School exams dominate the news

The results of school exams are always big news stories in August. This is partly because lots of people are on holiday and there is not much happening.

This week students have learned how they did in their A Levels, which are typically exams taken by 18 year olds. Newspapers and news programmes are usually full of photographs of pretty girls opening the envelopes with their results inside.

A Level results day is also the day when students find out if they will go to their chosen university, and "clearing" opens. This is when universities open up places for students who have done either better or worse than they expected to do in their exams. All of this is big news in the UK for a few days every August.

Weather in the news yet again

In the UK we do talk about the weather a lot. That's because it often catches us by surprise.

We have just had one of the hottest summers in years. That ended last weekend with heavy rain causing floods in some parts of the country. The UK then suffered the end of Hurricane Bertha. Now it's much cooler and there has been lots of rain. The latest weather reports say it will remain cooler than usual for the rest of the month.

Beach chairs get bigger

You may have seen pictures of typical British "deckchairs". These are the kind of folding summer chair you can hire on our beaches, with a wooden framework and stripey fabric to sit on.

One company that makes the chairs has made its standard model an inch wider for "larger customers". A quarter of British adults are overweight and numbers are rising all the time.

The company has also found that more people are buying the "Wideboy" chair. This is 36 inches wide and meant to be for two people. However, it is becoming popular for larger people.

Fried English breakfasts more popular again

You may have seen "Full English" breakfasts in hotels. This usually includes items like cooked eggs, bacon, toasted bread and sometimes mushrooms and tomatoes. It is not something people here eat very often at home as we are all in a hurry in the morning.

However, a new report shows that we are eating ten per cent more cooked foods like eggs and bacon for breakfast. Eggs and sausages showed a very big rise. The researchers think this is because diets with more protein have become more popular.

At the same time it has become less popular to take food from home to eat at work for breakfast, and people are eating fewer snacks before lunch.