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The current weather is unpredictable to say the least, but there’s one thing that’s pretty much a given as autumn rolls in and that’s a whole lot more rain in the forecast. 

Rain, wind and a freezing chill in the air might mean a rest day for some but with the right kit, there’s no reason to disrupt your routine. 

And Decathlon’s latest drop is designed to help you power through the puddles. 

Think practical layers, high-tech fabrics, and accessories that are built for performance. Whether you’re training for a 10K or just trying to clear your head on a rainy Tuesday, Decathlon has something to keep you dry, visible and moving.

From waterproof jackets to warm lined leggings, with this range there’s nothing stopping you from getting your Strava stats.

Here are some of the best bits from the collection…

KIPRUN KD900X LD+ Women's Running Shoes with Carbon Plate

Worn by athletes in the Olympics, the KIPRUN KD900X LD+ Women's Running Shoes with Carbon Plate feature a carbon plate and VFOAM Plus for optimal energy return, cushioning designed for marathon distances and top-of-the-range materials that help you feel comfortable no matter the weather.

Buy Now for £179.99

KIPRUN Run 900 Men's Waterproof, Breathable Running Jacket

Made from waterproof fabric (rated up to 20,000 Schmerbers) with fully sealed seams, the KIPRUN Run 900 Men's Waterproof, Breathable Running Jacket is built to handle the worst weather. A smart membrane and discreet ventilation zones keep it breathable, so you stay dry without overheating. Lightweight and compact, it folds down small to stash easily in your bag.

Buy Now for £79.99

KIPRUN Run 500 Women's Warm Running Leggings

With a breathable brushed-fabric lining, the KIPRUN Run 500 Women's Warm Running Leggings keep you warm and comfortable even when it’s cold. With a wide, supportive waistband and a zipped back pocket for keys, your phone or gels, they’re a go-to for autumn jogs.

Buy Now for £24.99

KIPRUN Run 900 Women’s Merino Long-Sleeved Running T-Shirt

Consisting of 40% merino wool that helps to regulate your temperature between -5ºC and +5ºC and 53% technical fibres that help to wick moisture away from the body, the KIPRUN Run 900 Women’s Merino Long-Sleeved Running T-Shirt ensures comfort when running in less than ideal weather.

Buy Now for £74.99

Kiprun Warm+ V2 Adult Warm Running Headband

Keep your ears warm without overheating in the Kiprun Warm+ V2 Adult Warm Running Headband. Made with soft, stretchy fabric, it gives lightweight warmth and a snug fit that stays in place as you go. Breathable and quick-drying, it’s ideal for chilly runs, whether you're heading out for a quick 5K or longer.

Buy Now for £5.99

KIPRUN KD900.2 Men's Running Shoes

The KIPRUN KD900.2 Men's Running Shoes is your ultimate partner for intense training, supporting you with responsive cushioning and VFOAM Plus technology. Lightweight, breathable and built for performance, these shoes help you go further, faster.

Buy Now for £119.99

KIPRUN Run Wind 500 Women's Sleeveless Running Jacket

If you tend to overheat during your runs, opt for the KIPRUN Run Wind 500 Women's Sleeveless Running Jacket. Lightweight and windproof, this sleeveless jacket shields your core while keeping your arms free to move. Breathable panels help regulate temperature and it packs down small for easy storage.

Buy Now for £19.99

KIPRUN Run Compress 900 RHEON Men's Muscle Support Tights

The KIPRUN Run Compress 900 RHEON tights deliver targeted muscle support to keep you strong and steady on every run. Featuring advanced compression zones and RHEON technology, they reduce muscle vibration and fatigue while boosting recovery. Breathable and snug, these tights are built for performance and comfort on long training days.

Buy Now for £59.99

Autumn weather might be unpredictable, but with the right gear, there’s no need to let rain, wind, or chill slow you down.

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Metro journalists select and curate the products that feature on our site. If you make a purchase via links on this page we will earn commission – learn more

There is truly no better feeling than a good night’s sleep.

