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Arctic Air Prompts Advice For Cutting Bills and Keeping Warm
Recent news states that amber cold health alerts from the UKHSA for the whole of England will be in place until 12:00 on 6 January, just as the Ofgem energy price cap has increased, meaning many could be struggling to keep their homes suitably warm during this particularly cold period.
More than 2 million UK households already plan not to turn their heating on at all this winter due to cost-of-living concerns, highlighting the ongoing financial strain many are facing when it comes to their winter bills.
Now, research from the experts at Hillarys reveals a stark postcode divide in the cost of heating across the nation, with detached homes being the most expensive to heat.
And while location plays a role, Lisa Cooper, Head of Product at Hillarys, says the way homes are used — from smart routines and soft furnishings to heat-trapping tricks — can significantly reduce bills this winter whilst keeping homes warm.
Small changes households can make in January
| Building Form | Property Type | Average heatingcost per year (£) | Median heatingcost per year (£) | |
| 1. | Detached | House | 1,974 | 1,417 |
| 2. | Detached | Maisonette | 1,921 | 1,366 |
| 3. | Detached | Bungalow | 1,752 | 1,503 |
| 4. | Detached | Park home | 1,417 | 1,141 |
| 5. | Semi-Detached | House | 1,376 | 1,133 |
In detached homes, small warmth-saving habits go a lot further
In the UK, the majority live in houses (78%), which are the least energy-efficient and most expensive property types to heat. This is because detached properties are exposed on all sides and lose heat faster, meaning detached houses in particular stand to benefit most from simple, warmth-retaining changes over the festive period.
Lisa Cooper, Head of Product at Hillarys, has shared several easy tips which households can do ahead of January to keep warm and bills low, potentially saving up to £815:
- Submit a manual meter reading and potentially save hundreds
“If you don’t have a smart meter, make sure to submit a reading before or on Thursday, the 1st of January, to ensure your bill accurately reflects your energy usage at the old rate. The majority of suppliers have a dedicated app or web form where you can submit readings, but be sure to give yourself plenty of time to familiarise yourself with the exact process for your supplier ahead of the new year.
This will prevent your supplier from estimating your usage at the new, higher rate and stops you from being potentially overcharged. While there’s no specific, universal amount you’ll save from this step, as it depends entirely on your personal usage, avoiding a potentially inflated bill can save your household anywhere from a few pounds to hundreds of pounds.”
- Bleed radiators and save as much as £450 in the winter
“Bleeding a radiator means releasing this trapped air from your central heating system to improve its efficiency, allowing hot water to circulate properly and heat your home evenly. This can save you around £2.26 per week per radiator in energy savings during the colder months, which is roughly £36 to £45 saved per radiator over four months.
In a typical household with 8-10 radiators, those savings can translate to as much as £450 saved on your energy bill over the winter.”
- Thermal blinds could save you up to £240 per year
“Throughout the day, aim to keep curtains and blinds closed, as thick or lined curtains can reduce heat loss significantly. The key is using them smartly: open south-facing curtains for warmth from the sun, then close them at sunset to trap heat, forming an insulating barrier. Heavier fabrics and layered window dressings can help rooms hold onto warmth for longer, particularly in older properties.
A longer-term solution to maintaining heat inside is installing thermal blinds, such as Duette® blinds, which have a unique honeycomb structure.
Independent research at the University of Salford’s Energy House Labs has confirmed that Duette honeycomb blinds are highly effective at improving home energy efficiency by reducing heat loss through windows by up to 55%.
Honeycomb blinds have also been found to reduce whole-home energy use by around 4-17%, which, when applied to typical UK heating bills, could amount to potential annual savings of roughly £30 to £240 depending on the size of your home, insulation and usage.6”
- Save up to £125 with DIY draught excluders
“Draught excluders are a great option, which are long, filled fabric tubes placed at the bottom of doors to prevent cold air from chilling the home. It’s estimated that draught-proofing windows and doors can save you up to £35 per year.
