It may not be a headline you were expecting to read this morning, but the best places in the UK for a romantic getaway have just been named.
And both Blackpool and Preston are sitting right at the top of the list.
In case you hadn’t heard, or clocked the date yet, today is Valentine’s Day, so what better way to celebrate the international day of love in all its glory than whisking you and your loved one away on a romantic trip or day out, right?
While most couples would probably have faraway tropical island resorts or European cosmopolitan cities at the top of their travel bucket lists, realistically, that doesn’t always fit into everyone’s budgets, and often leaves us having to stay a little closer to home… but, is Lancashire a little, too close? We’d have to go with yes.
Don’t get us wrong, there’s some stunning rural Lancashire villages and towns that should absolutely be destinations on your lists to visit sometime soon, but it wouldn’t be a bold statement to claim Blackpool and Preston don’t exactly scream romance.
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Despite our initial reactions, it’s true – both the Lancashire seaside resort town, and the county’s largest and most-populated city have named the best places in the UK for a romantic getaway, according to a new research study by travel deals site Tripplo.
The company examined several factors to devise the list of six, including the number of romantic hotels in each city, the total number of reviews for romantic hotels in each town, the average number of reviews, the average Booking.com rating, the average price, and the average star rating – with all hotels filtered using Booking.com’s ‘romantic hotels’ filter.
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An overall ‘romance score’ was then created for each location by equally taking into consideration the number of romantic hotels per 100,000 people, average Booking.com rating, average price per night, and average star rating.
And Blackpool came out as number one.
Achieving an overall romance score of 73.34 out of 100, Blackpool, impressively, was found to have 60 romantic hotels per 100,000 people – which is the sixth highest amount in the UK – and an average Booking.com rating of 8.81, while it also ranked as the cheapest, with the average price of an overnight stay being £103.95 per night.
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It did, however, have an average star rating for the romantic hotels as 3.55, which is unfortunately the third lowest in the country.
Preston’s overall romance score came out at 71.20 out of 100, with 65 romantic hotels per 100,000 people, an average Booking.com rating of 8.71, and an average star rating for the romantic hotels in Preston is 3.56, while an overnight stay night was the UK’s second cheapest.
If Blackpool and Preston in the top two spots weren’t shocking enough for you as it is, the rest of the list is also pretty questionable.
The top six is rounded out by Bath, Wrexham, Chester, and, wait for it… Burnley.
So for once when it comes to a top 10 ranking, the North – and particularly, the North West – is a very well-represented region, so let’s take our wins where we can get them.
Mancs stunned as Northern Lights glow above Greater Manchester in rare solar storm
Daisy Jackson
Greater Manchester was treated to a once-in-a-lifetime display of the Northern Lights overnight.
The skies above our region lit up in shades of pink and green in a shimmering spectacle that had the nation stunned.
The Northern Lights are normally only visible much further north, with many travelling to countries like Iceland and Norway to catch a glimpse – but last night, the show came to Manchester.
It’s all been caused by a ‘severe solar storm, which hit Earth on Friday night, and may continue into Saturday.
Space weather experts issued the rare geomagnetic storm warning – the first in 20 years – on Friday.
But most of us were blown away to actually see the Northern Lights dancing over Manchester.
The huge solar storm predicted by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) supercharged the Aurora Borealis.
They said that ‘additional solar eruptions could cause geomagnetic storm conditions to persist through the weekend’.
Then here comes the science: “A large sunspot cluster has produced several moderate to strong solar flares since Wednesday at 5am ET.
The Northern Lights pictured over Greater Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
“At least five flares were associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that appear to be Earth-directed. SWPC forecasters will monitor NOAA and NASA’s space assets for the onset of a geomagnetic storm.
“CMEs are explosions of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun’s corona. They cause geomagnetic storms when they are directed at Earth.
“Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth’s surface, potentially disrupting communications, the electric power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations.
“SWPC has notified the operators of these systems so they can take protective action.
“Geomagnetic storms can also trigger spectacular displays of aurora on Earth.”
If you look to the skies over Manchester tonight, there’s a chance you’ll see the Northern Lights again.
Just try not to cry as much as we did.
In pictures – the Northern Lights over Manchester
Joyful as a big kid. Mesmerising. Real life moment, never seen them before. Anyone else looking up? pic.twitter.com/a7B4kqBkfY
— NOT QUITE LIGHT – NQL (@NotQuiteLight) May 10, 2024
A company has created some extremely sarcastic greeting and birthday cards mocking Co-op Live
Danny Jones
A UK card company has decided to join in with the pile on over Co-op Live’s chaotic ‘opening’ weeks by creating a series of greeting and birthday cards mocking the arena and its ongoing saga.
If you’re a deeply sarcastic person who struggles to be sincere with those you hold nearest and dearest or simply want to get a co-worker something that says we care that you’re leaving but not so much as to let go without one final dig, these are right up your street.
So, with that in mind, greeting card company thortful – who are just as good at novelty as they are being actually thoughtful when it comes to words – have come up with a few clever little ways of wishing someone a happy birthday or congratulating them on their new home at the arena’s expense.
There’s a new home version of this one too.(Credit: thortful)
Not bad, to be fair.
Tim Leiweke, Chairman and CEO of Oak View Group (which owns and operates Co-op Live), recently released a statement offering his ‘sincere apologies’ and explaining the steps being taken during the venue’s ‘short pause’.
He admitted, “It’s not been the smooth start we had planned for, and I know that has caused a huge amount of disruption and frustration to thousands of people”, adding that they are “working incredibly hard to get the building up and running, and we look forward to welcoming you to the arena from 14 May 2024.”
The London-based card company is known for lots of comedy captions and with every Tom, Dick and Harry taking a pop at the venue already, they clearly thought ‘We might as well join in’.
In fact, they’ve been taking the mick ever since the whole thing kicked off.
The date mentioned above will see Manc music legends Elbow arrive as the venue’s new opening act artists after so many other acts ended up having their gigs pulled and we can only hope and pray that everything is on course for next week.
With more and more names being announced for their 2024 and 2025 calendar left right and centre, the most recent being rapper Travis Scott, it looks as though they’re confident that the arena will open and live up to the expectations it has built up given its billing as the biggest indoor entertainment in the UK.
As for thortful and everyone else, we just have to wait with bated breath to see if there’s set to be another twist in this tale and enjoy the light-hearted jokes in the meantime.