T

The Times

February 2026

Pakistan travel advice: is it safe to visit right now?

Tensions between the two nations have been heightened for several weeks and on Friday, February 27, cross-border attacks escalated as Pakistan carried out air strikes on Kabul and other parts of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan

If a severe crisis develops in Pakistan, the situation can change quickly, including your ability to travel. Practical support from the British government, including face-to-face consular support or evacuation, may be severely limited in a crisis.”
There are heightened tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, including clashes in border areas.”

How to apply for the UK’s electronic travel authorisation (ETA)

Separately, dual British citizens are not able to apply for an ETA on their foreign passport

My week exploring Croatia’s under-the-radar islands in style

Most of the wineries here are very small, maybe 20,000 bottles per year,
On this Dalmatian coast we have the perfect balance of salt in the sea,
Salted and smoked fish are used a lot here, especially grouper and octopus,
It’s built of interlocking stone blocks, with no mortar or bricks, like a giant Lego set,

Gibraltar border checks: what is changing for British travellers?

Plans have been announced for radical changes to border controls and customs between Spain and Gibraltar

Passenger arrivals at the airport will be subject to dual border control checks, with Gibraltar managing immigration and policing with Spanish officials responsible for ensuring the integrity of the Schengen Area, in a model similar to French authorities operating in London’s St Pancras [International] station.”

Ryanair voted UK’s worst short-haul airline

Neither we nor our 208 million passengers pay any attention to these made-up, manufactured surveys or their fake results. Every passenger booking a flight has a choice and last year 208 million consumers chose Ryanair, while nobody reads or pays any attention to Which? fake surveys.”
With around 40 per cent of our customers choosing to travel with just the fare and our customer satisfaction scores at a ten-year high, it’s clear that customers continue to value this choice and our service. Given this survey is not weighted, it simply isn’t representative when comparing with airlines who carry far fewer passengers.”
From October 2024 to December 2025, customer satisfaction rose by eight percentage points. At the same time, our flight completion rate in the UK was 99.7 per cent — consistently among the best in the industry — while our on-time performance increased by 14 per cent year on year.”

Is it safe to travel to Mexico? Latest advice amid outbreak of violence

Cancun and Tulum have the highest LGBT community in this area of Mexico,
Claire Sturzakerthe solo female travel blogger
Avoid walking around alone at night in places such as Tulum’s beach road and places off the main streets that aren’t well-lit, including the beach itself,
We found a few excellent, adults-only hotels that were very welcoming to LGBT travellers, such as Hidden Beach Au Naturel Resort, a nudist hotel, and the Illusion Boutique hotel in Playa del Carmen,
Claire Sturzakerthe solo female travel blogger
I preferred Tulum over Cancun as it’s chilled out,
If you are currently in Jalisco, minimise movements and follow any local shelter‑in‑place instructions,

Trailblazing 58-year-old who traded hedonism for racing across mountains

She has suffered hypothermia, broken fingers and a fractured skull

It was torrential rain for 36 hours and I made the mistake of not stopping,
With my first child I was in labour for 24 hours, and my body was doing things I had no control over,
I’m done, I’m having a breakdown here, it’s torture”.
It’s not about gender, it’s about the individual,
I’ve got to an age where I know I have value and deserve to do what makes me happy,

‘It’s a smack in the face’: How the new passport rules will affect Times readers

From Wednesday, February 25, British citizens who are also citizens of another country will need to comply with new passport rules when entering the UK as part of the electronic travel authorisation (ETA) scheme

Southern Water knew of plastic beads pollution days before statement

Bosses including the chief executive were informed long after locals had questioned the source of biobeads

Helena Dollimorebritish politician, from 2024, Member of Parliament for Hastings and Rye
This is a scandal. It has taken detective work at every stage by our community to uncover what could be the biggest plastic pollution event ever on the south coast of England.”
Emma Hardybritish politician, from 2024, member of Parliament for Hull West and Hessle (born 1980)
I was deeply shocked and angered by the appalling pollution incident at Camber Sands last year, and I know the local community will want to see Southern Water held to account for this unacceptable spill.”
In this day and age, using billions of microplastics that can escape into the environment and impact everything from wildlife through the food chains to the food we eat is one issue,

Smaller UK airports struggle despite record passenger numbers

Several of Britain’s smaller airports are struggling to recover from the changes wrought to air travel by the pandemic, with some recording passenger numbers down by nearly 50 per cent or more on pre-Covid-19 levels

Forget the biological age of my ear — I just want to live longer

A hot mic even picked up the Russian president Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping discussing living to 150