It's not August yet, and already 2026 has tied 1976 for the number of days where the weather station at Heathrow was over 32°C and 30°C, and has beaten the record for the number of days over 28°C (which was set last year).
London & Southeast🔅@thesnowdreamer.bsky.social · last wk.Today experienced the 24th day of year hitting 30C in London. For perspective in whole of 1980s we had 21 days.
It's not even August and already 2026 is the record year for which air conditioning would be required to maintain a safe/pleasant temperature in London.
It's never been cheaper to run for parliament.
Tim Bale@timbale.bsky.social · last wk.JICYMI #Clacton by-election ballot paper
You'd have to go back to the 90s to find an Assembly election with a SF share as low as this. I am somewhat skeptical.
@lucidtalk.bsky.social · last wk...Front page of today's (27/7) Belfast Telegraph with the latest results from the LucidTalk Summer26 NI 'Tracker' poll - the political-party scores...
Chagos with Ed Milliband! [Am I doing this right?]
Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 2w agoEd Miliband is foreign sec
Always think of that Frank Skinner story every time I see someone kissing the World Cup trophy
So they did a countdown to kickoff and Count von Count was in attendance this was the biggest missed opportunity of all time
It'd be fun if the referee ran on to say that law 7.2 of the game stating the half time interval should be no longer than 15 minutes has been broken and the match is cancelled
In my happy place (at the Deutsche Bundesbank explaining the ECB monetary policy target to my doubtlessly fascinated teen sons)
Remove the red flare of triumph. Insert the blue flare of despair.
Michael Fry@bigdirtyfry.bsky.social · 3w agoI’ve had an unlit flare up my ass for the last 50minutes I don’t know how much longer I can hold on
Who would have known Argentina would have so much trouble battling a remote Atlantic archipelago?
Who could forget the endlessly inventive whimsical schemes of the Alternative Arrangements Commission. If only the obstinate men and women of Ulster had truly believed in the power of blockchain.
Stephen Bush@stephenkb.bsky.social · 3mo agoThis is false. Every other week was “you can have no border, a border in the Irish Sea, or a border on the island of Ireland. Please pick one”.
Every General Election, Panini should bring out a parliament sticker album.
The latest population projection for Northern Ireland shows yet another lowering of the expected future birth rate. In the 2014 projection the expected peak population year was 2056; the peak is now expected in 2031.
The Millennials are going to be the single largest generational cohort until they start dying off in significant numbers in the 2060s. They'll probably outnumber the post Gen-Alpha cohorts into the 2070s.
I remember thinking Tom Waits was impossibly old when Mule Variations came out but he would have been the age Shakira is now
Dorian Lynskey@dorianlynskey.bsky.social · 4mo agoWeird to think that Liza Minnelli and Dusty Springfield were respectively only 43 and 50 when they made their comeback records with the Pet Shop Boys. At the time they felt like ancient ghosts of showbiz past. The equivalents now (in age if not in stature) would be Cheryl Tweedy and Emma Bunton.
Petition for the Alliance Party to rebrand themselves as Wow!
Stephen Bush@stephenkb.bsky.social · 5mo agoThis remains a good, tongue in cheek guide, though the centre-right is doing worse across the board than it was then, while the Greens are taking the “Friendship is Magic” vote in addition to their traditional core.
The claim that regional inequality has doubled in Northern Ireland is not accurate. 📈Stats show Belfast’s output per person grew faster than average but that’s not a full measure of regional inequality. Read why here 👇
It's no exaggeration to say that this, the news that stinkbug eggs look exactly like a hape of creamy pints, is one of the most impactful things that's ever happened in the history of Irish posting. A dazzling event. A nuclear level revelation.
Alex Wild@alexwild.bsky.social · 5mo agoFinally, the bug is back with a round of the Guinness.
