Carol singing, sending Christmas cards and kissing under the mistletoe are among the traditions we miss most, a study found. A poll of 2,000 adults found many of us also yearn to go back to the days when going for a post-Christmas walk, making homemade mince pies and going to pantomimes were the norm. Other festive rituals we’d like to see make a comeback include making our own Christmas cake, drinking eggnog and setting the Christmas pudding alight. Those polled...

Christmas is a time for indulgence. Though turkey is most commonly associated with British Christmas dinner, the bird wasn’t introduced until the 16th century, with Henry VIII the first British monarch to have enjoyed roast turkey on Christmas Day. Before that, goose was far more popular, while the rich generally enjoyed peacock or swan (both unavailable today). Over the past 500 years, turkey has witnessed a rapid increase in popularity, but in 2017 many families are turning to alternative meats;...

A huge row has broken out in Surrey after Virgin Care was handed a £328,000 payout after taking legal action against six Surrey clinical commissioning groups, Surrey County Council and NHS England, reports the Get Surrey. Virgin Care lost out on a lucrative contact to provide healthcare in the county and was able to sue over contractual issues, after missing out on the bid. Local residents have launched a campaign to get Virgin care, owned by Richard Branson, “return the...

Leeds United manager Thomas Christiansen was yesterday outed as a potential closet Manchester United fan after he was spotted at Old Trafford for the Manchester derby. The Dane took over at the Yorkshire outfit at the start of the season and has enjoyed early success with the club. An away win against QPR this weekend left them just four points shy of the playoff spots, with home clashes against Norwich and Hull coming up. But there's doubt over whether Christiansen will...

This interactive map below exposes the links between those trying to thwart efforts to tackle global warming. Research by Mat Hope ,Editor of Desmog UK. Donald Trump is nothing if not distracting. And so he promises to be again this week on Tuesday, when world leaders gather in Paris for President Macron’s ‘One Planet’ summit. Timed to coincide with the second anniversary of the Paris Agreement on climate change, it is intended to be an opportunity to celebrate (and work out how...

A formerly homeless man is helping fund the funeral of a homeless woman who died this week in the same doorway her aunt had been found dead in seven years before. Kathleen O’Sullivan, 44, was found dead on Wednesday morning in a doorway outside a homeless shelter in Cork. Reports suggested that she may gave been ill as the night temperatures across Ireland have plunged. Christina Chalmers, founder of volunteers’ group Helping Cork's Homeless has reported that a man who...

Bob Kerslake has quit his senior role in the NHS because he believes the Government is failing to understand the scale of the funding shortfall, which is plunging the health service into disarray. He has resigned as the chair of the board at King’s College hospital in London. He told the Guardian : “My two and half years at King’s have been in equal parts inspiring and frustrating. “There are undoubtedly things that I and the trust could have done...

These shocking photos show the moment a gritter overturned on an icy road and landed on its roof. It happened amid heavy snowfall, thought to be four inches deep, in Tamworth, Staffs, on Sunday morning. The overturned gritter truck in Tamworth, Staffs. Police attended but the driver was uninjured after the crash, at 8.20am. Jonathan Moore, who saw the vehicle overturned on the road, said: "God knows how they managed to put it on its roof. The overturned gritter truck...

A wildlife photographer was stunned when he captured Praying Mantis larvae appearing to throw Saturday Night Fever dance moves on a branch. The trio of Ghost Mantises are pictured in identical poses reminiscent of John Travolta's iconic pose in the 1977 musical drama. They appear frozen in time in the "lucky" snap by award-winning photographer Jimmy Hoffman, 57, at his home in Calonge near the Costa Brava in Spain. The Ghost mantis (Phyllocrania paradoxa) is a small species from Africa...