Marks & Spencer has announced that they will be closing all their stores on Boxing Day so their staff can enjoy some much-needed time off over the festive period.
CEO Steve Rowe made the early announcement this week, where he wrote to his 70,000 strong workforce to inform them of the good news and thank them for all their hard work over the last few months.
Mr Rowe said: “Up and down the country, our colleagues have been there for our customers in the most challenging of circumstances.
M&S – Manchester / Facebook
“As a small thank you for their incredible hard work, we’ve taken the decision to close our operations on Boxing Day once again this year, to enable our colleagues to spend more time with their family and loved ones.”
In a separate move, however, M&S has also revealed that it will have extended opening hours at more stores before Christmas this year, with the majority of branches being open from 6am to midnight from Monday December 20th to Thursday December 23th.
A ‘selected number’ of stores will be open until 8pm on Christmas Eve.
M&S – Manchester / Facebook
This comes just weeks after Morrisons made a similar announcement regarding their Boxing Day opening hours – the supermarket chain, who came under fire last year for remaining open on Boxing Day, announced that all staff members across the country will this year get the day off.
A Morrisons spokesperson told the BBC: “Everyone at Morrisons has worked incredibly hard over the last eighteen months as we’ve responded to the unprecedented challenges of a global pandemic, serving our customers and local communities.
“So this year, we’re taking the exceptional step of closing all our supermarkets on Boxing Day, so as many colleagues as possible can enjoy a two day weekend break with family and friends.”
Those who went to school throughout the ’90s and early noughties will remember the little Alien Eggs you could buy from the shop that supposedly gave birth.
Kids would gather in the playground to show off their pet aliens, claiming that they had given birth to tiny alien babies. But not just one birth, multiple births to multiple babies.
Others would wonder and marvel as they hoped that their pet aliens would also do the same.
Conspiracy theories spread like wildfire across UK playgrounds with kids claiming theirs gave birth after ‘putting them in the fridge’ or ‘running them under water’.
Henbrandt / Amazon
Some kids would swear blind their Aliens were making babies. But did they really reproduce? Or was it just a myth?…
The squishy figures came in a plastic egg that fit in the palm of your hand and contained two aliens smothered in a gooey gel. They were a bit gross to be fair but kids were absolutely obsessed with them.
The weirdly fascinating Alien Egg launched in 1999 and was created by Martin Grossman, who got the idea in a ‘3am brainwave’, according to Vice.
By Christmas that year, he had already sold three million of the toys, and rumours about their ability to reproduce had taken over schoolyards across the nation.
Henbrandt / Amazon
Even the newspapers were jumping on the playground rumour bandwagon.
The Guardian reported in 1999 that a cleaner had found one in a tube station and mistaken it for a foetus. According to reports, he called emergency services and ambulance crews turned up to transport the supposed foetus to hospital where a doctor examined it to be sure.
Kids spread further rumours that the tiny jelly figures would open their eyes and come to life at the turn of the millennium, but that didn’t happen.
The ’90s was one strange era and the public had a weird fascination with all things extra terrestrial. Kids grew up on movies like Men In Black and Independence Day and listened to ‘Spaceman’ by Babylon Zoo.
Henbrandt / Amazon
People were watching Mulder and Scully come across unexplained happenings in the X-Files – popculture was rife with Aliens. Also, everyone was convinced that all computers would completely malfunction with a ‘millennium bug’ in Y2K.
As the clock struck midnight and 2000 came in, the world did not fall apart and the apocalypse did not come. Things just carried on. The only difference was you wrote ‘2000’ in the top corner of your school books instead of the 90-somethings you’d been used to.
And as for those Alien Eggs many of us were convinced could give birth, even into our adult lives, LadBible attempted to discover the truth (after all, the truth is out there). They spoke to Julie Pittilla – who did PR for the Alien Egg since the start – who told them that the toys sold incredibly well, but as to whether they could give birth, it was ‘really out of the knowledge of mere humans’…
Kendall Hoopes / Pexels & Patrick Emerson / Flickr
As the temperature has noticeably dropped and winter is well and truly here, an eerie-looking full Beaver Moon will illuminate the foggy night sky tonight.
