Eloise Feilden

If you’re looking for some old-fashioned glamour with your drinking, a traditional London pub might not cut it. You need to pull up a shiny stool at one of London’s best hotel bars where the service is seamless and every last drink is a showstopper. Sure, you’ll pay for the luxury, but you deserve a treat every once in a while. Here’s a list of London hotel bars where it’s more than worth making your Monzo wince. The best hotel bars in London at a glance: 🌵 Best for mezcal and margs: Side Hustle at The Nomad, Covent Garden 💖 Best for date night: Sweeties at The Standard, King’s Cross 🍸 Best for a serious martini: Dukes Bar, St James’s 🔥 Best for jazz and a roaring fire: Scarfes, Holborn RECOMMENDED: The best hotels in London. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

July 2026: Al fresco weather is fully here, and here are the spots that spring into action when the sun is out. These places are ideal for visiting in your nice new sunglasses while snacking on a salt cod fritter. Grab a sarnie in the sunshine at Dusty Knuckle's Dalston location, trek to Epping Forest for seafood at the Oyster Shack, gorge on BBQ at Cue Point in their massive Notting Hill beer garden, lunch at Hackney hero Lardo, or trot down Regent's Canal to Towpath Cafe. Excellent Indian restaurant Kokum in Dulwich is also doing BBQs every weekend on their terrace until September. The best outdoor restaurants in London at a glance: 🍸 Best in central London: Forza Wine, Soho 🚣‍♂️ Best in east London: Towpath, Haggerston 🏡 Best in north London: Red Lion & Sun, Highgate  💦 Best in west London: Cue Point, Latimer Road 🍃 Best in south London: Italo, Vauxhall When it comes to outdoor dining there are some excellent – and hopefully sun-dappled - options at some of London’s best restaurants. These terraces, canal-side spots, gardens and al fresco restos should make you feel like you’re on a proper holiday in your hometown. Whether you’re in the mood to have spaghetti in the sun or snack on sushi by starlight, our list has you covered. If you don’t mind heights, then check out some of the finest rooftop restaurants with views in London as well. Not all of them are open in the colder months, so do check if you’re booking during a chillier time of year. RECOMMENDED: These are

July 2026: If you’ve had the pleasure of strolling down Exmouth Market recently, you’ll know the historic Clerkenwell strip is the buzziest pedestrianised street in London, full of al-fresco fun, convivial pintspeople and sidewalk tapas as far as the eye can see. Which is pretty much all down to the new Number 1 in our list of the best bars in London. Congratulations are due to Cafe Kick, the breezy Euro-chic sports bar about to celebrate 30 years of tricking your brain into thinking you’re on holiday. The rest of our Top 50 features bars old and new, posh and divey, and cheap and pricey, but all of them with great drinks and an unparalleled vibe. Fancy a drink? You’ve come to the right place. This is Time Out’s list of best bars in London, our curated guide to London’s drinking scene, which features the greatest bars in the capital right now. These are the places we’d recommend to a friend, because we love drinking in them and have done many times over. From classy cocktail counters to delightful dives, sleek hotel bars, rooftop bars and places to sip wine, London’s got them all. You’ll find historic drinking holes here as well as brand new openings. But what makes a truly good bar? Our critieria is simple; a menu of great drinks is important, but so is the overall energy of the place – there’s no point having the perfect paloma if you have to drink it in a bar that smells of bin juice. To make it into our Top 50, a bar has to be fun, friendly, convivial and inclusive, as we

