Latest news with #TheNationalLottery
Scottish Sun
13 hours ago
- General
- Scottish Sun
Map reveals unclaimed National Lottery and UK EuroMillions tickets – and there are five £1million winning prizes
Plus, how to improve your chances of winning big FEELING LUCKY? Map reveals unclaimed National Lottery and UK EuroMillions tickets – and there are five £1million winning prizes Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A MAP has revealed where lie the UK's unclaimed National Lottery and UK EuroMillions tickets. Millions of pounds in lotto winnings go unclaimed every year with ticket holders often completely unaware they have won. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Millions of winning lottery tickets go unclaimed every year Credit: Getty 2 There are currently five £1million prizes sitting unclaimed in the UK and others worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. But the time is ticking with deadlines for when prizes can be claimed quickly approaching. Winning lottery ticket holders have 180 days from the draw date to retrieve their prize. If no claim is made within the deadline the money goes towards funding National Lottery Projects in the UK. Winning tickets often end up lost in coat pockets or in a mound of unopened emails. But with several major prizes still waiting to be claimed, check our map to see if you might be the lucky winner. How can you claim your winnings? Prizes under £500 can be claimed from any local National Lottery retailer, such as a newsagents, supermarket or petrol station. For prizes up to £50,000, winners need to head online or call the National Lottery on 0333 234 50 50 to claim their money. Damaged tickets should be reported to the National Lottery and an appeal should be filed within 30 of the draw date. More details can be found on the National Lottery website. How to bag the top prize Playing as part of a group could be a good way of boosting your chances of winning, Simon Horne, from The National Lottery operator Allwyn UK, explains. "If you join a syndicate of 10 people, then there's 10 tickets and 10 chances of winning, so there's clearly a greater chance of winning compared to if you just bought your own ticket," he said. The syndicate manager will need to register the group and list themselves as the person in charge with The National Lottery. Make sure to write all the terms and conditions of the agreement down, and get each person to sign it, said Simon. Current unclaimed National Lottery prizes EuroMillions - £1m The draw took place on December 27, and the ticket holder has until June 25, 2025 to come forward. The ticket was bought in Wiltshire. The draw took place on December 27, and the ticket holder has until June 25, 2025 to come forward. The ticket was bought in Wiltshire. EuroMillions - £106,738.50 The draw took place on January 14 and the winner has until July 13 to claim their prize. The ticket was purchased in the London Borough of Barnet. The draw took place on January 14 and the winner has until July 13 to claim their prize. The ticket was purchased in the London Borough of Barnet. EuroMillions - £1m The draw took place on February 14, and the lucky winner has until August 13, 2025 to come forward. The ticket was bought in Liverpool. The draw took place on February 14, and the lucky winner has until August 13, 2025 to come forward. The ticket was bought in Liverpool. Thunderball - £500,000 The lucky holder's number came up during the April 8 draw and they have until October 5 to claim. The ticket was bought in Stratford-upon-Avon. The lucky holder's number came up during the April 8 draw and they have until October 5 to claim. The ticket was bought in Stratford-upon-Avon. Lotto - £1m From May 10 Lotto draw. They have until November 6 to claim. The ticket was bought in St Albans. From May 10 Lotto draw. They have until November 6 to claim. The ticket was bought in St Albans. EuroMillions - £1m From the May 23 draw. The winner has until November 19, 2025, to claim their prize. The ticket was purchased in Stevenage. From the May 23 draw. The winner has until November 19, 2025, to claim their prize. The ticket was purchased in Stevenage. Lotto - £1m From May 24 Lotto draw. The ticket holder has until November 20 to claim. It was bought in Birmingham. "If there's any confusion or complications down the line, then you can refer back to the agreement and then everyone knows where they stand," he said. The big downside to consider being part of a syndicate is that you'll need to equally split the pot between each person. So, if you were part of a syndicate of four people, splitting the £208million jackpot four ways would leave you with £52million - although that's still big winnings to walk away with. Otherwise, you could keep an eye on how often your lucky numbers are being drawn, and if they're not coming up as often as you would like, you can try a different tact. The National Lottery app stores all your tickets from draws you have entered. The app is free to download from either the App Store on iPhone, or the Google Play store on Android devices. That means you can go back in and check your most profitable numbers. You could make a spreadsheet of how often your lucky numbers are being drawn, and every three months, see whether it's worth keeping them, or ditching them for alternatives. According to the unluckiest Euromillions numbers are 22, which has been drawn 65 times, followed by 40 (73 times) and 18. Timing matters when it comes to buying your ticket, said Simon. If you leave it to the last minute, then there's a risk that you run out of time to buy your ticket. You need to buy your ticket before 7:30pm on Friday - otherwise you'll miss out. "My main advice is not to leave it too late - don't rush into the newsagents or load up your app at 7:25pm," he said. "You might not be able to upload money onto your online account, or buy your ticket, in time and you could miss the draw."