They can be purchased in most home furnishings stores, but to keep costs low ahead of January, they can also be made from items dotted around the home (and make for a fun crafty activity with the family!); by using rolled up towels or filling old jeans or curtains with heavy filling like rice, beans, or fabric scraps and sewing up the ends.”
Families to have better access to childhood vaccinations
A new £2 million pilot in England will see health visitors reach families facing barriers to vaccines, to ensure more children are protected
- Government to bring vaccines to doorsteps of families who can’t make it to the doctor
- New pilot will reach families facing barriers like travel costs, language difficulties or vaccine hesitancy
- £2 million pilot aims to close gap in healthcare inequalities
Health visiting teams will offer vaccinations to children, providing a vital safety net for families who might otherwise miss out.
The new pilot targets families who’ve fallen through the cracks – including those not signed up with a GP, struggling with travel costs, childcare juggling, language barriers or other tough circumstances that stop them getting to the doctor.
By offering vaccinations during routine health visits, the pilot removes these obstacles and ensures more children can access life-saving protection.
Health visitors are specialist public health nurses who support families with children under five. They provide advice on healthy child development, feeding, and family health through regular home visits and clinic appointments.
The twelve pilot schemes will roll out from mid-January across five regions of England – London, the Midlands, North East & Yorkshire, North West, and South West – designed to boost uptake and protect children from preventable diseases.
While the scheme isn’t designed to replace your GP – families should continue to get vaccinated at their local surgery first – it supports families with children who’d otherwise slip through the net.
Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, said: “Every parent deserves the chance to protect their child from preventable diseases, but some families have a lot going on and that can mean they miss out.
“Health visitors are already trusted faces in communities across the country. By allowing them to offer vaccinations, we’re using the relationships and expertise that already exist to reach families who need support most.
“Fixing the NHS means tackling health inequalities head-on. By meeting families where they are, we’re not just boosting vaccination rates – we’re building a health service that works for everyone.”
The year-long trial will be evaluated before rolling it out across the country from 2027.
Health visitors on the pilot will get extra training to tackle tricky conversations with worried parents – including those who have doubts about vaccination – and to give vaccinations safely.
Struggling families will be identified by the NHS using GP records, health visitor notes and local databases.
The pilots form part of the commitment to ramp up vaccination programmes, with over 18 million flu vaccines delivered this autumn – hundreds of thousands more compared to this time last year – and over 60,000 more NHS staff also getting their jab.
The Westminster government is also investing in better digital services to help families track their child’s health and vaccinations. Through the new NHS App, parents will be able to monitor their children’s health using My Children – a 21st century digital alternative to the Red Book.
The pilot builds on the government’s commitment to Family Hubs and Start for Life programmes, which provide vital support for families during pregnancy and the early years of a child’s life, including health visiting services and parenting support.
From 2 January 2026, children will receive the new MMRV vaccine, protecting against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox in one vaccine. This replaces the current MMR vaccine, and offers protection against chickenpox for the first time while making vaccination simpler for families.
The UK government’s ‘Stay Strong. Get Vaccinated’ campaign also runs throughout the year to promote confidence in vaccination.
MHRA approves zapomeran (Kostaive) mRNA COVID-19 vaccine
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) yesterday (2 January 2026) approved zapomeran (Kostaive) mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, for the immunisation of individuals aged 18 years of age and older.
Zapomeran is given as a single 0.5 mL booster dose by injection into the muscle of the upper arm. It contains a self-amplifying messenger RNA (sa-mRNA) which instructs the body’s cells to temporarily make the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.
This teaches the immune system to fight off the virus in the future.
Julian Beach, Interim Executive Director of Healthcare Quality and Access at the MHRA, said: “Patient safety is our top priority.
“The approval of zapomeran (Kostaive) provides an alternative vaccine for use in adults to prevent COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2.
“As with all licensed medicines, we will continue to monitor its safety closely as it becomes more widely used.”
Very common side effects (which may affect more than 1 in 10 people) include pain or tenderness at the injection site, tiredness, chills, fever, muscle and joint pain, headache and dizziness. Most side effects are mild and disappear within a few days of vaccination.