Ranking the greatest pubs in the UK is, obviously, very tricky business indeed. Pub preference is such an intimate, personal thing – one person’s dream boozer might not remotely appeal to another. That said, when it comes to Britain’s absolute finest pubs there are universal marks of excellence: convivial atmosphere, charming staff, charismatic decor and, above all, a varied selection of well-kept, well-served drinks. Time Out’s 2026 ranking of Britain’s greatest pubs was compiled with the assistance of our UK-wide network of drinking aficionados, and features all kinds of establishments. Pint enclaves built in barren deserts, atop blustery mountains and on isolated beaches. Sturdy booze bastions, age-old no-fuss pubs, innovative craft alehouses and everything in between.  Some of these pubs are old favourites though plenty are more recent obsessions; they’re almost all independent (with a couple of worthy exceptions). Mostly, though, they’re united by one thing: a sense of community. A pub is made by its cast of regulars, and you’ll find quality company in each of the institutions below.  (Oh, and for the most part these pubs are outside London. You can find a list of the capital’s top drinking holes here). RECOMMENDED: The best gastropubs in the UK. Mapped: the best pubs in the UK Image: Time OutBest pubs in the UK map

In 2026, the UK’s coastline is more in the spotlight than it has been in a long, long time. The opening of the long-awaited King Charles III Coastal Path means that the entire coasts of England, Wales and Scotland are now fully walkable – giving you even more of a reason to visit this nation’s extraordinary roster of seaside towns. Of course, being an island nation, the UK has no shortage of coastal spots. Prim, proper, picture-postcard-worthy idylls? Check. Remote, blustery retreats from stormy seas?  Yep, plenty of that. Thrill-packed resort spots with something for everyone? Britain has all of the above and much more. If you’re on the hunt for British seaside towns that are worth checking out right now – the ones that should be on your radar specifically in 2026 – that’s what we’re here for. Time Out assembled our UK travel experts to pick out the country’s most exciting seaside, port, harbour and resort towns to visit this year. RECOMMENDED: 🏖️ The best beaches in the UK (and mapped).📍 The best places to visit in Britain in 2026.🇬🇧 The best new things to do in the UK in 2026.🥾 The greatest walks and hikes in the UK. Time Out’s best seaside towns, mapped Image: Time Out

July 2026: Soho remains London’s best place to spend a evening. Soho’s pubs are unmatched and have been around for decades, but the area’s bar scene is a little more dynamic. So as well as old faves such as Bar Termini, The Social, Bar Italia and Garlic & Shots, our list of the area’s best bars includes some newer openings, including chic cocktail bar Three Sheets, Italian hideaway Bar Lina, the ever-entertaining Stormzy's House Party and Below Stone Nest.   For centuries, Soho has been London’s playground: packed with spots for boozing, carousing, and soaking up the best of the city after dark. And even though it’s largely cleaned up its once-sleazy reputation, it’s still packed with fine drinking spots, from moody basements to high-end cocktail bars. Whether you join the crowds hopping up and down its network of streets or settle in for the duration, you’re guaranteed a brilliant, boozy night out in Soho and neighbouring Chinatown. Word to the wise: you might want to line your stomach at one of Soho’s best restaurants. Now head to the heart of the West End to make sure you don’t miss a thing. RECOMMENDED: These are London’s very best bars. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor, and you’ll probably find her at Trisha’s. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

A red sandstone amphitheatre. An ancient woodland on the English coast. A teeny tiny island with a black sand beach. Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes – luckily, the world isn’t held to the same rigid beauty standards as humans are – and we’ve curated this list to celebrate that.  It goes without saying that Time Out’s ranking of the world’s most beautiful places is entirely subjective and by no means exhaustive, but what we can guarantee is real-life experience. Every single beach, lake, city and valley on this list has been visited and vetted by our globetrotting network of travel writers. In short, they’re all well worth making the journey to see for yourself (no social media fakery here).We update this list regularly, ensuring we’re including the big-hitters while considering the impact of overtourism and spotlighting lesser-known beauty spots. So here it is: Time Out’s guide to the most beautiful places on planet Earth. Happy travels!Updated March 2026: There are seven new additions to the list this year, including a terracotta-coloured Old Town in Italy, an opulent Renaissance-style library in New York and a compact mountain range in northern Spain.Grace Beard is Time Out’s travel editor, based in London. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. RECOMMENDED:⛰️ The most beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Sites🗺 The most underrated travel destinations i

