After thunderstorms, heavy downpours, and dropped temperatures over the past week, Greater Manchester is set to welcome another heatwave.
While it may already feel like a lifetime ago, Greater Manchester joined much of the country in basking in glorious sunshine as temperatures soared to highs of 33°C mid-July, with the hottest day of the year so far recorded on two separate occasions.
And in just a matter of weeks, we’re set to do it all again.
The Met Office has already predicted that a 14-day heatwave would arrive in the UK later this month, and now weather forecasters have revealed that an African plume is expected to bring soaring temperatures into the high 20°Cs once again.
Forecasters are predicting that temperatures will be higher than average, as current unsettled conditions become warmer.
Weather outlook forecaster Brian Gaze told The Express that: “There are tentative signs of an improvement in the middle third of August [and] high pressure may build towards the UK from the Azores, but there is a lot of uncertainty about this.”
Revealing that while the first half of August is likely to be more mixed, with showers or longer periods of rain but also warm and fine spells, he said that warmer temperatures will come towards the end of the month, adding: “If it happens, temperatures in southern and central areas could climb towards the upper 20°Cs, and in the north the mid 20°Cs.”
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“The driest weather will probably be in the south and east,” he continued, “but a heightened risk of heavy showers or thunderstorms means local variations could be large.
“Temperatures should be above average when aggregated over the period as a whole [but] showery spells of rain are still probable, particularly in the north and west.”
Forecasters have predicted temperatures will be higher than average, as current unsettled conditions become warmer / Credit: Pxfuel
He’s not the only weather expert to predict glorious sunshine, as Met Office spokesperson Nicola Maxey also predicted that “hotter spells” to develop as we get into August, adding: “The start of the month is expected to remain changeable, with temperatures most likely close to normal for the time of year or slightly below.
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“During the second half of the month there is a tentative signal for more settled conditions to develop with high pressure becoming slightly more likely.
“If this does occur, we could see drier conditions.”
The BBC’ s long-range forecast currently predicts unsettled weather for the next few weeks.
Featured Image – Flickr
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Five Manchester artists we’ve been listening to this month | February 2026
Danny Jones
Well, hello again – glad to see you’re back here looking for more new music and rising artists from in and around Manchester.
Not to toot our own horn, but we’re confident you won’t be disappointed.
Obviously, everyone is busy wrapped up in BRITs fever, us included; however, we’ve also been having a very good time sitting in the comfort of our headphones and listening to the sound of our hometown.
Let’s get stuck in, shall we?
Greater Manchester music you should check out
1. Roukaya B
First on our list this month, what better place to start than Audio North‘s inaugural Artist of the Month, Roukaya B? Yes, she does happen to be a Manc (a nice bonus), but this new series – which has just debuted over on our dedicated music Instagram page – looks at talent all across the top of the country.
This soulful Salfordian and energetic singer-songwriter had a great musical education, and it shows, as there’s plenty of new school takes on rap and UK hip-hop, as well as plenty of familiar R’n’B flavour from down the years in her style too.
We recently got to chat with her following the release of her latest single, ‘HEAT’, but we love the rhythm behind ‘Out of Sight’ and ‘I Got It’ is still one of our favourites for that beat alone. Hear more from the woman of the moment and Audio North’s first-ever AOTM.
Next up is someone whose work still needs some refining, but we can’t deny that there’s something that keeps us coming back to check on him every few months or so, which means he must be doing something right. His name is Fxsion, and he’s been coming up on the local grime scene for years now.
We’re not going to try and claim we love every lyric, every flow and every track, but there’s definitely something to like in most of the tunes he’s released so far, and you can tell that the production levels and technical skill are improving not just in terms of audio, but the visuals that go along with it all too.
The first song we ever heard from Fxsion was ‘From The Ground’ with Yung Fume, and we still enjoy how he rides the beat, but his music has come quite a way since then, and we’d say two of his best examples at present are more recent releases like ‘Get With The Plan’ and ‘Brightside’.
3. Sâlo
In at number three is someone we’ve already written about this month, but couldn’t possibly pass up the opportunity of hyping for you all once again. We’re talking about Sâlo: also an up-and-coming, genre-bending, Salford-raised solo star who, like Roukaya, we’re expecting big things from in 2026.
Mixing in everything from drum and bass, as well as other electronic-influenced genres, with her classical piano training, jazz, neo-soul and more, to try and put her in just one category would be pointless. Try out ‘So I Stay’, ‘Give Me Time’, or ‘Yearning’, and you’ll get a different vibe every time.