Tonight (November 27th) will be a full Beaver Moon and this striking vision will be visible in the sky from the late afternoon as evenings are now getting dark much earlier.
This full Moon is extra special as it marks the last one before Christmas and the penultimate of 2023.
This winter full moon’s name is believed to be derived from the time of year when beavers retire to their dens in anticipation of the winter months, as they gather and store their supplies.
Sue Thompson / Flickr
It is also believed some Native American tribes as well as American colonists called the November full moon the Beaver Moon because this was the time to set beaver traps before the swamps froze, to ensure a supply of warm winter furs.
An alternative name for November’s full moon is the Frost Moon, which was also coined by Native Americans – which makes sense as the winter frost begins to set in.
The best time to see tonight’s dazzling display will be just after the Moon rises, while it is still close to the horizon and appears to be much larger than normal.
Dr Baskill, astronomer and lecturer at the University of Sussex, told BBC Science Focus: “You have a second opportunity to admire the full Moon hugging the horizon when it rises in the north-east as the Sun sets later that same day.
Kendall Hoopes / Pexels
“Full Moons always occur when the Moon is on the opposite side of the sky to the Sun, and it is fully illuminated by sunshine – which is where the name ‘full Moon’ originates.”
As the Moon rises above the horizon it may appear larger than normal, although this is just an optical illusion.
However, Dr Baskill promised it would be an ‘impressive sight when it’s low on the horizon’.
The typical northern weather may make the full Beaver Moon less visible in the sky as cloud cover obstructs our view. However, we may still be able to catch a glimpse of this spectacular sight with the odd break here and there.
Patrick Emerson / Flickr
Stargazers across Manchester, parts of Wales and the South West may stand a good chance with clearer skies than London and the South East – as these areas have been told to prepare for wet weather.
Aside from the skies, stargazers will probably want to wrap up warm as they look out at the impressive moon, as temperatures are expected to drop to 5C.
Beaver Moons happen in November, making the next one not until around this time next year – so remember to look up and don’t miss out!
Maccies is making Christmas extra special by putting Paddington soft toys in its Happy Meals and families are delighted.
The cute Christmas collectables are available at McDonald’s restaurants now and are included in Happy Meals to give children a wonderful festive surprise.
Paddington teddies come in a range of 10 different Christmas outfits, while still keeping the bear’s signature blue coat and red hat.
McDonald’s
The collection includes the iconic bear wearing a Christmas elf hat, a Christmas jumper, reindeer ears, a Santa hat, wearing a Christmas tree and more.
Each soft toy comes with Paddington’s message, ‘Please look after this bear. Thank you’.
Guess you’ll just have to keep eating Happy Meals to make sure you collect all the festive Paddington bears! Fans can even hang the tiny toys on their Christmas tree as they come with a small hanging loop.
McDonald’s
There’s also two different Paddington books to be found inside the playful cardboard box meals – First Snow and The Christmas Wish.
And children can find Paddington puzzles and colouring pictures inside their box meals to keep them entertained.
The mini plush Paddington toys and books are now in all Happy Meals until January 3rd, 2024.
McDonald’s
Families are already absolutely in love with the new range and many flocked to a post of the bears in a Facebook group, where they shared their delight in the comments.
The post has already raked in hundreds of likes and thousands of comments.
One shopper said: “Perfect excuse to get a McDonald’s.” Another agreed: “As if I need an excuse for a McDonald’s.” As others fans simply said, ‘need them all’.
Paddington released a range of bears for McDonald’s Happy Meals last summer which included him as a dancer, a magician, an astronaut and more. They proved a huge hit with the kids and it looks like the Christmas range is spreading just as much excitement, if not more!