Shoppers were shocked to see thousands of bees swarming in Manchester city centre yet again this weekend.
And this time, it looks like they took a particular liking to traffic light.
As the scorching sun shone down, and temperatures soared up to 25°C over the weekend ahead of this week’s expected heatwave, plenty of summertime shoppers in Manchester city centre yesterday spotted swarms of thousands of bees sat on a traffic light on the corner of Cross Street and King Street.
Several people took to social media to share photos and video footage of the swarms in action yesterday, with one eyewitness declaring that “the bees are taking back Manchester”.
“I know Manchester is known for bees, but this was a bit extreme,” another added.
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People passing the swarm were seen covering their faces with their clothes, and ducking down in a bid to escape the buzzing bees.
While some people were understandably shocked at the sight of thousands of bees calmly covering a traffic light, others were not so fazed about it and remembered that it’s definitely not the first time parts of Greater Manchester have been brought to a halt by swarms of bees.
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Last summer, thousands of the buzzing insects took over the rear window of a parked-up and unattended BMW in the city centre.
They then moved on to engulf a poster for Manchester International Festival (MIF).
Only last month, a woman dressed in full beekeeper attire was spotted by workers on their lunch break and captured on video scooping up bees with her bare hands in MediaCityUK in an effort to relocate a swarm.
Onlookers also eventually saw a beekeeper tend to the swarm on Cross Street yesterday too in a bid to move them to safety.
But why are so many bees swarming in Manchester city centre? What does it mean?
Well, according to the British Beekeepers Association, a honeybee colony may swarm for a number of reasons but can often be seen swarming on warm and sunny days between May and July, and usually after a spell of poor weather.
It’s a completely natural process, and they will most likely swarm to reproduce after the old queen leaves a colony with some of the other bees.
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A beekeeper relocating a swarm on Cross Street / Credit: The Manc Group
Once the queen has left, scout bees will then head off in search of suitable places to construct the swarm’s home, and the successful scouts will eventually report back on the location of suitable nesting sites to the other bees – but in the meantime, the other bees will leave the hive and find a spot to wait until the scout decides on the new home for the colony.
The latter is most likely to answer for the swarm we saw over the weekend.
With the warm weather set to continue, it remains to be seen whether this will be the last swarm we’ll see this week, but the city will no doubt be ready and waiting if it happens again.
First batch of special releases for Record Store Day UK 2026 announced
Danny Jones
Yes, it’s nearly time for Record Store Day 2026, and the list of the first dozen or so limited edition releases here in the UK has just been announced.
With a fair few familiar and, more importantly, Northern names on there (but of course), #RSDUK26 is set to be another great one.
A total of 15 songs have been named on the lineup for this year so far, and yet again, the drops are in support of War Child, who will also be hosting a number of very special and intimate charity gigs during BRITs Week.
The two organisations have collaborated for the sixth time after having first joined forces back in 2020, and it feels like both the annual observance and its catalogue have only got better ever since.
Plenty that have caught our attention already, and there’s only more set to come…
As detailed in the post on social media, the Record Store Day team have retierated that “£1 from every single copy sold of these releases will be donated to the charity, helping to protect, educate, and stand up for the rights of the children who are living through conflict around the world.”
We quickly noticed the likes of The Cure, Fleetwood Mac, Kaiser Chiefs, Mark Knopfler and Bring Me The Horizon, just to name a few.
Once more, here is the RSD 2026 release list in full:
Record Store Day release list | 2026
Corinne Bailey Rae – Live In New York
The Cure – Greatest Hits and Acoustic Hits (compilations)
Divorce – Live at Get Together 2025 for War Child
Dr Feelgood – Oily City Confidential (OST)
Fleetwood Mac – The Original Fleetwood Mac (compilation)
James Dean Bradfield – The Great Western
Kaiser Chiefs – The Future Is Medieval
Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris – ‘All The Roadrunning’
Nicky Wire – Intimism
Primal Scream – Echo Dek
Rory Gallagher – Calling Card
Sigrid x BMTH – ‘Bad Life’
The Streets – Computers & Blues
The Vaccines – What Did You Expect…. Demos and B-sides
As always, all of these titles will be available behind the counter exclusively at indie record shops all over the country on Saturday, 18 April to celebrate Record Store Day UK 2026.
Oh, and if you need help with where to start, look no further.
Manchester City youth Sverre Nypan returns from Championship loan
Danny Jones
Young midfielder Sverre Nypan is returning to Manchester City this January transfer window.
Man City had a fairly busy window, both in terms of new arrivals and outgoings – not least of all due to somewhat of an injury crisis along their backline – which also involved a fair few youth loanees recalled and/or sent back on other spells.
While the big stories were obviously the signing of Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth and Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace, another move that has been confirmed before close on deadline day is Nypan being recalled from his loan in the Championship.
The Norwegian international, whose senior chapter is only just beginning, has spent this season on loan at Middlesbrough, who currently sit joint first in the second-tier table, are level on clean sheets with nine kept across the 20 games so far this campaign, and have the second-best goal difference (18).
Not only is that nearly a shutout nearly every other game, but while things haven’t quite gone the 19-year-old’s way, he did show promise in parts when played by head coach Kim Hellberg.
Still clearly a highly-rated prospect, with Boro fans stating that he showed “real glimpses of quality” even despite being thrown into one of the most physical leagues in the world, and perhaps too soon in his career, there’s definitely a player there.
More of an offensive-minded player, the Eliteserien academy product clearly has potential to be built on, but it remains to be seen what his level is right now, at least when it comes to English football.
City and their supporters certainly seem to think so, too, as while some are expecting him to go back out on a deal somewhere else, others think now could be a good time to give him some minutes in the wider first-team setup.
With Pep Guardiola’s squad still in all four possible competitions in 2025/26, he could be a useful rotation option – especially in the remaining domestic cup games.
It has now been confirmed that he has been given the number 41 shirt, so plenty are now expecting him to stay and add some more defensive strength in depth.
Nypan was signed by the City Football Group (CFG) from Rosenborg last year for a reported £12.5 million, but went on to start just three games for the North East side, and it has now been confirmed that what was supposed to be a full-term contract was mutually terminated by both teams.
With literally just hours left of the winter window, it now looks most likely that he will stay and continue his development with Pep, who has certainly given youngsters a chance and sometimes deploys them in alternative and often even unexpected positions. Could Nypan be used as an auxiliary defender?
However, there is always the chance of a late twist when it comes to transfers, and some have speculated that he could be sent to another CFG franchise.
Would you like to see him stay at the club and gradually work his way into the picture, Blues?
Emily Sergeant -
11th July 2022 
