Extreme heat: is the UK becoming a 40C country? – podcast

Met Office forecasters have issued a rare red weather warning for England, with temperatures potentially reaching 40C (104F) in some places. Europe is also dealing with a debilitating heatwave, with schools closed, trains cancelled and France even restricting the consumption of alcohol outdoors to take pressure off the emergency services....

Is it true that … beards are unhygienic?

People assume that those with facial hair are more likely to harbour bacteria on their faces than the clean-shaven – but the truth is more tangled The idea that beards are dirtier than clean-shaven faces has been floating around for decades, says John Tregoning, professor of vaccine immunology at Imperial...