about a girl with a blue bow and found her fast.”

Another said: “I heard a mum doing that one day at a park. Kid was fine and was playing but people pointed her out quickly.”

One parent said hearing a description of a child would definitely spur them into action, more so than hearing a name being yelled: “As a mum, if I hear someone yelling a name [I] probably don’t think much of it, but yelling a description is like a call to action to mums!”

Children’s author and mum-of-three Jess Martini has been incredibly vocal about the technique on TikTok.

In some of her previous videos on “looking loudly”, which have millions of views, the author also advised parents to dress their kids in bright colours when going to busy, public places and also to take a photo of their child before going out.

Ricky Gervais is back on Netflix – or, at least, his voice is.

The creator of iconic comedies like The Office, Extras and Afterlife’s latest project is Alley Cats, a foul-mouthed feline-themed animated comedy.

When a lost orphan kitten can’t find her way home, a group of cynical alley cats take her in and show her the ropes.

Featuring voices from comedy like Diane Morgan, Tom Basden and Kerry Godliman, Alley Cats features all of Ricky’s trademark musings about religion, mortality and nihilism.

On paper it has all the ingredients to be a hit, but the reviews for Alley Cats are less than positive.

In fact, the general consensus is that Alley Cats is “abysmal”, “crude” and “smug”, with critics’ one- and even zero-star reviews suggesting that the series struggles to walk the line between its cynicism and its oversentimentality.

So, just how bad is Alley Cats? Here is what the reviews are saying so far…

“Ricky Gervais’s abysmal Netflix cartoon is the worst thing to happen to cats since Cats.”

“Alley Cats isn’t poor, it isn’t rubbish, it’s not shit (or even a shitcom to quote Andy Millman); it’s the worst thing I’ve watched on television this year. As such, I had absolutely no fun watching this – even to mock it.”

“This makes other Ricky Gervais comedy dramas look like Tolstoy.”

“You’ve heard of the manosphere? Well, somehow, via the medium of cartoon cats lounging about in a derelict house watching TV, Gervais has created the Catosphere, made up of a gang of miserable, offensive, toxic cats who have nothing better to do than spout their diatribe all day.

“This is just an aimless Ricky Gervais podcast channelled through cartoon felines.”

“Watching the abrasive, smug and completely mirthless new Netflix cartoon from the British comedy titan, I found it genuinely impossible to tell. Is this the work of a man who has lost all creative mooring, awash in his own self-belief? Or is it the work of a canny grifter-cynic, a man who has watched audiences lap up all his crudest, hokiest impulses in projects like Derek and After Life, and thought, ‘let’s just give the people what they want’?”

“There are glimmers of potential in this comedy about a potty-mouthed feline gang. But not even the great voice cast or a cute kitten can save it from being lazy, crude and boring.”

“Alley Cats has two modes. There are bits where the cats sit around and riff on taboo subjects and swear a lot. And then there are emotional bits and folksy homilies to friends and family, sections which feel as badly undernourished as these poor strays.”

“The show follows its own unhurried rhythm, turning on a dime between casually vicious and ooey-gooey sweet. But lacking the creative depth to make either tone land, it winds up a comedy of existential angst that’s rarely all that funny and only occasionally kind of moving.”

“Alley Cats doesn’t just revel in the nastiness of feral life. The show also depicts its hardships with disarming frankness, even verging on despondency. Sometimes, this undercurrent of gloom tips over into outright nihilism.”

“While this specific brand of comedy won’t be for everyone, it certainly landed for me. The meatier, angrier discussions elicited genuine laugh-out-loud moments evenly across all six episodes.”

All six episodes of Alley Cats are now streaming on Netflix.

For reasons we don’t fully understand yet, most people with dementia (about 65%) are women.

That might be because women live longer than men – old age is the number one risk factor for dementia. Some think that hormonal changes, including menopause, as well as differences in known risk factors, such as spending fewer years in education compared to men, might contribute to the discrepancy, too.

And now, a paper from the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University has suggested that some common verbal tests used to help diagnose dementia could be leaving women undiagnosed for 2.7 years longer.

Verbal memory tests such as the Rey’s Auditory Learning Test (RAVLT), which tests how well people remember lists of words in both immediate and delayed settings, are “widely used in Alzheimer’s disease assessments”, the paper said.

But the researchers think women, on average, have better verbal memory. Their study suggests that women keep that “advantage”, even when their brains are facing as many Alzheimer’s-related brain changes as men.

So, the study authors wanted to see whether “this form of cognitive reserve masks symptoms and delays diagnosis in females”.

They found that compared to men whose brains appeared to be in the same stage of dementia development, women kept healthy verbal memory for about 2.7 years longer.

That might leave them undiagnosed for longer. “This masked period represents a window for earlier detection and timely intervention before irreversible neurodegeneration,” the authors wrote.

After that 2.7-year point, the cognitive abilities of women with dementia-related brain changes seemed to decline 25-50% faster than men’s.

Typically, the study suggested, this is when tests begin to pick up the condition among women.

On their site, Alzheimer’s Society said that “the vast majority of experiments and clinical trials carried out by dementia researchers have not been designed to see differences between male and female participants”.

But we know that women have both different possible risk factors (including hypertensive pregnancy disorders) and symptoms (women with dementia are more likely to report anxiety and depression).

The charity added that this means we still have a “poor understanding of how diseases causing dementia might work differently in females,” and that it might take us a while to catch up.