There’s a heck of a lot to get excited about in Britain over the next 12 months or so. Between now and 2027 Brits will gobble down platefuls of new restaurants’ grub, slurp tasty bevs in fresh bars, get cultural fixes at museum exhibitions, spectate at globally-renowned sport events and even witness moments of proper historic importance. In 2026 the UK will see the return of the Bayeux Tapestry (not seen on these isles in 900 years) and the completion of the nation-spanning King Charles III Coastal Path. Among the likes of new music festivals and theme parks will be the world’s biggest Irish cultural event, the premiere of one of this century’s most highly anticipated stage musicals and centenery celebrations for a globally-loved children’s character.  And that’s just the stuff that’s planned – who knows what else will define the year? Without further ado, here are the 16 best new things to do in the UK in 2026, chosen by Time Out editors and contributors. RECOMMENDED: 📍 The 14 best places to visit in the UK in 2026.🏛️ The 26 best new things to do in London in 2026.🌍 The best new things to do in the world in 2026.

The building which now houses the Fairmont Golden Prague has a less-than-sexy past. Its brutalist bones were built in 1974 during a period of Czech ‘normalisation’, when the USSR was tightening control following a failed attempt by reformists to politically liberalise the country. Like I said: not so sexy. Its present, however, is far more seductive. Bought by the Fairmont Hotel Group in 2020 – owner of swanky global iconics like the Savoy in London, Shanghai’s Peace Hotel and the Makkah Clock Royal Tower in Mecca – it finally opened its shiny sliding doors in April 2025 after a long and expensive refurb. The result? Some seriously glitzy Prague digs which pay a respectful nod to the past (spot the grand, chocolate brown wood pillars salvaged from its former life) while wholeheartedly embracing a far more fancy future (fully decked out spa; custom sculptures by local glass artists; on-site brewery tanks offering Czech beer on tap). What’s the area like around Fairmont Golden Prague? You need only clock the Jimmy Choo store and Dolce & Gabbana boutique across the square to realise which side of Prague you’re in (hint: it’s the bougie side). Nestled on the outskirts of the city's Old Town, Fairmont Golden Prague sits right on the bank of the Vltava River, so views of the water glimmering in the moonlight are a given. What are the rooms like at Fairmont Golden Prague? The nine-storey hotel is home to 320 rooms, suites and serviced residences (yep, you can make like Eloise at the

Brutes is here to quench the thirst of anyone with a penchant for the strong stuff. Stepping inside is like a time machine to old school New York, complete with white-jacketed bartenders and branded mini matchbooks. They deal in martinis, of course. Dry, wet, dirty or brutal, depending on your preference and tolerance. Luckily for those with a weak constitution, your stiff drink comes with a snack. Choices range from gildas and blue cheese olives to Monster Munch (the giant kind) and bumps of caviar served atop a pearl spoon. We are in Mayfair after all, darling.

Sure, they don’t have super strength, infinite stretch or the ability to burst into flames at any given moment, but the Spiteris are basically The Incredibles when it comes to London’s restaurant scene. You might think that for the children of celebrated restaurateurs Jon Spiteri (The French House, St John, Sessions Arts Club) and Melanie Arnold (Rochelle Canteen), the choice to follow in such footsteps risks a life skulking in their parents’ shadows. Not for brothers Fin and Lorcan, who mastered their craft at Islington’s now-shuttered barge-based restaurant Caravel, and sister Molly, who leads business development for Koya. As culinary dynasties go, their powers are immense.  Grilled bream on a bed of fennel is what happens when pub food is done really, really well The latest Spiteri venture sees the two generations join forces. The Latimer is intentionally pub-first, the white tablecloths which hint at its gastro prefix only visible past the stools and steel-topped tables that occupy its main floorspace. Big windows flood the high ceilinged room with light, triggering that irresistible urge to snap a couple of piccies before golden hour fades. Come summer, grabbing a table on its terrace will likely take as much dedication as worming through the crowds to Latimer Road station on Carnival weekend. The Latimer’s menu is best pondered over a Westway cocktail – which tastes like adults-only pink sherbet, because, well, tequila. Masala monkfish with tartare sauce, which featur

Leicester Square’s notorious casino probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind for swanky cocktails, which is exactly how Archive & Myth has managed to retain its air of intrigue. Tucked away beneath the slot machines, green felt tables and waistcoated card dealers of the Hippodrome’s gambling hall, this bar prides itself on being underground in all senses of the word. It might be accessible via the Magic Mike Live entrance, but this subterranean drinking den is better suited to sultry late-night secrets whispered in dark corners than hen parties and body oil.