A full list of side effects can be found in the Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) or the Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC), which will be published on the MHRA website within 7 days of approval.
As with any medicine, the MHRA will keep the safety and effectiveness of zapomeran under close review.
Anyone who suspects they are having a side effect from this medicine is encouraged to talk to their doctor, pharmacist or nurse and report it directly to the MHRA Yellow Card scheme, either through the website (https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk) or by searching the Google Play or Apple App stores for MHRA Yellow Card.
Edinburgh opticians scoops top team title at prestigious national awards
A TEAM of opticians in Edinburgh is celebrating after winning another coveted industry award.
Specsavers Morningside scooped the prize for Optical Assistant Team of the Year at the annual Optician Awards during a glittering ceremony at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on Saturday 13 December.
The award comes a month after Specsavers Morningside, alongside its sister store Specsavers Cameron Toll, won the ‘Hearing Care Practice of the Year’ award at the inaugural Scottish Optical Awards last month.
The team, led by clinical director Michael O’Kane and retail director Joe Alubaid, were recognised for their commitment to making sure each customer feels special and maintaining a friendly atmosphere in the practice, as well as their passion for integrating new members of the team, developing staff and their work within the local community.
Michael says: ‘This is a brilliant award for a brilliant team. Our Optical Assistants are a vital part of Specsavers Morningside, serving our community with real pride.
‘Although our practice has grown significantly since opening in 2009, the team has never lost its personal touch.
‘They are an anchor within the community, knowing patients by name and consistently going above and beyond to ensure everyone feels comfortable, supported and well looked after.
‘They are fantastic examples of what Specsavers stands for, and I’m incredibly proud of them.’
Joe adds: ‘This recognition reflects the hard work and care the team puts in day after day.
“They support each other, welcome new colleagues and create an environment where people enjoy coming to work and customers enjoy coming in.
“Winning this award is well deserved and a real credit to everyone involved.”
The annual Optician Awards aim to celebrate the achievements of optics and audiology practitioners across the UK and Ireland, recognising excellence, innovation and impact within the profession.
Specsavers had twelve shortlisted entries spanning six categories in the running this year, including as finalist for the Eye Health Campaign of the Year alongside its charity partner Vision Care, which provides free eye care to homeless people across Scotland and the UK.
To learn more about the Optician Awards and view the full list, visit:
Specsavers Morningside is located at 85 Morningside Road and is open every Monday – Wednesday and every Friday from 9am – 6:30pm, every Thursday from 9:30am – 6:30pm and every Saturday from 9am – 6pm.
To book an appointment, call 0131 446 9960 for eye care or 0131 672 9218 for hear care, or visit www.specsavers.co.uk/stores/morningside.
Scientists to ‘spy’ on cancer- immune cell interactions using quantum technology breakthrough
Heriot-Watt researcher awarded prestigious fellowship to develop ultra-sensitive quantum technology for cancer immunotherapy
A revolutionary quantum sensing project that could transform cancer treatment by tracking how immune cells interact with tumours has been awarded a prestigious £2 million Future Leaders Fellowship.
The four-year fellowship, funded by UK Research and Innovation, focuses on a critical problem: immune cells often fail when they encounter cancer tissue because the tumour environment disrupts their metabolism. The pathbreaking project could enable the development of improved patient-tailored cancer therapies and provide tools for earlier diagnosis and evaluation of anti-cancer drugs.
Dr Aldona Mzyk will use quantum sensors, devices that harness the properties of quantum physics to detect minuscule changes, to understand why current cancer immunotherapies work for some patients but not for others.
Quantum sensors can detect molecular changes inside living cells with extraordinary precision, measuring changes on length scales thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair. Dr Mzyk’s project will use sensors as small as a single electron to probe magnetic signals from free radicals. These highly reactive molecules play crucial roles in cell metabolism and disease development.
The research addresses a major challenge in cancer treatment. While laboratory-engineered immune cells called CAR-T cells have successfully treated blood cancers like leukaemia and lymphoma, they work in less than half of cases for solid tumours like breast, lung or bowel cancer. This failure occurs because cancer tissue consumes available resources and produces metabolites that cause immune cells to malfunction.
