‘It all feels very natural’: Britain’s sauna boom heats up as people seek warmth of human connection

From fields to floating pontoons, in horseboxes, barrels and beach huts, saunas are springing up across Britain. The British Sauna Society now lists about 640 saunas – up from 540 at the start of the year – while a recent report predicted that the UK could become the world’s largest sauna market by 2033, outpacing even Finland and Germany.“The continuing growth suggests that the peak has still yet to come – if there is one,” said Gabrielle Reason, the society’s director. But are saunas a tonic for the nation’s health – or a wellness fad with hidden risks?When it comes to measurable health effects, the strongest evidence relates to the cardiovascular benefits of sauna use. These are “substantial”, said Prof Setor Kunutsor, the Evelyn Wyrzykowski research chair in cardiology at the University of Manitoba in Canada

House of Lords has ‘signed its own death warrant’ by stalling assisted dying bill, says MP

The House of Lords “signed its own death warrant” over its stalling of the UK assisted dying bill, the MP Kim Leadbeater said as she joined more than a dozen terminally ill and bereaved people in protest outside parliament.Marking the second anniversary of the death at Dignitas of the prominent assisted dying campaigner Paola Marra, Leadbeater, whose private member’s bill for England and Wales looks set to run out of time, said many MPs, who had already voted by a majority to pass the bill, were “angry and upset” by the addition of about 1,200 amendments in the Lords, which will probably result in the bill falling without a vote.The protest, organised by the campaign group Dignity in Dying, came as the number of UK residents who had an assisted death at Dignitas rose to its second-highest level in two decades. Forty-three people travelled to Switzerland in 2025, up from 37 the previous year, and second only to 47 people in 2016, figures show.Leadbeater said of the teminally ill adults (end of life) bill: “MPs took this decision having entered into this debate in a really serious, considered manner

Kent meningitis outbreak may have peaked as UKHSA reports slowdown in cases

The Kent meningitis outbreak may have reached its peak after only two new cases were reported by officials on Friday.The UK Health and Security Agency said that as of 12.30pm on Thursday, there were 18 confirmed and 11 probable cases of meningitis linked to the Kent outbreak, taking the total number of people with the disease to 29. Of the confirmed cases, 13 were meningitis B.While the growth in cases may have slowed, the situation remains serious, with all cases requiring hospital admission

The Kent meningitis outbreak: what is happening and why?

The deadly outbreak of meningitis in Kent has fuelled concerns about how far the disease will spread and seen the return of people wearing masks and queueing for vaccines. The scenes are reminiscent of the Covid crisis, but meningitis is very different. Here we look at how the outbreak has unfolded.Meningitis is a potentially lethal but uncommon disease caused by viruses and bacteria that trigger inflammation of the meninges, the protective linings that cover the brain. The Kent outbreak is driven by meningococcal bacteria which are found in the nose and throat of about 10% of the population

Tessa Richards obituary

My friend Tessa Richards, who has died of cancer aged 75, was a doctor and medical editor who campaigned indomitably for patients to be partners equal with doctors in healthcare. In addition, she transformed the relationship that the BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal), where she worked for 40 years, had with patients.When Tessa graduated in medicine from Guy’s hospital medical school in London in 1973, doctors dominated patients, and did what they thought best for them. There was no culture of patients being equal partners, and doctors discussing options with them. As Tessa wrote in 1990: “Even the briefest spell on the other side of the desk or in a hospital bed gives blinding insight into patients’ vulnerability and of their need to be listened to, treated with respect, and given full, unhurried, jargon-free explanations

George Nicholson obituary

Borough Market in London is today a thriving market and popular place to eat – George Nicholson, who has died aged 79, was chair of its board of trustees for 10 years until 2006, and, as such, contributed much to that success. He loved the place; he and I ate there together, as friends, on his last birthday.George was proud of being a Londoner and his sense of civic pride and commitment to London continued all his life. In 1981 he was elected as the Labour member for Bermondsey of the Greater London council. He became chair of the GLC planning committee, advocating for Thames beaches, social housing, the best of urbanism and celebration of the possible