Pikachu fans and Bulbasaur buds, listen up. It’s time to dust off your Poké Balls and head out to catch ‘em all, because a new Team Rocket event is coming to the Big Smoke.  It’s been a seriously busy year for Pokémon Company International in London, and it’s not even autumn yet. January’s rare merch drop at the Natural History Museum was followed by the Pokémon Europe International Championships at the ExCeL in Feb, ahead of the debut of a Pokémon-themed green space called a ‘Pokopia Garden’ in March. The latest window into the Poké-world comes in the form of an immersive event. This weekend (Saturday August 22 and Sunday August 23), will be welcoming Team Rocket (you know, the bad guys) to Potter’s Field Park right next to Tower Bridge.  Budding Pokémon trainers can expect to solve a series of puzzles, decipher clues and uncover a secret code which unlocks a hidden location. Once there, you’ll receive a message from Team Rocket’s boss Giovanni. Prepare to become an honorary recruit to the dark side. Not sure you want to trade good for evil? What if we mention the free tote bag and code for 24 pack hourglasses to use in the Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket app. Ready to be bad yet? The event, which is completely free and runs from 9am to 6pm, marks the upcoming themed booster pack Team Rocket’s Ambition in Pokémon TCG Pocket, which will launch on August 27. Did you see that new arcade bar NQ64 is opening its biggest venue yet in Soho? Plus: we went to London’s brand new Peak

Always admired the Piccadilly line’s moquette? You can now wear it. Yep, to mark the 120th birthday of the navy blue line, TfL has teamed up with accessories company Signare to launch a new collection for tube-loving fashionistas. Rucksacks, card holders, purses and make-up bags with its seat pattern are all included in the range, allowing you to get dripped out in some serious Underground swag. Don’t worry, the tube line’s actual seat fabric remains intact. The new accessories are made of a woven material inspired by the Piccadilly line’s designs, featuring TfL's roundel symbol and the iconic ‘Mind the Gap’ phrase. Photograph: SignareSignare and TfL's new Piccadilly line fashion range Looking to get your hands on these metro-inspired garms? You’ll have to head to one of these retailers to nab them: Tower Bridge Gift Shop – Tower Bridge, London SE1 2UP London Transport Museum Shop – Covent Garden, London WC2E 7BB Medici Gallery – South Kensington, London SW7 2LT Giftbox Britain – Whitehall, London SW1A 2BX Cool Britannia – Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0PP  Cool Britannia – Portobello Road, London W11 2DZ Plans to update the Piccy line’s trains have been in the works since 2018. When the project is (finally) completed next summer, you’ll be able to don your matching accoutrements in its swanky air-conned carriages. Très chic. Did you see that London’s night tube is now 10 years old? Plus: London officially has more cycle lanes than tube lines. Get the latest and gr

As topics for an art exhibition go, an immersive exploration of Romford’s ’90s music scene might seem pretty niche. But the east London ’burb was an influential hub for the Big Smoke’s sound at the time. Record shop Boogie Times, labels including Suburban Base, pirate radio stations, promoters and producers all called Romford home during that decade, and helped shape a scene which made waves well beyond the RM postcode. When it opens in October, Mega Mega: Romford’s Suburban Sound Revolution will explore just how big an influence the area had on electronic music and club culture in the capital, from hardcore and jungle to garage and drum and bass. Running from October until December, it’ll be a deep dive combining audio elements with archive material and first-hand stories from people who lived through the era. Havering borough is even calling on locals to get involved ahead of the opening to share their personal tales and donate to the archive. Image: Mega Mega: Romford’s Suburban Sound RevolutionMega Mega: Romford’s Suburban Sound Revolution Once the exhibition comes to a close, the local authority will gather everything into a publicly accessible archive so you can dig into its musical history whenever you fancy. Romford's wider cultural footprint shouldn't be overlooked. The town is also home to Lumiere Romford, a community-led cinema which has gained a cult following as the only picture house in the UK which pays its members. Cool, huh?  Did you see that the Natural