The child of a family who fled her home country for the safety of Britain, we’d urge you not only to listen to her music but also to learn about her incredible backstory. You can read more down below.
From the new kids on the block to those who’ve been at it for ages at this point, K-Klass ran so that a lot of these young artists could walk, and they’re still going all these decades later. These guys first made it big back in the 1990s, and they’re still showing people how a proper re-up is done.
While they might hail from the likes of Chester and Wrexham, they broke through right here in Manchester at the likes of the legendary Haçienda nightclub and have forgotten more about what it takes to make it in the city’s scene than most will ever learn.
Obviously, they’re still best known for mixes like ‘Rhythm Is a Mystery’ and ‘Let Me Show You’, but we’re glad to see that apart from performing live, they’re also enjoying another fresh period of productivity studio-wise. Case in point:
And finally, on our list for February, our last pick of the month is Lei Hope, an alternative R’n’B artist who was born in Zimbabwe, raised in Leeds, and now based in Greater Manchester. Our aesthetic, if there is such a thing, is one he’s taken to like a duck to water
We love stories like this that put us in mind of other previous artists of the month like Nxdia and so many others who’ve blown up after arriving here. In the case of Lei Hope, a friend who also recently performed at city centre venue Low Four Studio put us on to him, and then we began our deep dive.
Starting with ‘Cranium’ and working backwards, there’s a wonderful softness to the youngster’s work so far; he loves a funky guitar and a fair bit of bass, and there’s definitely some indie-pop pulling focus away from some of those more obvious R’n’B traits. We’re big fans of ’21’, and ‘Day Job’ might be his best yet.
That’s it for Feb; we hope you enjoyed what we, or rather, this city’s incredible talents served up.
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It’s also worth noting that everyone on the lineup for this month has roots not only here in 0161 but all over the UK and beyond.
At a time when we need reminding that people of all colours, creeds and genders help contribute to the incredible creative culture we’re known for the world round, maybe more than ever, we’ll never stop being proud of all the different kinds of people that help put the great in Greater Manchester.
Last but not least, if you want to see who made it on our first round-up of the year, you can find a whole other batch of good listening down below.
Featured Images — The Manc Group/StreamGM (supplied)
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A new ’boutique’ chicken spot has opened in Manchester’s Northern Quarter
Danny Jones
A brand-new chicken spot called ‘Le Coq Boutique’ has just opened in Manchester city centre, serving out of a popular Northern Quarter bar.
Is this the best name we’ve ever heard in our time writing about food and drink? It just might be…
Opening from inside The Social NQ on Thomas Street (formerly known as Smithfield Social), their new resident and poultry-centric kitchen is a bit of a pun on the classic French sportswear label, but having now been versed in the word about the bird for ourselves, we can confirm it’s much more than that.
For starters, the only thing more decadent than the roasted meats are the sides and cocktail menu, which features everything from chunky hash browns and some of the richest sauces you could ask for.
As you can see, the most chicken is well and truly the star of the show here, but what they have done is find unique ways of innovating and experimenting with it.
For instance, if you’ve never had a cocktail with chicken fat in it, here’s a place you can try one.
Honestly, this isn’t our first rodeo with this very particular kind of drink – but for those of you that haven’t, we promise, it really is quite good.
Aside from surprisingly saline kicks beside the salty marg rims we’ve become more accustomed to over the years, there are some very nice drinks on the menu.
But we’ll be honest, if you’re a sucker for the famous ‘chicken wine’ – a.k.a. La Vieille Ferme, if you want to be all formal – we imagine you’ll be sticking to plenty of this.
Having already spent many a weekend, be that afternoon or night, at the old Smithfield over the years, now that it has this fine new in-house food offering tacked on, we suspect we’ll be going back a lot more.
Whether you want lots of crispy chicken skin or prefer it smothered in gravy and various other kinds of savoury jus, if you’re an unadulterated mothercluckin’ chicken lover, then you’ll have a great time here.
As the team has joked in the comments under their first few social media posts, while it isn’t technically mandatory to wear the vintage 80s brand upon visiting, it is “expected”, with “bonus marks and shots” and promised for your efforts.
It’s also worth noting that they have an exclusive launch offer for those who sort a booking early, so we wouldn’t wait around if we were you.
Let us know what you think if you visit anytime soon.
Emily Sergeant -
2nd August 2021 
