Crime & Safety
Which supermarket is cheapest? Tesco, Aldi and Lidl compared
Analysis by Which? found Aldi offered the lowest prices in March for a basket of 95 everyday grocery items, reinforcing its position as the go-to retailer for budget-conscious households.
The data shows Aldi customers paid significantly less compared to rivals, with stark differences across the board:
- £26.75 cheaper than Tesco (even with Clubcard discounts)
- £28.47 less than Sainsbury’s (including Nectar prices)
- £29.70 cheaper than Morrisons
- £64.38 less than Waitrose
Even compared to Ocado, shoppers could save nearly £50 on a single shop.
Over a year, that could add up to more than £2,500 in savings for regular customers.
This comes as major retailers including Aldi, Lidl, Morrisons, Asda and Co-op are slashing prices across everything from vegetables to full roast dinners, with some items dropping as low as 4p.
This could be one of the cheapest Easter shopping periods in years – with meals from £1.25 per person and toys at half price.
But most deals are short-term, meaning shoppers may need to act quickly before stock disappears.
The biggest headline-grabbing deals are on traditional Easter veg.
Aldi shoppers can get potatoes, carrots, onions, swede and parsnips for just 8p and 4p each, bringing the cost of a full veg shop to under 50p. Products include British white potatoes (8p, 2kg), British carrots (4p, 1kg), XL garlic (8p, each), brown onions (8p, 1kg), British swede (4p, each) and British parsnips (4p, 500g).
Morrisons has carrots, parsnips and swede at just 4p, with savings of up to 96%.
These offers are only running for a limited period in the run-up to Easter, meaning availability could be tight as demand surges.
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Full Easter dinner for less than £2 per person
Supermarkets are also competing on full meal deals:
- Aldi: full roast for four at £8.01 total
- Lidl: Easter dinner from £1.63 per person
- Asda: over 50% off lamb, pork and salmon
Core ingredients include:
- Whole leg of lamb from around £6 per kg
- Veg from 4p–8p
- Mint sauce and gravy under £1
The supermarket expects to sell millions of vegetables and 17.5 million Easter eggs, with branded eggs cut to 99p.
Crime & Safety
Stacey Solomon gives BGT golden buzzer to schoolchildren
The ITV talent show sees people from the UK and across the world audition to show off their unique talents in an attempt to impress the judges and win the £250,000 prize money.
Judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon returned to the panel for the news series, and guest judge KSI has become a permanent judge on the show following the departure of Bruno Tonioli.
While Simon Cowell featured at the start of the episode, viewers saw Stacey Solomon temporarily replace him for some of the auditions this evening.
Remember the BGT winners from 2018 to 2025
Students from Braunstone Community Primary School and their headmaster combined comedy with dancing and singing, which impressed Solomon so much she said she believed they deserved the golden buzzer.
The children meet each week at 2pm on Fridays with their headmaster, who gets them all dancing and singing together, something Alesha Dixon said “all schools should roll out because kids need this life force of music”.
What is a golden buzzer on BGT?
The golden buzzer is pressed when a judge or the hosts, Ant and Dec, want to send an act straight through to the live shows to award them for their talents.
It’s only given to a select few acts per series and it means golden buzzer acts can skip some of the other auditions.
What does the winner of BGT 2026 get?
There have been 18 winners of BGT since its first series in 2007, with magician Harry Moulding winning last year.
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The winner of BGT will take home a prize of £250,000 and will also be given the chance to perform at the Royal Variety Performance in front of the royal family.
In the ITV show’s first three years, winners won a prize of £100,000, while the biggest winners were Ashleigh and Pudsey with a prize pot of £500,000 in 2012.
Who is your favourite winner of Britain’s Got Talent from previous years? Let us know in the comments.
Crime & Safety
Starbucks UK expansion promises 75 new stores in 2026
Duncan Moir, President of Starbucks Europe, said: “In the UK, we continued to grow, opening 92 coffeehouses last year.
“We plan to open 75 more in the next year, and over the next five years, there are plans to open 500 more. This shows our confidence in the UK market.”
The company has also been expanding in other regions, opening 299 new stores last year.
The UK remains Starbucks’ biggest market in the region. Even with rising costs and strong competition, Starbucks grew its UK revenue to £556.3m last year. Customer visits rose slightly, and the average spend per customer reached £6.45.
Digital ordering and loyalty programs are proving popular.
