Culture and events
Winter without a down jacket or fur hat: thrift, fashion or climate? What Britons actually wear — and spend on — in the rainy season
It astonishes newcomers every December: the minus never arrives, there is not a down jacket in sight, and half the city winters in a coat over a jumper. We explain it with the Heathrow station's numbers: the average January daytime maximum is +8.4°C — what would the fur be for? Here is what the British weather wardrobe is really made of, why an umbrella here is a consumable rather than an accessory, and where the 'rain money' actually goes.
London's Royal Parks: what actually happens inside Hyde Park and the other seven — events, dates and what you spend money on
The eight Royal Parks are 5,000 acres of free London: Richmond's deer, St James's pelicans, Hyde Park's concerts and Winter Wonderland, Greenwich's observatory. Entry is free everywhere — but there is plenty to spend on inside, from Serpentine boats to the winter fair's rides. Here is the guide: which park is for what, what happens there through the year, and which of it costs money.
Christmas and New Year in the UK 2026/27: the holiday dates, traditions from London to Scotland, and how not to overspend
The biggest season of the year is coming: school holidays, a four-day Christmas weekend (25-28 December) and a long New Year one. Here is the full guide: the official dates per GOV.UK, what Boxing Day and Hogmanay actually are, where to go — from York and the Lake District to Edinburgh and Belfast — and the real savings: from 1 January the bus anywhere in England is £2 again.
London Fashion Week: public events on 20 September
London Fashion Week runs from 17 to 21 September 2026, but most runway shows are invitation-only. The official programme also includes places open to the public: a free King’s Cross exhibition, Saul Nash’s Shoreditch pop-up, a charity fashion sale, Ahluwalia’s Westfield programme and the BFC jewellery showcase.
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The whole hall stands and sings Rule Britannia: what the Proms are and how to get in for £8
On 12 September the eight-week festival closed at the Albert Hall — 86 concerts and three thousand musicians. A standing ticket to any of them costs eight pounds and goes on sale at 9:30am the same day. Here is the Last Night ritual, explained and made usable.
A thousand deer forty minutes from central London: what the rut is and why you must not approach
From late September to early November the rut runs in Richmond Park and Bushy Park. Free to watch, but fifty metres is safety, not courtesy. Plus where London's autumn colour is and how to get into Kew for £10.
Autumn in London's museums: what closes, what opens and how not to overpay
Whistler goes on 27 September, Dadd on 25 October, Schiaparelli on 8 November. Es Devlin, the 90s at Tate and Agatha Christie arrive. Dates, prices and four ways to pay less.
The Bayeux Tapestry in London: 70 metres, 1066 and £33 tickets that are already gone
The British Museum has brought the Norman Conquest embroidery to Britain for the first time in almost 900 years — and everything is sold out until January. What is on show, what it costs, the rules, and what to look for on the cloth.
Britain's autumn sky: a calendar of meteor showers, supermoons and dark nights
From 23 September to 22 December: six meteor showers in a row, two supermoons and the clock change that brings darkness by five in the afternoon. Dates, the best nights, dark sky sites and what to take.
ONLYWAY NEWSLIVELife · 01.10London is warming: +1.6°C in half a century, frost days halved — and why the weather now hits the wallet harderMoney · 01.10DWP debt recovery: from October money can be taken straight from your bank account, and debts over £1,000 can cost you your driving licenceMoney · 01.10Should you fix your energy tariff in autumn 2026? Fixes undercut the price cap — and January's cap may jump another 20%Money · 01.10Energy bills from 1 October: electricity at 26.32p per kWh, 0% VAT — and why you should submit a meter reading todayTravel · 01.10From the airport into the city: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton — train, tube or bus, what it costs and where to buy ticketsMoney · 30.09UK vape tax starts 1 October: £2.20 duty per 10ml of e-liquid — what happens to pricesMoney · 30.09Leaking roof, flooded basement: who pays? Insurance, the Flood Re scheme, and what the state provides after major floodsImmigration · 30.09The UK airport border: what to tell the officer, who can use the e-gates, and what you can bring in your suitcaseTax · 30.09Register for Self Assessment by 5 October: side income over £1,000, rent, selling on Vinted and eBayLife · 30.09Winter without a down jacket or fur hat: thrift, fashion or climate? What Britons actually wear — and spend on — in the rainy seasonONLYWAY NEWS · appInstall the ONLYWAY NEWS appFresh UK news, classifieds, key dates and exchange rates on your home screen, one tap away. Free.NewsClassifiedsCalendarRates
A Punjabi artist headlines Wembley for the first time: Diljit Dosanjh fills the 90,000-seat stadium
The 12 September concert ran for more than two hours and closed with fireworks. Panjabi is the third most common main language in England and Wales — which explains how a non-English-language bill filled the national stadium.
London on Sunday 13 September: what is free and what you pay for
Open doors across the city, a free wellness festival at Wembley, Korean barbecue in the Olympic Park, classic boats by Tower Bridge and the Hampton Court gardens. Here is what cost money that day and what did not.
Open House: nine days of free access to London’s closed buildings
The 35th Open House Festival runs from 12 to 20 September, opening buildings across all 33 London boroughs, free of charge. The London Design Festival runs alongside it, also until 20 September. Some venues take walk-ins, others require booking.
What to do in London on 12–14 September: Open House, the Design Festival and ten more free things
Two large festivals open on Saturday: Open House unlocks buildings that are normally shut, and the London Design Festival runs for the twenty-fourth time. Plus a rowing race up the Thames, a flotilla by Tower Bridge, the Hampton Court gardens for nothing, and Korean barbecue in the Olympic Park. The full weekend listing, with the free things marked.
The Fourth Plinth: who gets there, how, and for how much
The programme costs £1.03m over three years and about £230,000 per commission: a £30,000 artist fee and £200,000 for production — a fixed sum, not a ceiling. Three selection stages, maquettes shown at the National Gallery, a specialist panel decides and there is no public vote. The full list of works since 1999, and an honest answer to why not everyone gets there.
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A new sculpture on Trafalgar Square: Tschabalala Self’s Lady in Blue
Unveiled on the Fourth Plinth on 10 September — a bronze figure of a young Londoner, patinated lapis lazuli blue. What the plinth is, why it stood empty for a century and a half, what was there before, and how to see it for free.
The pint after work, Friday, Saturday and Sunday: the unwritten rules of British life
Why people go to the pub to sit rather than to drink, what a round is and why you cannot skip it, where POETS day comes from, why the main match is not on television at three on a Saturday, how many hours you actually have to shop on a Sunday, and how the North differs from the South and Scotland from Wales. Plus seven rules that save a newcomer a year.
The 31st National Television Awards: the winners in full, and what to watch
The NTAs were handed out at The O2 on 8 September — the only British television awards decided by the public rather than a jury. Special Recognition for Alan Carr, TV Presenter for Sir David Attenborough, Comedy for Mrs Brown’s Boys, Talent Show for Strictly. The full list, six programmes for newcomers, and where to watch them free.