I'm off on a long-distance trip today, one I bought a ticket for several weeks ago. I have thus become very invested in what today's weather might be because a miserable outlook can wreck a good day out. My visit to Durham in 2015 was destroyed by heavy rain all day, my 2024 trip to Rugby left me soaked through and my 2018 spring break in Cornwall annoyingly coincided with The Beast From The East. What weather would Saturday 22nd February 2025 bring? BBC's weather website provides a forecast up to 14 days in advance, so on Sunday 9th February I refreshed the page and went "oh". Cold and wet, no sun, not ideal. And then it changed its mind again on Tuesday (full-on sunshine) and again on Wednesday (wet). Here's a summary of how the BBC forecast for today's weather changed over the space a week. That was two weeks ago. I then carried on checking throughout last week. Obviously it's a lot easier to forecast the weather as the day approaches, but to have got it right six days in advance is pretty good going. It's particularly good given that today is a brief sunny respite between two wet days, with yesterday seeing a heavy band of rain cross the region and tomorrow promising the same but with gales. It would have been all too easy to get the precise timing of these frontal systems wrong, but the BBC weather forecast has correctly identified 'Friday wet, Saturday dry, Sunday wet" since five days ago. Met Office weather forecast for today at my chosen destination. They don't provide the BBC's forecast any more, theirs is separate and has been since 2018. They also don't provide a forecast until one week before a particular date, not two. So consistent has the message been, from both the BBC and the Met Office, that I've known since Sunday that I'm in for a dry mild day trip today. Hurrah! It isn't always this cut and dried, nor are both forecasts always in agreement, but they've both played a blinder over the last week in getting today's weather right. Indeed if I were to draw your attention to just one fact, it's that long-range weather forecasts are usually bolx. This is especially true if you work for a clickbait website and spot that some unreliable forecast has promised a slight snow flurry in six weeks time - please put your keyboard away and stop trying to hoodwink us with ill-judged certainties. But even the BBC's weather forecast can't be trusted two weeks out, it's just a low-probability best guess, which'll be why they never ever look that far forward on TV. One week ahead, though, might just be spot on... which is why I'm currently speeding out of London towards sunny and mild, hurrah!

Image by Austin Chan If you’re reading this, you’re thinking, “I’m too late,” or “Other people are so much better at this than me,” or, “Why bother?”  You’re probably feeling defeated, depressed, and a special kind of self-loathing that comes with awareness. You know that you shouldn’t feel this way. It’s not constructive. But you […] The post This is the perfect time appeared first on Herbert Lui.

When I was entering the job market in early 2023, I caught up with my friend Fadeke. She had just started a really good job at DigitalOcean. She shared her process with me, and let me know that she did fewer than 20 job applications. This quantity was a really helpful anchor for when I […]

When writing about dining out, the media tend to focus on restaurants, independent cafes and bijou little nooks, also pubs, hotels and takeaways. But there's one place you're always guaranteed a hot meal at a bargain price and that's a supermarket cafe, the unsung destination of choice for many a prudent diner. Assuming you can still find one, that is. The supermarket cafe is usually to be found in a quiet corner somewhere near the entrance, just past the trolley park, the rack of magazines and the backs of the checkouts. Here a long counter awaits the weary shopper, perhaps several, with an array of packaged goodies, plated treats and hot cooked staples awaiting your delectation. The range is generally limited and traditional - all the elderly crowd pleasers - often with a proper breakfast option if you arrive early enough. The drinks machine has long been a fixture just before the till, but these days more likely to generate something frothy than a pot of tea. Warm desserts with dolloped custard were alas phased out long ago in favour of something ready-sliced. And when your tray's full just pay the bill, pick a table and enjoy a leisurely natter, safe in the knowledge your meal out hasn't broken the bank. As long as you go to the right supermarket, that is. Asda on the Isle of Dogs where the supermarket cafe is still a pleasingly retro experience. Step behind the rack of flowers to discover a single white counter, lightly-staffed, and beyond that a puce-walled corner with perches, banquettes and proper tables. The food queue starts by a stack of brown plastic trays, then come the wraps and baguettes (would you like that warmed?), then the slices of sponge under plastic domes with tongs on top. The selection on the hotplate looked very limited but if you wanted the battered cod or lasagne you'd be able to select a portion straight away. By the till are more cakes plus a rack of Walkers crisps and a pleasingly old-school Coca-Cola dispenser, and if you insist on ordering tea there are six options but they're all Tetleys. What's not to enjoy? Asda hot menu Mains (all £6.75): cod and chips, scampi and chips, lasagne, stew & dumplings, chicken tikka masala, beef chilli, cheeseburger, double chicken burger Veg options (£6.50): mac & cheese, sweet potato & spinach curry Fry-up (£6.10): cooked breakfast/all-day brunch Soups (£3): tomato, creamy chicken, hearty veg (all served with roll and butter) Sides: garlic bread, chips, fries, peas, baked beans, side salad, onion rings, chicken nuggets It could still be 2005 with that list, maybe 1995 but probably not 1985. Also I note that a lot of the mains don't require a lot of chewing. Your supermarket needs to be a certain size before its worth having a cafe, so large sites with big car parks are the most likely locations. In rural Norfolk there are plenty, for example, although you have to drive a fair way to get to them. The edge of any provincial town will have an in-store cafe offering, or indeed that retail park by the bypass, such is the culinary allure of the out-of-town supermarket. But Tower Hamlets is not well blessed with the things, so I wondered where my nearest cafes were at other supermarket chains. Tesco cafe Typical lunch items: Chilli Con Carne Jacket Potato, Brunch Burger with Hash Brown Bites, Scampi and Chips, Harissa Chicken and Chorizo Toastie My nearest: Beckton (5 miles), then Woolwich, then Meridian Water. Sainsbury cafe Typical lunch items: Chicken Tikka Masala, Steak & Ale Pie, Sausages & Mash, Avocado & Eggs on Sourdough My nearest: There are none in London, the nearest being at Northfleet in Kent (ah, I see Sainsburys have plans to close all 61 of their remaining cafes, sad face emoji) Morrisons cafe Typical lunch items: Gammon, Egg, Chips & Peas, Ultimate Mixed Grill, Crispy Breaded Falafel Burger, Battered Sausages, Chips and Mushy Peas My nearest: Stratford (1 mile), then Chingford (because proper cafes are rare) Waitrose cafe Typical lunch items: Beef Bourguignon, Mozzarella & Pesto Salad, Chicken Tikka Flatbread, Goat’s Cheese, Fig & Caramelised Shallot Quiche My nearest: Canary Wharf (1 mile) (but it's a bit posh and they also have an olive bar and I don't think this properly counts) It seems my best options for cheap comfort food and chatter are Asda at Crossharbour and Morrisons in Stratford, and that's about it within easy travelling distance. Other low price sit-down locations are of course available, but a bite at Wetherspoons or a perch at Kebabish will never match the retro canteen experience. The supermarket cafe lingers on and is much appreciated by many, but the days of piling up your hot meal on a tray may already be numbered.