Football fans planning a trip to Germany for the Euros have been warned about major driving laws and regulations.
Travel insurance comparison experts at Quotezone.co.uk have researched the eight crucial driving differences in Germany, so Brits avoid being caught out on the road trip of a lifetime.
Over 2.7 million tickets will be available to the fans of participating teams and the general public, and it is estimated 800,000 British fans could head across the channel for the competition.
Fans planning to hire a vehicle to make the most of their trip have been warned to research the local driving laws and motoring etiquette.
Motorists risk penalties such as large fines, penalty points and even driving bans for breaking the law while in Germany.
Drivers need to be aware of the higher driving age, they must be aged 18 or over and hold a full, valid driving licence to drive there legally.
Greg Wilson, CEO and motoring insurance expert at Quotezone.co.uk said: “Excitement is building amongst football fans, with an estimated 800,000 Brits planning to travel overseas to watch the tournament.
“There will be venues over ten of the main regions of Germany, including Berlin, Frankfurt and Hamburg. Many fans will likely want to travel across the country to experience the tournament in the different cities and will be looking to hire a car to make the most of the trip.
“The tournament will be an incredible experience for football fans worldwide, but anyone choosing to drive while in Germany must be aware of the wide range of driving differences.
“Roads across Germany have varying speed limits and a high volume of speed cameras, so it’s crucial to stick to the speed limit and approach unfamiliar aspects with caution because travelling just 1km over the limit could result in a fine.
“Other important motoring rules to understand with the Euros commencing include the strict drink-drive limit which bans anyone under 21 driving with any alcohol in their system.”
Quotezone.co.uk’s six laws you must know before driving in Germany:
1.Driving on the correct side of the road
In Germany, drivers must remain on the right-hand side of the road and overtake on the left, a tricky change for Brits, especially if they’ve driven over in their own right-hand drive vehicle.
2.Road signs
German maximum speed limit signs are identical to those in the UK, the only difference being the limits are given in kilometres per hour rather than miles per hour. In extreme cases, ignoring road signs can lead to imprisonment. German roads also have a minimum speed limit – marked by blue round signs with the minimum speed displayed in white font.
3.Legal driving age
The legal driving age in Germany is slightly older than the UK at 18. Drivers need to check their itinerary beforehand as many countries have a different minimum driving age. In Germany, visitors must also be aged 18 or over and hold a full, valid driving licence to legally drive. It’s also sensible to check the age and requirements of hiring a car per country as there are variations in the restrictions.
4.Honking your horn
In Germany, drivers can only honk their horns if they or someone else is in immediate danger. Unnecessary or incorrect use of a horn can result in a fine, so visitors must avoid beeping their horns to celebrate football wins.
5.Be aware of speed limits
The German traffic code has strict regulations and high fines for drivers who exceed the speed limit, and they have plenty of speed cameras to monitor the roads. As a general rule of thumb, Germany has a speed limit of 50 km/h within built-up areas and 100 km/h outside built-up areas which is 31 and 62 mph respectively.
6.Drinking limits
Like most countries drunk driving is a traffic violation and will be seen as a criminal offence. However in Germany, the general limit for motorists is 0.5 % but drivers under 21 or with a new licence are not allowed any alcohol. Fines go from €500 to €1500.**
Quotezone.co.uk helps travellers find savings using travel insurance comparison, covering all sorts of travel insurance quotes such as European travel and backpacker travel insurance
Police have released an image of a man who may be able to assist officers with their investigation into a serious assault in Edinburgh on Sunday, 19 May 2024.
The incident happened around 3am on Princes Street, near to South Charlotte Street.
A 38-year-old man was taken to hospital for treatment.
The man is described as white, around twenty to thirty-years-old, of slim build, with light hair. He was wearing a navy-blue polo neck, blue jeans, and black trainers with white soles.
He was carrying a maroon jumper around his shoulders.