Irish Daily Mirror
19 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
History of the Lotto in Ireland after €250m claimed in historic EuroMillions win
From the days of the sweepstakes up to the EuroMillions and online tickets, the lottery has had a firm hold on Irish society. As a lucky player in Cork scooped a massive €250 million in the EuroMillions on Tuesday, we take a look back at the history of the Lotto in Ireland. While the saying "the luck of the Irish" rings true for thousands of winners, the lottery hasn't been all fun and games in this country. There were scandals, a gameshow, a winning accountant that forced the rules to be changed, and the hilarious movie about the Irish Lotto - Waking Ned. In the 1930s, following the Civil War, Ireland was in a great depression, and funding was badly needed for hospitals. So the Irish Hospital Sweepstakes lottery (known as 'the sweeps') was established as it promised to raise much needed money for hospitals. Despite such lotteries being illegal in most jurisdictions, tickets were taking in millions and millions of pounds. While it promised to do good, the sweeps turned into one of the country's greatest scandals. In 1973, it emerged that only 10 per cent of the money raised was given to hospitals, as the founders of the lottery became rich. People were fooled into thinking it was an honest operation as it was associated with the Government and gardaí were in charge of tickets. However, it was far from that. On top of hospitals only receiving a small portion of profits, the sweeps involved worldwide ticket-smuggling, tickets sold abroad that never made it back to Ireland, and tickets that never even made it into the drum. Over a decade after the scandal broke, The National Lottery, which we know today, began in 1987 and the first draw took place on Saturday April 16, 1988. Two years later a draw was also added on a Wednesday. When the lottery first launched, players chose six numbers from a choice of 36. However, this didn't last long as Dubliner, Polish-Irish accountant Stefan Klincewicz, figured out how to hack the game. For a draw in May 1992, the accountant - as part of a 28-person syndicate - bought enough tickets covering all the different combinations. They matched the winning numbers and ended up winning £1.16 million. The National Lottery caught on to their game and changed the format to 6/39 in August 1992. It also added the bonus ball to create more prizes. Its very first draw was broadcast on RTÉ One, and it was presented by Ronan Collins and an independent observer. But just two years later it was decided that a show with more glitz and glam was needed, so Winning Streak was born. It first aired with Mike Murphy as the presenter, and it would go on to become one of the longest-running game shows in Europe. Marty Whelan then took over in 2009 and presented the show right up until 2020. It came off air when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, and hasn't come back since. However, broadcaster Marty says he would love to present the show again as it brought so much joy to households across Ireland. In 2004, the EuroMillions launched in Ireland as lotto players rejoiced that even more money could be won. A year later, Dolores McNamara became the country's first big winner when she scooped €115.4m, and has arguably remained Ireland's most well-known lotto winner. She was also the biggest EuroMillions winner at the time. The mother-of-six from Limerick discovered her historic win while in her local pub, the Track Bar. After her friend checked her ticket, a barmaid said the pub erupted in cheers and the "drink started flowing and the champagne was poured". Media attention followed her as she arrived at Lotto HQ on August 4, 2005, to collect her massive cheque. However, the millionaire became nervous with the fanfare and released a statement through her solicitor as she wanted to "return to normality as soon as possible". Since Dolores' win, there have been 18 EuroMillions wins in Ireland, however, no one other than Dolores went public with their win. One of the biggest wins was by The Naul Family Syndicate in February 2019, when they won €175.4 million. While they didn't officially go public, one of the nine winners spoke out after the €250m win on Tuesday night. Matt Rogers, who pocketed almost €20m, gave Ireland's newest millionaire some advice: "Don't let it change you". The Lotto has had such a hold on Irish society that in 1998 a fictionalised story about a man who won it was released. Waking Ned, which starred the late David Kelly, told the story of Ned Devine- a man who had a heart attack and died after the shock of winning the big bucks. The movie then follows the hilarious extremes the village goes to to try and claim his prize, as they decide it should be done in his honour.