Dr Aldona Mzyk is currently a researcher at DTU in Copenhagen and will join the Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences at Heriot-Watt University. She said: “Every minute, seventeen people in the world die from cancer. We know that immune cell failure comes from changes in their metabolism when they interact with cancer cells.
“To improve immune cell performance, we need to understand how to control these metabolic changes by monitoring free radical production inside the cells – essentially spying on how they behave. This requires incredibly fast and precise detection methods, which quantum sensors can provide for the first time.”
The multi-disciplinary project will combine quantum sensing with optical spectroscopy and microfluidics to create an integrated platform capable of tracking cellular metabolism in thousands of cells within seconds. The project aligns with the UK’s National Quantum Technology Programme and the goal of equipping the NHS with ultra-sensitive quantum sensors.
Professor Cristian Bonato, Principal Investigator for Heriot-Watt’s Nanoscale Quantum Sensing facility, based in the School of Engineering & Physical Sciences, said: “Quantum sensing is transforming medical diagnostics as its sensitivity, down to the single molecule level, enables us to detect disease early, which often leads to better treatment outcomes.
“At Heriot-Watt, we’re developing quantum sensors that achieve unprecedented precision, from imaging magnetic fields in nanomaterials to detecting small quantities of molecules relevant for biomedical research.
“Dr Mzyk’s fellowship represents exactly the kind of innovative and pathbreaking application that could revolutionise healthcare, in synergy with our partners in the “UK Quantum Sensing hub for Biomedical Research”.”
The Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences at Heriot-Watt is involved in four of the five quantum research hubs announced last year by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Heriot-Watt leads the Integrated Quantum Networks Hub and participates in quantum research focused on sensing, imaging, timing, and biomedical applications.
London’s Black cabs backed with fairer tax system
- Cabbies and small taxi companies to benefit as online minicab firms stopped from using niche scheme to avoid paying tax
- Reform announced at Budget ensures everyday cabbies can compete fairly
- Closure to bring in £700 million a year to help cut waiting lists, cut debt and borrowing, and cut the cost of living
Today (Friday 2 January) online mini cab firms have been barred from illegitimately using a niche scheme to avoid tax.
As announced at the Budget by the Chancellor, private hire vehicle operators in London will no longer be able to use the Tour Operators Margin Scheme – a niche tax scheme designed for tour operators and holiday coach trips – to significantly reduce the VAT they pay on fares.
This means that black cabs will no longer have to compete with online mini cab firms who are misusing this scheme to pay less VAT.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, said: “We’re putting the brakes on the illegitimate use of a niche tax scheme to protect everyday cabbies.
“We’ll use the £700m a year this raises to deliver the country’s priorities – cutting the cost of living, cutting waiting lists and cutting debt and borrowing.”
Steve McNamara, General Secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, said: “The Government’s decision to apply VAT to all private hire journeys is a landmark step for fairness and integrity in our industry.
“For too long, drivers and small operators paying the full 20% VAT have had to compete with online mini cab firms benefiting from a niche tax scheme.
“We welcome this move and commend the Government for taking decisive action.”
The Tour Operators Margin Scheme is a specialist VAT rule designed for genuine travel and holiday businesses, allowing them to pay VAT only on the profit they make on package trips, not the full fare, typically reducing the effective VAT rate to 4%.
First announced by the Chancellor at Budget 2025, today’s measure will prevent the small number of big companies accessing the Tour Operators Margin Scheme, as they have been doing.
By supporting fairer competition, the government is protecting around £700 million in revenue, helping deliver the public’s priorities – cutting waiting lists, cutting debt and borrowing, and cutting the cost of living.
Smaller operators outside London, where passengers book directly with drivers, and all black cabs will not be affected by this reform to the Tour Operator’s Margin Scheme.
City Council: Business Drop-in
You’ll be surprised at the range of ways the Council supports Edinburgh’s businesses to help them succeed.