Since opening in early 2024, Quince Bakery has cemented itself as a firm Islington fave. Just months after it debuted, the bakehouse picked up a Muddy Stilettos award for best ‘local food / drink producer’ and was named among the best bakeries in London by La Liste, a guide to the best restaurants and hotels in the world. Plus, the bakery supplies its bread to Oula, which has now been officially named the best coffee shop in London. Those crusty baguettes are definitely doing something right. Now, residents of N1 will be happy to hear that Quince 2.0 is just around the corner (quite literally). Anna Higham, the brains behind the bakery’s delectable buns, scones and tarts, is opening a new all-day café directly across the street from the OG site. Named Clementine, the 20-cover café will be open for breakfast, brunch and lunch from Wednesday to Sunday every week. And it’s just announced that the opening date will be October 3. Photograph: Quince BakeryUncooked buns on trays at Quince Bakery A seasonally-rotating menu will be built around British produce. Think porridge topped with cream, panela sugar and apple compote or tattie scones with scrambled eggs for breakfast. Scotch pancakes will be served with butter and poached plums, while Clementine’s signature sausage sarnie will be served on Quince Bakery’s batch bread with lashings of in-house brown sauce.  Mouth watering yet? Us too, and that’s just the morning menu. Cheddar toasties, chicken and tarragon pie, a late summer

It was a solemn day when, in 2016, we had to wave goodbye to one of Brighton’s most eye-catching landmarks. The 164-foot Brighton Wheel (formerly known as both the Brighton O and the Wheel of Excellence) was a transportable ferris wheel first installed in 2011 to give beachgoers a chance to see the city from on high. But it was dismantled after just five years, making way for the construction of the i360 tower. Do you still think about the Brighton Wheel? Well, we have huge news. The retired seaside attraction could soon make a comeback, with the local council considering resurrecting it. Should councillors decide to give the family business behind Brighton’s beachside zipwire the go-ahead, the wheel’s 12-minute rides could soon return to its original site on Madeira Drive.  A question of whether to give the family a 25-year lease for the landmark will be the subject of a cabinet meeting on September 17, but local councillors have already welcomed the proposal.  ‘Brighton became Brighton because people came here to have fun by the sea. That’s part of our identity, and we should be ambitious about what a great seaside city looks like for the next generation,’ said David McGregor, cabinet member for economy, culture, heritage and tourism. ‘Bringing the Wheel back isn’t about looking backwards. It’s about taking something people loved and making it part of the next phase of our seafront.’ Photograph: ShutterstockBrighton Wheel If approved, the wheel could be up and running as

If you prefer your food served with theatrical flourish, chances are you’ve stepped inside one of Big Mamma Group’s many London eateries. Extravagant dishes like 10-layer lasagna, pasta served directly from a hollowed out wheel of cheese and a metre-long spaghettone have gained its restaurants – which include Circolo Popolare in Fitzrovia, Jacuzzi in Kensington and Gloria in Shoreditch – a serious level of social media hype. Now, the restaurant group is bringing even more OTT Italian fare to the capital with the launch of Edmondo in Bank. The team at Big Mamma have said their new Italian osteria will bring ‘unapologetic 1930s Milanese glamour’ to the Grade II-listed site at 6 Lombard Street. They’ve compared its decor to the lavish furnishings of Villa Necchi Campiglio, a historic house-turned-museum and one of Milan’s most iconic tourist spots. So far, so swanky.  As well as a main dining room with space for 200 – the centrepiece of which will be an open kitchen counter so diners can watch the culinary maestros at work – Edmondo will also be home to three plush private dining rooms. The walls of La Libreria will be chocka with old school Ferrari memorabilia, including a vintage racing suit worn by former driver Nigel ‘il leone’ Mansell. Il Salotto, the site’s second private dining room, is a heritage-listed alcove with old English timber panelling, while Il Ridotto is the smallest of the three, with space for up to 10 diners. As for the all-important menu, think towering foc

