ONLYWAY NEWS RADIO
Online radio for people living and working in Britain. UK news read aloud, live London Tube status, the weather and listings from our board. Free to listen and no sign-up — straight in the browser, while driving, on shift or on the move, when there is no time to read but you still need to know.
The loop runs around the clock. The bulletin is rebuilt six times a day — at 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 and 21 London time: the last 24 hours of news, live Tube status, the weather and music between the blocks. Press the radio icon next to the title and it plays on repeat.
The radio announcer is a synthetic voice.
On air
The bulletin is rebuilt on our server every couple of hours, from six in the morning to nine in the evening London time. The running order is always the same, with a music sting between the blocks.
- Ident — “The only way — news!”.
- News — everything published on the site in the last 24 hours: the headline and the gist. Tax and HMRC, immigration, housing, money, work, consumer rights. A new story reaches the air the same day.
- London transport — live status of the Tube, DLR, Overground, Elizabeth line and trams at the moment the bulletin is built, straight from Transport for London. Only the lines with a problem are named, and what the problem is. If everything is running, we say that too.
- London weather — the temperature now, the day and night figures, and tomorrow. If the Met Office has issued a warning, it is read out separately: colour, hazard and region.
- Classifieds board — one line: a recent reader listing and a reminder that the board is free.
- Music stings — a short piece of our theme before each new block, so you can hear where the news ends and transport begins.
- The ticker under the player — shows what is being said right now, in step with the voice.
The Russian and English bulletins are built separately and differ in length: the news is the same, while listings are taken in the language of the bulletin.
What is in this bulletin
The bulletin is rebuilt every three hours. These are the stories being read right now — open any of them to read instead.
- Dropped kerbs in the UK: how to get a legal vehicle crossover
- Free NHS sight tests: who qualifies and what about glasses
- NHS Low Income Scheme: help with health costs on a low income
- UK settlement: which years will count, and which will not
- UK government plans to require pay information in job adverts
- Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods: family payments in Scotland
- Scottish Child Payment: a weekly payment for families in Scotland
- How to challenge a parking ticket (PCN) in the UK
- How to challenge your council tax band without it backfiring
- Flight delayed: when you are owed compensation and how much
- Pothole damaged your car: how to report it and try to claim
- First UK provisional driving licence: age, cost and timing
- How to exchange a foreign driving licence for a GB one
- Skilled Worker visa: what salary threshold applies now
- EU Settlement Scheme: can you still apply after the deadline?
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë — a book for the night: the opening, the author and a Yorkshire moors trail
- UK right to work share code: how to get it and how long it lasts
- Free school transport in England: when the council must pay
- How to appeal a council EHC plan decision at the SEND Tribunal
- English at B2, no debts, clean record: the new settlement checks
The current bulletin carries 31 stories — the rest are in the news feed.
Why listening beats reading
- Hands free. The bulletin plays on its own, on a loop, with nothing to press. This is radio for anyone driving, on shift, on site, in the kitchen or at the gym — wherever reading a screen is impossible or there is no time for it.
- No sign-up, no app. No account, no subscription, nothing to install: the page opens in the browser on a phone, a tablet or a desktop, and there is a single button. No advertisement runs before the bulletin.
- Take the bulletin with you. The download icon next to the title saves the whole bulletin as a single MP3 of about 6MB. After that it plays in any player with no internet at all: on a plane, on the Tube, out in the country with no signal.
- Two languages. The Russian and the English bulletins are built separately: the news is the same, while listings are taken in the language of the bulletin. The language switch is at the top of the page.
- You can see what is being said. A ticker under the player follows the voice in step, so it is always clear whether you are hearing the news, the transport block or the weather.
- Everything can be read instead. Every story on air is on the site in text, with the figures and links to the primary source. The running order of the current bulletin is further down this page.
- Share it with one button. The share icon next to the title passes the link to a messenger or copies it to the clipboard.
Common questions about the radio
How do I listen online for free?
Press the radio icon next to the page title and the bulletin starts at once, right in the browser. There is no sign-up, no charge and no advertisement before it.
Do I need to install an app?
No, the radio runs on an ordinary page. If you would like an icon on your phone's home screen, the site can be added as an app — the services page explains how.
Can I listen while driving?
That is what the loop is for: it runs on its own, with nothing to press. Set the volume before you set off, keep the phone in a holder, and better still download the bulletin beforehand — then losing signal in a tunnel will not stop it.
How much data does it use?
The Russian bulletin is about 5.8MB and the English one about 5.1MB. It downloads once and then loops with no further traffic: an hour of listening costs about as much data as a single good photograph.
How often is the bulletin rebuilt?
Six times a day: the server rebuilds the tape at 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 and 21 London time. It carries the stories of the last 24 hours, the Tube status at the moment of the build and the current London weather.
Why is it read by a synthetic voice?
We say so on air. A human presenter could not re-record the bulletin six times a day, while a machine voice puts a story on air in the same hour it is published. What is read is exactly the published text, and you can open it and check.
Can I download the bulletin as MP3?
Yes. The download icon next to the title saves the whole bulletin as one file, and the file name carries the date so the bulletins do not get mixed up.
How is this different from a podcast?
A podcast comes out as separate episodes kept in an archive. We have one tape, rewritten by the server every three hours, so what is on air is what matters today rather than a recording from last week.
Advertising on air
There is no paid advertising on air yet: the bulletin carries a single line about our free classifieds board. Once paid spots appear, each will be announced as advertising before it runs and will go into the same register of placements as the site, each with its own number. Terms and rates →