Join us at the Assembly Rooms on 3 February 2026 to talk with our teams and some of our partner organisations that support businesses. It’s your chance to ask questions, share your thoughts, and learn more about how we work for, and with, businesses to make our city a better place.
Get answers to practical questions – from business rates and what licences you may need for new businesses and much, much more.
3 February 2026 10am to 1pm
Assembly Rooms, George Street Edinburgh EH2 2LR
Free but please register https://mtcedinburgh.eventbrite.com
Glamorous Edwardians to be explored in major Edinburgh exhibition
The Edwardians: Age of Elegance
The King’s Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse
24 April – 6 December 2026
A glamorous, never-before-exhibited portrait of Queen Mary and a miniature sleigh made of rock crystal will be among highlights on show in Scotland for the first time in a major exhibition opening this spring.
The Edwardians: Age of Elegance will explore the glitzy world of two of Britain’s most fashionable royal couples – King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, and King George V and Queen Mary – through their family connections, royal events, global travels and art collecting.
The exhibition will open in Edinburgh following a successful run in London and is the first Royal Collection Trust exhibition to explore the Edwardian era. It will bring together more than 150 items including fashion, paintings and books, as well as personal items such as jewellery, photographs and chinaware, more than half of which are on show in Scotland for the first time. Visitors will see works from the Royal Collection by many of the period’s most celebrated names, including Fabergé, Tiffany & Co,and Edward Burne-Jones, and depictions of famous faces including composer Sir Edward Elgar.
Curator Kathryn Jones said: ‘The Edwardian era was a golden age of glamour and parties, but it was so much more than that; it was a fast-paced period making great advances in technology.
Our royal couples wanted to make the most of it all, living lavishly and embracing new trends, before the sobering arrival of war. Throughout, they were collecting art as a way to hold onto tradition and capture the rapidly changing world around them. We hope that visitors to the exhibition will enjoy stepping back in time to this exciting period.’
In 1863, Queen Victoria’s eldest son Albert Edward married Princess Alexandra of Denmark. The marriage of the fashionable young couple – the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra – initiated a glamorous new era for the royal family, with Queen Victoria still in mourning and away from public life. Edward and Alexandra established a new, vibrant court filled with opulent balls, society events and contemporary art – a lifestyle continued by their son, the future King George V, and his wife Queen Mary.
Full-length portraits of the two Queens will open the exhibition, showcasing the spectacular fashions of the era. The portraits of Queen Alexandra by François Flameng, and Queen Mary by William Samuel Henry Llewellyn (which has never before been on public display) will be shown alongside marble busts of their husbands, Kings Edward and George. Both couples were fond of Scotland, with Edward having studied at the University of Edinburgh and George and Mary making regular visits and devotedly modernising the Palace of Holyroodhouse to make it once again suitable for royal entertaining.
Displays will evoke the interiors of the royal couples’ private residences, Marlborough House and Sandringham House, where the Edwardian fashion of filling every cabinet and covering every surface with small decorative objects or family photographs reigned.
A star object on display for the first time in Scotland is a paperweight shaped like a tiny 10cm-tall sledge with a figure lying on it by Robert Colquhon. Thought to have been Scottish, Colquhon was agoldsmith based in Russia who made small-scale decorative objects from rock crystal and silver of snowy subjects like sleighs and bears on ice floes. Edward and Alexandra collected several of his works – with one of his sleighs appearing in a photograph of Alexandra’s desk in Marlborough House in the 1890s.
Visitors will also learn of the relationships linking the family to the rest of Europe. Fabergé was introduced to the British royal family through Alexandra’s sister Dagmar, who had married Alexander III, Tsar of Russia. The royal patronage caused the popularity of Fabergé to soar in the UK, and on show will be 21 items from the firm, including an ornate picture frame holding a photograph of Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife; a cigarette case famously given to Edward by his official mistress Mrs Keppel; and six miniature figures of the royal couple’s favourite animals on the Sandringham estate.
As enthusiastic patrons of the arts, the Edwardians embraced new artistic movements including Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts, and the burgeoning medium of photography.
