Cheers, cattle and a coronation: Striking photos from the UK in 2023
A selection of striking pictures from around the UK in 2023.
Despite wet weather, London’s New Year’s Eve firework display, which featured a tribute to the late Queen, attracted more than 100,000 people. The UK celebrated the new year with firework displays and street parties for the first time fully since the beginning of the Covid pandemic.
The year began with heavy rain and strong winds across the UK, which led to flooding and travel disruption for many. Here Tewkesbury Abbey stands tall against the surrounding flood-water.
A Banksy artwork that appeared in Margate was dismantled by the local council hours after the elusive artist claimed the piece as his. The piece – called Valentine’s Day Mascara – incorporated a broken freezer which after being removed was replaced by a wheelie bin and attracted people, who posed for photographs. Following restoration, a few months later the art went on show at Dreamland theme park in the Kent town.
The stormy weather continued into February when about 30,000 homes were left without power and dozens of schools closed, as Storm Otto caused disruption across Scotland and northern England. Here a person braves the coming storm to walk their dog on Tynemouth beach on the north-east coast of England.
Humza Yousaf succeeded Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader and Scotland’s first minister after a vote of party members. The 37-year-old is the first Muslim to lead a major UK party. Ms Sturgeon, who was Scotland’s longest-serving first minister, stepped down after more than eight years in the job.
In March, the National Lottery Heritage Fund announced that the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs would receive funding of more than £300,000 ahead of a wider £5m regeneration project award. The original Grade I-listed dinosaur sculptures and surrounding land are now classed as the highest priority on Historic England’s heritage at-risk register because of their poor condition and “immediate risk of further rapid deterioration”.
Hundreds of swimmers took a sunrise dip in the Firth of Forth at Portobello Beach, Edinburgh, for International Women’s Day.
An RAF Typhoon fighter jet was refuelled in-flight over the North Sea, while passing over wind turbines, from a Voyager aircraft flying on a blend of sustainable fuel. The trial used an almost 50-50 blend of fuels and is the latest in a series of trials of alternative fuels conducted by the RAF.
In April, photographer Owen Humphreys captured this scene of the Milky Way in the night sky above the Bathing House in Howick, a small cottage that sits on the Northumberland coastline.
US President Joe Biden praised Northern Ireland’s young people, saying they are at the “cutting edge” of its future, during a visit to Belfast as part of his four-day visit to Ireland. The trip was to mark 25 years since the Good Friday peace agreement, which ended decades of violent conflict in Northern Ireland.
Watched by the Prince of Wales and their son Prince George, the Princess of Wales tried her hand at archery while taking part in the Big Help Out, during a visit to the 3rd Upton Scouts Hut in Slough. The family joined volunteers helping to renovate and improve the building. People across the UK were urged to get involved in local projects, with many charities among 30,000 organisations putting on 55,000 events across the UK.
The King’s Coronation was watched by an average of 18 million viewers in the UK. Wearing his grandfather’s crimson velvet robe, King Charles took an oath and was anointed with holy oil, before the historic St Edward’s Crown was placed on his head inside Westminster Abbey in London.
Sir Elton John played (perhaps) his last ever UK gig at the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset. He was joined on stage by the likes of Brandon Flowers, from the Killers, and Rina Sawayama.
A member of the Household Division fainted from heat exhaustion while participating in the Colonel’s Review at the Horse Guards Parade in London in June. The Colonel’s Review is the final rehearsal for the Household Division before the Trooping the Colour military ceremony that marks the King’s birthday on 17 June.
At the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate, Tracy Seven was pictured with a Beef Shorthorn as she prepared her cattle for the competition.
The UK had the hottest June on record with records broken in 72 of the 97 areas in the country from which temperature data is collected.
England fans at Wembley in London celebrated their side’s third goal, scored by Alessia Russo, during the Fifa Women’s World Cup semi-final against Australia. England would go on to lose to Spain in the final.
At the Rose ‘N’ Bowl pub in Stacksteads, Lancashire, competitors took part in the World Gravy Wrestling Championships.
It was announced that Port Talbot’s steelworks in South Wales was to be given up to £500m by the UK government in a bid to keep the plant open and produce steel in a greener way. However, thousands could still lose their jobs.
The Monarch of the Glen painting by Sir Edwin Landseer was moved to its new home at the National Gallery of Scotland. The famous artwork was saved for the nation by the National Galleries of Scotland in 2017 before touring a number of sites in Scotland.
People from around the world paid tribute to one of the UK’s most famous trees, which was cut down. The landmark Sycamore Gap tree, a focal point along Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, was attacked in September, in what officers described as a “deliberate act of vandalism”.
England’s Will Jacks walked out in front of a fire-spray as he prepared to bat in the T20 cricket International against New Zealand at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.
Ahead of an expected general election next year, the party conference season got under way with the Liberal Democrats, at the Bournemouth Conference Centre. Their leader Ed Davey (centre) arrived with Daisy Cooper (front left), Layla Moran (front right) and parliamentary candidates. A win at the Somerton and Frome by-election meant there were 10 Lib Dem women MPs in the Commons.
Ahead of his conference speech, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was introduced by his wife, Akshata Murty, who said she is introducing a “wonderful father, my best friend, your prime minister”. As part of his speech, Mr Sunak ended much speculation by scrapping the rest of the HS2 rail project in England because of spiralling costs, but pledged to “reinvest every penny” saved in rail, roads and buses in the North, the Midlands and across the country.
Labour Party Leader Sir Keir Starmer’s conference speech was briefly interrupted when he was showered with glitter by a protester. Sir Keir dusted off the glitter, saying the protest did not bother him, and went on to promise to build “the next generation” of new towns, along with 1.5 million homes, as part of a “decade of renewal under Labour”.
In October, climate activist Greta Thunberg was charged with a public order offence after her arrest during a Fossil Free London protest. A group of Greenpeace and Fossil Free London protesters gathered outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court, chanting and holding banners reading “oily money out” and “make polluters pay”. In November, she pleaded not guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to breaching Section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986.
Photographer Carl Recine captured this image of a rainbow over the shaft spillways which regulate water levels at the Ladybower Reservoir in the Derbyshire Peak District. The shafts, known as “plug holes” were in operation following Storm Babet, which had caused flooding in a number of areas.
Conservators David Everingham and Alison Aynesworth worked to restore 12 oil-painted panels on the Apostles’ Cupboard on display at the Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth. The pair spent 12 weeks working on restoring the paintings on the cupboard that is described by Charlotte Bronte in her novel Jane Eyre.
King Charles led the National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph in central London which honours the contribution of military and civilian servicemen and women in World Wars One and Two, and other conflicts. Here Chelsea Pensioners are pictured in Horse Guards Parade during the service.
Family, fans and footballers bid a final farewell to Manchester United and England legend Sir Bobby Charlton. Crowds lined the streets as his funeral cortège arrived at Old Trafford to rounds of applause before it travelled on to Manchester Cathedral.
Michael and Paul Fenning decorated their home with Wonka Christmas decorations to coincide with the release of the film.