DC Calum Turnbull of Gayfield Square CID, said: “We encourage this man, anyone who may recognise him, or anyone with information about this incident to get in touch.”
Anyone who can assist is asked to contact Police Scotland via 101, quoting reference number 0665 of 19 May 2024. Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where information can be given anonymously.
10-11.30am Meet at the Balfour Street entrance. We can provide litter pickers and gloves – or bring your own. We’ll also be doing some path edging and hole filling so please bring a shovel if you have one and want to help with these tasks. Children are welcome but must be supervised by a responsible adult.
SAVE Britain’s Heritage has launched a public petition calling on the Scottish Parliament to host a national debate to bolster safeguards for threatened listed buildings
The petition, validated on 6th June 2024 by the Scottish Parliament, calls for an urgent Parliamentary debate to address a gap in legislation that leaves listed buildings across the country vulnerable to demolition.
The current loophole allows councils to demolish listed buildings under emergency public safety powers without providing evidence to justify their actions.
The case follows the highly controversial demolition of Category B listed Ayr Station Hotel by South Ayrshire Council which is still on going.
It has been carried out due to public safety concerns, following a major arson attack last year, but without the reports or surveys to justify the decision being made public and without providing evidence that alternatives to total demolition were robustly explored.
While fully recognising the paramount importance of making dangerous buildings safe, enhanced guidance is needed to address this policy gap, setting out the minimum structural evidence and process before undertaking demolition works to listed buildings on public safety grounds, including when consulting national heritage advisor Historic Environment Scotland. This will ensure only the minimum demolition necessary takes place to make the building safe, avoiding excessive or total demolition.
SAVE’s petition is calling for policy safeguards to ensure that listed buildings like Ayr Station Hotel cannot be demolished without robust and transparent justification.
We are specifically calling for the following policy controls to be introduced alongside existing public safety legislation:
1. Enhanced policy guidance setting out the minimum evidence and processes required by local planning authorities before making decisions on demolition of listed buildings under emergency powers
2. A mandatory policy requirement for local planning authorities to engage conservation-accredited engineers in all cases involving listed buildings
Henrietta Billings, director of SAVE Britain’s Heritage, said:“We see a huge opportunity in bringing this national issue to the attention of MSPs and opening a much-needed debate on the protection of listed buildings across the country.
“These buildings are gifts to the nation from the past – and we should be taking every step necessary to ensure they are protected from unnecessary demolition – as is intended by the legislation.”
Paul Sweeney MSP, Member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow, said:“This petition addresses a glaring loophole in existing policy. It is not acceptable that councils can demolish listed buildings in Scotland – using so-called public safety powers – without providing evidence to show that there is no alternative to demolition.
“It is my hope that the Scottish Parliament’s petitions committee backs this petition so that we can strengthen protections of listed buildings in Scotland.”
Jocelyn Cunliffe, acting chair of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland, said: “The AHSS supports SAVE’s petition to the Scottish Government to provide enhanced safeguards for listed buildings across Scotland.
“Local authorities are empowered to act timeously to save listed buildings and it is imperative that all options be considered and that there are adequate checks and balances before demolition, which should be a last resort, takes place.”
Joe Traynor, director of The Scottish Civic Trust, said:“The Scottish Civic Trust endorses SAVE’s petition which encourages policy makers to respect and boost the protection of Scotland’s historic buildings.
“These need to be protected, reused and celebrated as unique to the make-up of our communities and places.”
Current conflict of interest
In cases involving the use of emergency powers on grounds of public safety, current legislation creates a potential conflict of interest for Local Authorities between the legal duty of Planning Departments to protect listed buildings under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1997 and the duty of Building Control Departments to make any dangerous building safe, including via demolition, under Section 29 of the Building (Scotland) Act 2003.
The drawn-out demolition of large parts of Ayr’s Category B listed Station Hotel by South Ayrshire Council following an arson attack which damaged the building in September 2023, has brought this issue into the national spotlight.
