Mildest UK winter for 350 years?

This week the UK has been warmer than Istanbul or Madrid, even though it is the middle of our winter.
January is usually the coldest month of the year in Britain, but temperatures for most of the month were up to 46F (9C) above the usual maximum of  43F (6.1C). Birds and flowers have appeared early, and shops have complained that people have not bought winter coats.
In the last few days the weather has turned colder, with snow and ice in some areas, but this winter is still likely to be one of the ten mildest since records began in 1659.

Famous film costumes go on show in museum

The Victoria and Albert museum in London has announced that its exhibition for the autumn will be Hollywood Costume.
It has taken five years for staff to bring together some of the most memorable costumes seen on screen. Harry Potter's Gryffindor uniform will be on show with Darth Vader's cape and Sylvester Stallone's shorts from Rocky. Captain Jack Sparrow's costume will appear in the exhibition before being sent back to be used in the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean 5.
There will also be a room of beautiful dresses. The staff have even found Dorothy's check dress from The Wizard of Oz. It was in a box, in a bank safe room, in London.
Hollywood Costume opens at the Victoria and Albert Museum in October.

Racegoers get badge of shame

Ascot is a racecourse in England which is often famous for the way its visitors dress. It has just introduced new rules for its "premier" tickets, which mean men must wear a jacket and women must be smart.
Managers at the racecourse decided it would be a good idea to put orange stickers on the entrance badges of people whose clothes broke the new rules. It was meant to be a warning, and to stop staff telling racegoers more than once that their clothes broke the rules.
But many people complained to the racecourse managers that they felt "humiliated" by the orange stickers. The racecourse has apologised and said it will not use the stickers again.

It's a boy, say parents of five year old

Sasha Cooper is five years old and has started school. His parents have finally told people that he is a boy. They kept his sex a secret from most people for the first five years of Sasha's life so that he could grow up without being influenced by what people expected of a boy or a girl.
During his first five years, Sasha dressed in boys clothes and girls clothes. His father says he likes to play with Lego bricks and dolls.

Susan@Englishuk.com