Alexandra was particularly taken with the drawings of the Pre-Raphaelite artist, Edward Burne-Jones, whose study for a larger painting inspired by Sleeping Beauty will be on display. A soft-focus photograph of Alexandrabyphotographer Alice Hughes was typical of her pioneering yet delicate style, and both are on display in Scotland for the first time.
Garden parties formed an essential part of the Edwardian social calendar, with the first taking place at the Palace of Holyroodhouse during the much-anticipated visit of George and Mary in 1911. Danish painter Laurits Tuxen had been introduced to Queen Victoria through her daughter-in-law Alexandra, and his painting of a garden party at Buckingham Palace captures the spirit of the joyous occasion.
Contributions to society were also celebrated through the founding of the Order of Merit in 1902 to recognise prominent figures in cultural, scientific or military life. George commissioned a portrait of each recipient – a tradition that continues to this day – and drawings of Sir Edward Elgar and the physicist Sir J.J. Thomson by Scottish artist William Strang will be on display for the first time in Scotland.
The turn of the century saw great improvements to methods of travel, and the Edwardian royals travelled further than any previous members of the royal family – collecting and receiving gifts as they went. In February 1901, George and Mary set sail for 10 months on HMS Ophir to open the new federal parliament in Melbourne, Australia. To mark the occasion, the ‘Ladies of Adelaide’ gave Mary a richly embroidered silk hanging featuring a eucalyptus tree and local varieties of irises and orchids.
George and Mary visited the Palace of Holyroodhouse in July 1914, only a few weeks before the outbreak of the First World War. The glamour of the Edwardian era was being eclipsed by a serious atmosphere of duty – a sentiment led by the King, as Herbert Arnould Olivier’s study of King George V and Frank O. Salisbury’s painting The Passing of the Unknown Warrior, King George V as Chief Mourner, Whitehall attest. Collecting had now become a way to honour the many sacrifices made in the Great War; a more restrained and dutiful monarchy had emerged.
The King’s Gallery will continue to offer £1 tickets for visitors receiving Universal Credit and other named benefits. Other concessionary rates are available, including discounted tickets for Young People, half-price entry for children (with under-fives free), and the option to convert standard tickets bought directly from Royal Collection Trust into a 1-Year Pass for unlimited re-entry for 12 months.
Lindsays: Edinburgh’s average house price rises to almost £355k
Average house prices in Edinburgh have risen to almost £355,000, according to a firm of independent solicitors and estate agents.
Lindsays says its average sale price in the capital during 2025 was £354,522 – up 2.6% on the previous 12 months (£345,310).
Its property market experts expect 2026 to be another year of similar price increases, with demand from homebuyers continuing to outstrip supply across the city.
Edinburgh-headquartered Lindsays believes the current city market remains strong, with properties generally selling at about their home report valuation level.
Maurice Allan, Managing Director of Residential Property at Lindsays, said: “There’s a good balance to the market right now. There’s no reason to suspect that’s going to change.
“The big issue that we always have in Edinburgh is lack of supply. There are always people moving here – it’s a place people want to be – but there are very few places to build new homes within the city itself. That creates a very particular dynamic to the local market.
“We expect 2026 to be much in line with the past 12 months. There are certainly no signs of a downturn.
“A market without extremes is always the healthiest. We want to see fluidity in the market, where it’s relatively easy to buy and relatively easy to sell. That’s what we have right now.”
Lindsays reported a busy end to the market in 2025, with a good number of prospects in the pipeline moving into this year (2026).
The firm also operates an estate agency in Dundee, where its average house price sale during 2025 was £217,751.
Chris Todd, Partner and Head of Residential Property at Lindsays, said: “One of the most significant factors that we’re going to see during 2026 will be around the cost of borrowing.
“We can expect a degree of certainty around interest rates. We do not expect any significant change in those.
“That provides a level of certainty, with mortgage lending fairly readily available. That all points towards a balanced, steady market for the next 12 months.”
According to the latest statistics from the UK House Price Index, the average price of a property in Scotland is £194,000, up 5.3% on the year.