Mobile orders are up 28%, and Starbucks Rewards now accounts for 42% of UK sales, with membership growing to 2.4 million active users.
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New stores and acquisitions
By the end of last year, Starbucks had 1,304 stores in the UK.
Starbucks is also seeing strong growth in its menu. Cold drinks sales rose 11.8%, while Matcha drinks jumped 68% in the past year.
Seasonal and limited-time drinks now make up 10% of UK sales.
Crime & Safety
Lamb costs soar in UK in last 3 years due to climate change
New analysis reveals that climate change has added £168 to the lamb bill of households that eat lamb regularly over the past three years.
The analysis, carried out by Zero Carbon Analytics for the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), links extreme weather events—including droughts, heatwaves and heavy rainfall—to rising prices.
Lamb costs soar in UK in last 3 years due to climate change
Chris Jaccarini, land, food, and farming analyst at the ECIU, said: “As families and communities sit down to celebrate this Easter, the cost of climate change is hitting home.
“Lamb prices are through the roof after droughts, extreme heat and heavy rainfall have hit farmers’ costs of production, weakening grass growth and not allowing the depleted hay stores they depend on time to recover.”
The report found that since 2022, a series of weather “shocks” in the UK have pushed up the price of a typical 2kg leg of lamb by between 7 per cent and 21 per cent each time.
These increases were linked to disrupted grass growth and depleted fodder reserves, both key factors in lamb production.
The climate impacts have also affected other products, with beef and dairy prices rising in response to similar weather-related challenges.
Mr Jaccarini said: “As the current oil price shock threatens to bring yet another round of food price inflation, without faster progress towards net zero to bring balance back to our climate, as well as more investment in the resilience of our farmers, the affordability of food is worryingly exposed to these worsening shocks.”
The analysis used Met Office data and figures from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.
It found that the 2022 drought drove lamb prices up by 11 per cent, the wet winter of 2023/24 by 25 per cent, and the more recent drought conditions by 13 per cent.
The rise in cost of lamb has been attributed to climate change (Image: Getty Images)
Each of these events directly affected grass growth, the report said.
Farmgate prices in 2024 led to a £5 (17.5 per cent) increase in the cost of a lamb roast at Easter, rising to £7 (21 per cent) by the following year.
Sheep farmers are feeling the impact firsthand.
Jack Cockburn, a sheep farmer from Ceredigion in Wales, said: “Here in West Wales, extreme weather is our biggest challenge.
“We’ve had two very wet winters in a row, which has meant poor grass growth due to waterlogged soils and low light levels with the very cloudy conditions.
“This has meant lambs going to the abattoir at lighter weights and less meat per animal.”
Best Easter Egg deals in UK supermarkets
Lamb is not the only product to see price hikes, with the cost of Easter eggs also rising.
Prices have gone up by two-thirds in three years due to poor cocoa harvests caused by heavy rain, drought, and heatwaves in West Africa.
Recent grocery inflation data from Worldpanel by Numerator confirmed that the average price of an Easter egg is now nine per cent higher than last year, at £3.27.
Savings experts have analysed Easter egg prices across major supermarkets and revealed which brands have shrunk the most – and where shoppers can still get the best value in 2026.
Experts say rising cocoa costs are partly responsible, but shoppers can still find good deals if they compare prices carefully.
Research by VoucherCodes.co.uk compared prices at supermarkets including Asda, Tesco, Aldi and Marks & Spencer.
The analysis revealed several standout deals across UK supermarkets.
Top picks include:
- Cheapest branded eggs: Asda, starting at £1.40
- Best budget luxury egg: Aldi Choceur Jammy Wheel Biscuit Egg
- Best multibuy deals: Asda 2-for-£8.98 offers
Best loyalty discounts: Tesco Clubcard and Morrisons More
- Viral premium eggs: Marks & Spencer
- Cheapest Cadbury Mini Eggs: B&M
According to the research, Asda currently offers the cheapest branded Easter eggs, with popular options around £1.40 for 100g.
For shoppers wanting something a little more indulgent without spending too much, Aldi came out strongly.
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Shoppers using supermarket loyalty schemes can also unlock better prices.
Both Tesco Clubcard and Morrisons More offer discounts on mid-range branded eggs.
For fans of Cadbury Mini Eggs, the research found B&M currently offers the best value.
Its 256g bag priced at £4.89 works out cheaper per gram than smaller packs or equivalent sizes in supermarkets.
What is your favourite thing to eat at Easter? Let us know in the comments.
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