If a visit to the Torridon Peaks isn’t already on your bucket list, we’d hazard a guess that it soon will be. That’s because the breathtaking region in the northwest Highlands has just been named Scotland's newest national nature reserve (NNR). The area begins at the point where its eponymous loch meets the sea and stretches all the way to the peaks of mountains Beinn Alligin and Liathach. Protected by the National Trust for Scotland, it’s easily stompable via 18 miles of well-trodden paths and is home to five of the trust’s 46 munros as well as wildlife like otters and golden eagles. Like we said, it’s a must for the bucket list. Torridon even swiped the number two spot on Time Out’s best cycling routes in the UK and views of its epic terrain are part of what makes the Kyle Line rail route one of the most scenic in the world. Photograph: ShutterstockView over Loch Torridon NatureScot, the government body which looks after the country’s natural heritage, has just given the green light to an application to have Torridon added to the official list of national nature reserves. The area of around 12,602 acres will join 43 other NNRs in Scotland, including the neighbouring Beinn Eighe area which became the UK’s OG nature reserve in 1951. Plus, it’s the first site to be added to Scotland’s list of NNRs for almost a decade, the most recent previous additions being Glen Coe in the Highlands and the Mar Lodge Estate in Aberdeenshire, both recognised in 2017. Photograph: Shuttersto

DIY mecca Ikea has had a busy time of it in the UK lately. Last summer, it opened its first-ever Brighton outpost and debuted a brand-new format in Harlow designed for speedier shopping. This year, the Swedish furniture emporium already launched a collab with Decathlon, bringing a hybrid furniture and sportswear outlet to south London. But if you thought that was all Ikea had in store for us, you’d be sorely mistaken. The company has now turned its attention to pre-loved goods, announcing the launch of its first UK-based second-hand marketplace.  If you’re wondering how it works, well, the concept is pretty simple. The platform will let Ikea Family members buy and sell pre-owned furniture directly with one another. Think Vinted, eBay or Facebook Marketplace, but exclusively for the Swedish brand's goods. Ikea already has a buy-back scheme which lets you sell furniture back to the retailer in exchange for credit. Plus, it also has second-hand areas in its stores. The difference with the new marketplace is that it allows shoppers to trade directly with each other.  ‘Our goal is to make passing on beloved Ikea pieces as seamless as possible,’ a spokesperson told Retail Gazette.  Photograph: Erman Gunes / Shutterstock.comIKEA shopping basket The new UK peer-to-peer platform joins similar schemes in Spain, Norway, Portugal, Poland and Sweden where shoppers are already able to exchange goods with one another. In the countries where the scheme is already live, sellers can list fur

Fancy feasting your eyes on a Victorian-era skeleton of a monk seal? How about a hand-axe dating back 400,000 years? A mini model of one of the Crystal Palace dinosaurs? If you’re nodding your head at the screen right now, we have some good news for you. South Ken’s Natural History Museum (NHM) has just announced a new exhibition called ‘Nature and Us’, which features 50 objects exploring our evolving relationship with the natural world, and it’s being hosted in a hidden gallery. When ‘Nature and Us’ debuts on September 16, it’ll also mark the opening of a gallery which has been sealed off from the public since 1943. Located on the second floor of the Waterhouse building, the vacant space was previously home to the museum’s skeleton collection before being used to display mammals. Damage to the NHM’s herbarium during World War II led to the room being repurposed to house the displaced botanical collection, at which point it was closed to the public. It has remained that way ever since.  Photograph: Natural History Museum LondonThe The Natural History Museum's gallery was an osteology space in 1893 A bryozoan-encrusted Star Wars toy from the 1980s and a replica jaw of one of Britain's earliest known domesticated dogs, dating back around 14,300 years, will also be among the artefacts to be displayed amid the gallery’s original wooden herbarium cabinets. The exhibition will be a trial run for the revived exhibition space, which will reopen permanently in 2029. Its reinstatemen