Following the fire, the Council assumed legal responsibility for the site, with Building Control proceeding to demolish the south wing of the building, without publishing detailed evidence to justify its actions, and no requirement to gain approval from Historic Environment Scotland before doing so.
SAVE has remained consistently opposed to the council’s decision to pursue demolition and raised these issues of national heritage importance at a specially convened cross party round table at the Scottish Parliament in November 2023.
Photos published with this press release show the devastating impact of the demolition of the Station Hotel’s highly ornate south wing – and subsequently much more of the building.
In February, SAVE called for the retention of the listed building’s surviving north wing and tower as a key priority in South Ayrshire Council’s emerging vision for Ayr Town Centre which went out for public consultation in January 2024. These sections of the listed building were far less extensively impacted by the fire in September 2023 and could have formed the foundation for a refurbished modern railway station without tearing the heart out of the town.
However, South Ayrshire Council began demolition of the tower and a substantial portion of the north wing in April 2024, on the grounds of public safety. Yesterday, the council announced that this demolition is “on target” to be complete by 17th June 2024. A Dangerous Buildings Notice has been issued by South Ayrshire Council requiring the owner of the building to make the surviving section of the north wing safe.
SAVE’s petition, which addresses this loophole in legislation which allows councils to demolish listed buildings under emergency public safety powers without providing robust justification, was published on 6th June 2024 by the Scottish Parliament and is now open to signatures.
The next stage will be consideration at an upcoming Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee (CPPPC) meeting, at which point the committee will decide on what action will be taken.
This can include asking for a debate about the petition in the chamber or recommending actions for the Scottish Government. SAVE’s petition has called for an urgent Parliamentary debate.
A 19th century sundial that was accidentally run over by a lawnmower has been restored to its former glory and is on display at Heriot-Watt University Museum & Archive in Edinburgh.
The stone sundial was designed and made in 1829 by Robert Palmer, a local schoolmaster in the village of Currie on the outskirts of Edinburgh, who was also a keen astronomer, with an extensive knowledge of astronomy and mathematics.
His intricately engraved sundial includes Roman numerals from 4am to 8pm, astrology symbols, the months of the year and around 50 place names including Quebec, Mecca, Mauritius, London and Waterloo.
Julia Stephen, Curator at Heriot-Watt University, explained: “When the sundial points to these places all over the world, like Calcutta or Jamaica, it means it’s noon in that part of the world.
“The sundial was really an intellectual exercise for Robert Palmer as well as an artistic one. He was almost showing off his knowledge.”
The sundial sat in the centre of the lawn at Riccarton Estate – a 248 acre parkland estate south west of Edinburgh that is now home to Heriot-Watt’s Edinburgh Campus – for around 130 years. The sundial was then removed in the 1960s when the Riccarton Estate was sold by the Gibson Craig family, who had owned the estate since the early 1600s.
“So for the last 60 or so years, only the stone base of the sundial has sat in the lawn at Riccarton, with no actual sundial on top of it,” said Ms Stephen.
“Then in 2022, the sundial makes a reappearance, when it is returned to the university by the Sudlow family, ancestors of the Gibson Craig family. But it is in a sorry state.
“At some point, the sundial had been damaged by a sit-on lawnmower, It had cracked in half and was literally in pieces. And it was almost black with surface dirt, so it needed reconstruction and restoration work.”
A specialist team of stone conservators joined the broken pieces back together and fitted a metal plate to the underside of the sundial to hold it together.
To celebrate its restoration, the sundial is on display from today, Wednesday 12June, until the end of May 2025, as part of an exhibition about Robert Palmer in the Heriot Watt University Museum & Archive.
The museum is on the lower ground floor of the Cameron Smail Library at the University’s Edinburgh Campus and is open 2-4pm on Wednesdays or by appointment.
About Robert Palmer
Robert Palmer was originally from Dumfriesshire and started teaching at the age of 17. He was the schoolmaster for 40 years in Currie, where he was also a friend of Sir James Gibson Craig, whose family owned the Riccarton Estate. The two men shared a keen interest in the sport of curling.