Powys County Times
a day ago
- Business
- Powys County Times
Winner of 250 million euro EuroMillions jackpot has made contact
The Irish winner of the EuroMillions jackpot has contacted The National Lottery, a spokeswoman has confirmed. The winning 250 million euro ticket was sold in a retail outlet in Co Cork. It is the 18th Irish winner and the largest ever Irish win of the EuroMillions jackpot. The winning numbers from Tuesday's draw were 13, 22, 23, 44 and 49, with lucky stars 3 and 5. Irish National Lottery chief executive Cian Murphy had urged the winner earlier in the week to 'stay calm' as the 'massive' win could come as a shock. The EuroMillions jackpot is capped once it reaches 250 million euros – or £208 million on current currency conversions. This jackpot reached the maximum amount on Friday June 6 after rolling over several times. In total, more than 92,000 players in Ireland won prizes in the EuroMillions and Plus games. The last Irish winner of the EuroMillions jackpot was in February 2022, when a person won 30.9 million euro with a quick pick ticket they purchased at a service station in Ballina, Co Tipperary.
Glasgow Times
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Glasgow Times
£4m Lotto win puts Harley-Davidson fan on the road to early retirement
Jon Waring, 57, has already handed in his notice at Devon and Cornwall Police where he has worked as a radio operator for 16 years. Meanwhile, his wife Lucy, 48, is working her notice as a nurse at Torbay Hospital. John and Lucy Waring celebrate their near £4 million Lotto win (The National Lottery/PA) The couple, from Paignton in Devon, who have a 15-year-old daughter, are planning to take life at a more relaxed pace thanks to the Lotto jackpot win. They already have their bucket list planned out with a Harley-Davidson trike bike topping the shopping list for Mr Waring, while a hot tub is the number one priority for his wife. A new family home in the Paignton area is also high on the wish list. Mr Waring said his huge win, which saw him match six numbers in the Lotto draw on May 31 still does not feel real. 'I keep thinking I am going to wake up from a dream,' he said. The family are all keen musicians and plan to create a music room in their new home where they can all play as well as listen to their favourite bands. 'This will be the perfect place to display the family's guitar collection – and potentially add to it too,' Mr Waring said. 'As a family, we love rock music and now the world really is our oyster – we hope to get the chance to attend gigs up and down the country. 'This win will just enable us all to slow down, enjoy life – and of course hit that road on the sunny days ahead on our new trike.' Mr Waring woke at 4am to discover he had won the £3,966,543 jackpot. 'Something just made me go to check my emails and I saw an email saying I had won a prize,' he said. 'I went to Google the winning numbers and noticed there was just one winner – and knew it must have been me. Jon Waring is a Harley-Davidson fan and is planning to buy a trike to enjoy in his retirement (The National Lottery/PA) 'I couldn't quite believe it – I knew they were my numbers. I turned my tablet off – left it five minutes – and then turned it back on to double and triple check. 'I woke Lucy, and she said, still half asleep, 'Is it April 1?'. I said no, it is June. 'We just could not believe it – there was no way we were getting back to sleep. We just sat and drank tea – we must have had 10 cups between us.' Mr Waring, who is also a keen rugby fan, said a box at Exeter Chiefs and a trip to see the Lions tour are also on his wish list, together with a new car, an Audi Q7. 'It's a complete change of lifestyle – it won't change us, but it will change what we can do. And the pace at which we do it, too.' He said with the nature of his job, and his wife's, it has been hard to get holidays to match up and the couple do not even have current passports. 'As a result of our shift work, we have not had a proper holiday together for a long, long time,' he said. 'We are now really looking forward to booking something and knowing we can just holiday when we choose. Perhaps a trip to New Orleans for the music. 'It's all the things you dream about trying and seeing but know you never will, until something like this happens.' Mr Waring has always played Lotto each week since the game started and now plays online. His winning numbers were: 8, 11, 12, 16, 20 and 33.