Last September Hackney became the first London borough to introduce a game-changing price cap for Lime bikes, making them as cheap as buses. Now, a second borough in the Big Smoke is making trips on e-bikes less spenny. Residents and key workers in Southwark will benefit from a new deal that the local council has negotiated with three of the biggest e-bike operators. Twenty-minute trips on Lime, Voi and Forest will set riders back a maximum of £1.75. That’s a serious saving, considering that the same ride currently costs as much as £7 a pop if you’re riding pay-as-you-go. Southwark Council is also cracking down on pavement parking. The e-bike companies have agreed to fund enforcement and reporting channels for residents, so that e-bikes left on pavements can be removed tout de suite. E-bikes in Southwark will also get less noisy, as the agreement includes a clause on electric bike alarms being turned off at night so they cause less disturbance to locals.   Photograph: Alena Veasey / Shutterstock.comForest Bike, London   A total of 8.2 million e-bike trips were made in Southwark in 2025, with use in the borough increasing by 356 percent over the last two years.  James McAsh, leader of Southwark Council, said the new agreement would be monitored to ‘make sure the deal works for people in Southwark’. He said: ‘It’s vital that people in our borough benefit from e-bikes and also have protections in place to make sure they are used properly.’ Exactly when Southwark’s new e-bike d

Thrifters, bargain hunters and fashionistas – we have excellent news. One of south London’s finest car boot sales is expanding east. If you’ve never experienced the wonders of Peckham Car Boot, well, what have you been doing with your Sunday mornings? For the past seven years, new and veteran resellers have flogged everything from pre-loved pieces by big-name brands to vintage homewares out the trunks of their cars at the bi-monthly market.  Erin Murphy and Steven Lopes, the duo behind the swap meet, launched an additional iteration last year to serve second-hand treasure hunters in Balham. Now, they’ve announced that they will also be bringing the weekend market north of the river. From September, Peckham Car Boot is heading to Leyton, hosting monthly events at George Mitchell School in September, October and November.  The organisers have said that they’ll be using these three events as a trial run, and will look to make the event permanent if it’s popular with the E10 crowd. Londoners with an N postcode shouldn’t feel left out, though, because Peckham Car Boot is also planning to trial a market in Stokey. Yep, it’ll be heading to Stoke Newington School for three monthly events from September to ‘test the waters’. Its founders are encouraging sellers and shoppers to ‘come down, see what it's about, and help us decide if this is a regular thing’.   Photograph: Peckham Car BootPeckham Car Boot   If you’re looking to offload some old gear, bookings are already open for both

Describing this summer as hot feels like a serious understatement. The UK has had so many days of record-breaking heat that we’ve lost count of which heatwave we’re on now. In fact, the past few months have been such a scorcher that parts of the UK are now in drought. Almost 75 percent of England is now living in drought conditions.  Considering the situation, hosepipe bans implemented across different parts of the country should come as no surprise. Wessex Water has been the latest provider to announce a temporary ban, bringing the total number of Brits living under restrictions up to 27 million. Unsure whether the rules apply to you, or what they really mean? Here’s everything you need to know about the impacted areas, when restrictions are likely to end and any exemptions. Which parts of England have a hosepipe ban? More than 20 million people across south and south-east England and parts of Wales are currently facing hosepipe bans. Affinity Water, the country’s largest water-only supplier, provides drinking water to over 3.9 million people across three regions in the south east of England. Affinity imposed a hosepipe ban for its central region on July 17. Households in Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Surrey and parts of London are impacted by the rules.  Anglian Water implemented a temporary use ban on July 11 for all customers. The water company serves homes in the east of England, spanning from Grimsby in the north to Southend-on-Sea in