“Palmer helped set up the rules for the game of curling and he was a very enthusiastic and really good player,” Ms Stephen explained.
“As well as being the school teacher, he kept records for the local community. He was the local registrar, responsible for recording births, marriages and deaths, and also a kirk session clerk and president of the local Scottish school teachers’ association, so quite a pillar of the community.
“Children came from all around to be boarders in his school, because the standard of education they were getting there was significantly better than the average local school.”
Robert Palmer was also well known locally as a maker of sundials and the sundial he gifted to Sir James Gibson Craig is thought to be one of three he made. When Palmer’s old school was renovated around 1989, star charts were found painted all over the walls.
Heriot-Watt University has owned the Riccarton Estate since 1969, when it was gifted to the University by Midlothian Council, who had acquired the estate from the Sudlow family.
The address of University’s Edinburgh Campus is The Avenue, Riccarton, Edinburgh EH14 4AS.
For more details about the sundial exhibition, contact heritage@hw.ac.uk.
POLICE are appealing for the help of the public to trace a 16-year-old boy reported missing from Edinburgh.
Michael Cleal was last seen around 4.45pm on Wednesday, 5 June, in the Muirhouse Avenue area.
He has connections in the south side of Edinburgh, has links to Aberdeen and is known to use public transport.
Michael is described as slim, around 5ft, with black hair. When last seen he was wearing a black beanie style hat, a black jacket with a hood, black jogging bottoms and black trainers.
Sergeant Ian Fraser said: “Concerns are growing for Michael’s welfare and we need to make sure he is safe and well.
“Enquiries are ongoing to trace him and one possibility is that he may have travelled to London, Camden Town area.
“We are keen to speak to anyone who has seen Michael or may know where he is.
“If you can help please call us on 101, quoting reference number 3530 of Saturday, 8 June, 2024
Lead singer of indie-folk band, Tide Lines, Robert Robertson, treated a group of lunch-time go-ers and fans to an impromptu acoustic set in Princes St Gardens yesterday (Tuesday 11th June).
The pop-up gig comes ahead of the band headlining this year’s family-friendly Royal Highland Hoolie on Friday 21st June (presented by Farmers Bash) as part of the Royal Highland Show.
The Highland Hoolie is a celebration of Scottish Music featuring a line-up of fantastic Scottish traditional bands as well as Irish country bands and takes place on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd June.
I am pleased to be getting in touch to inform you about two consultation events for the residents of Granton Medway regarding planned improvements to the Granton Medway Orchard and the Granton Medway Community Park area onWednesday 26th June.
The City of Edinburgh Council have appointed AtkinsRéalis to look at potential opportunities for improvements to two areas of open space at Granton Medway.
The first site is the area of land between the two rows of housing blocks to the south of Granton Medway. The second site is the larger area of grassland siting to the north of Granton Medway.
At this early stage we are looking to gather local knowledge from the residents to help us inform both developments and shape the improvements for the communities who use them most. These improvements are looking to address accessibility, safety, biodiversity, flood water management, and general landscape improvements.
To facilitate this, we will be holding 2 separate consultation events on Wednesday 26th June for residents to drop in and talk to the team together with The City of Edinburgh Council’s Housing team at the following venues and times:
Granton Medway Orchard Garden: 11am – 2pm at The Salvation Army Community Centre, 36 Wardieburn Drive, Edinburgh, EH5 1BZ
Granton Medway Community Park: 4pm – 7pm at the entrance to the park on Granton Medway (Outdoor)
We would value any help you can provide to raise awareness of these events through your local communication networks to those who live in the area.
10-11.30am
Meet at the Balfour Street entrance.
We can provide litter pickers and gloves – or bring your own.
We’ll also be doing some path edging and hole filling so please bring a shovel if you have one and want to help with these tasks.
Children are welcome but must be supervised by a responsible adult.