South Wales Argus
2 days ago
- Automotive
- South Wales Argus
£4m Lotto win puts Harley-Davidson fan on the road to early retirement
Jon Waring, 57, has already handed in his notice at Devon and Cornwall Police where he has worked as a radio operator for 16 years. Meanwhile, his wife Lucy, 48, is working her notice as a nurse at Torbay Hospital. John and Lucy Waring celebrate their near £4 million Lotto win (The National Lottery/PA) The couple, from Paignton in Devon, who have a 15-year-old daughter, are planning to take life at a more relaxed pace thanks to the Lotto jackpot win. They already have their bucket list planned out with a Harley-Davidson trike bike topping the shopping list for Mr Waring, while a hot tub is the number one priority for his wife. A new family home in the Paignton area is also high on the wish list. Mr Waring said his huge win, which saw him match six numbers in the Lotto draw on May 31 still does not feel real. 'I keep thinking I am going to wake up from a dream,' he said. The family are all keen musicians and plan to create a music room in their new home where they can all play as well as listen to their favourite bands. 'This will be the perfect place to display the family's guitar collection – and potentially add to it too,' Mr Waring said. 'As a family, we love rock music and now the world really is our oyster – we hope to get the chance to attend gigs up and down the country. 'This win will just enable us all to slow down, enjoy life – and of course hit that road on the sunny days ahead on our new trike.' Mr Waring woke at 4am to discover he had won the £3,966,543 jackpot. 'Something just made me go to check my emails and I saw an email saying I had won a prize,' he said. 'I went to Google the winning numbers and noticed there was just one winner – and knew it must have been me. Jon Waring is a Harley-Davidson fan and is planning to buy a trike to enjoy in his retirement (The National Lottery/PA) 'I couldn't quite believe it – I knew they were my numbers. I turned my tablet off – left it five minutes – and then turned it back on to double and triple check. 'I woke Lucy, and she said, still half asleep, 'Is it April 1?'. I said no, it is June. 'We just could not believe it – there was no way we were getting back to sleep. We just sat and drank tea – we must have had 10 cups between us.' Mr Waring, who is also a keen rugby fan, said a box at Exeter Chiefs and a trip to see the Lions tour are also on his wish list, together with a new car, an Audi Q7. 'It's a complete change of lifestyle – it won't change us, but it will change what we can do. And the pace at which we do it, too.' He said with the nature of his job, and his wife's, it has been hard to get holidays to match up and the couple do not even have current passports. 'As a result of our shift work, we have not had a proper holiday together for a long, long time,' he said. 'We are now really looking forward to booking something and knowing we can just holiday when we choose. Perhaps a trip to New Orleans for the music. 'It's all the things you dream about trying and seeing but know you never will, until something like this happens.' Mr Waring has always played Lotto each week since the game started and now plays online. His winning numbers were: 8, 11, 12, 16, 20 and 33.