Yes, we can all set up the ideal zen atmosphere with a candle, duck-feather pillows, a weighted blanket, etc. However, it all comes down to the mattress to provide you with the support and make you feel like you’re lying on a cloud as you drift off.

With that in mind, let us introduce you to the REM-Fit® Hybrid Pocket 1000 Mattress. This beauty will have you in dreamland in seconds, and you can get an extra 10% off with the code: AUTUMN10 – expires on 31/10/2025 11:59pm (BST).

REM-Fit® Hybrid Pocket 1000 Mattress

The REM-Fit® Hybrid Pocket 1000 Mattress combines 1,000 pocket springs with breathable memory foam for tailored support and comfort. It’s ideal for most sleep styles, offering great motion isolation and pressure relief, and comes with a washable cover. Awarded Best Value Hybrid Mattress 2025, it’s a top pick for quality sleep at an affordable price.

Buy Now for £499.99 (save 10% with autumn10)

It’s been especially designed with mid-firm tension to relieve pressure and improve your spinal alignment, thanks to its edge-to-edge side support and tension relief zones to prevent pressure point build-up.

The mattress is fitted with 1000 responsive pocket springs, so as you move throughout the night, they will adjust and adapt to keep you supported, along with the extra foam layer.  What’s even better is that these both work to minimise noise, so you won’t be woken up by hearing the springs moving.

Another benefit of the foam layer is that you can banish the worry of overheating during the night as the mattress is fitted with a breathable open-cell foam layer, which regulates your body’s temperature, allowing air to pass through easily.

Each mattress comes with a free luxury memory foam pillow, and pillow and mattress protectors (free gift value up to £257). The brand is great at letting you be sure that the mattress you have chosen is the right one for you as they offer a 200-night sleep trial. Any returned mattresses are collected by The British Heart Foundation and sold on through their shops, with 100% of proceeds going to the charity.

Shoppers are raving about it, as one customer said: ‘We have now had this for over 3 weeks and sleep has been so much better and it has reduced my lower back pain. I am someone that sleeps on my front and back whilst my husband is a side sleeper and this mattress is good for all sleeping positions.’

Another followed with: ‘Extremely comfortable mattress and no more aches and pains.’

This is not just a mattress – it’s an investment in health, rest, and happiness. REM-Fit has exceeded every expectation, and I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything.

So, go ahead and give your bed a five-star hotel upgrade with this brilliant mattress from REM-Fit.

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At 42, Gemma Williams was insecure about the ‘saggy pouches’ of skin on her stomach, which she’d had since the births of her three children.

Since they were all now in their teens or early twenties, Gemma, armed with £9,500, booked herself in for an abdominoplasty — otherwise known as a tummy tuck.

But In an unexpected turn of events, the mum-of-three underwent the invasive surgery only to later find out she was four weeks pregnant with her fourth child.

She even took 10 supermarket tests to make sure it wasn’t a false positive. ‘I kept staring at the tests in disbelief,’ she says.

As a newly qualified nurse, Gemma had decided to treat herself to a tummy tuck in August 2024.

The procedure flattens and tightens the abdomen by removing excess skin and fat, and repairing weakened abdominal muscles.

According the NHS, there’s an increased risk of miscarriage in patients who have had an anaesthetic and surgery during pregnancy, so it’s standard procedure to do a pregnancy test prior to the operation.

Medics took a urine sample to check for pregnancy and any other health concerns, but Gemma says nothing was detected.

After undergoing the four-hour procedure, the then mum-of-three spent a day at the clinic before returning home on, where she continued to recover.

However, she quickly noticed something didn’t feel right.

‘I felt nauseous and bloated but I put it down to the tummy tuck,’ Gemma says, ‘as did the clinic when I contacted them about it.’

But, by December 2024, four months post-procedure, Gemma’s discomfort hadn’t gone away, and a fellow nurse at Singleton Hospital, where she works, suggested she might be pregnant.

‘I hadn’t been on contraception for three years, so when my friend suggested that I do a urine test, I thought at least I could rule it out,’ Gemma says.

She immediately took a test and quickly saw a positive test result staring back at her. ‘I was beyond shocked,’ she adds.

‘I took 10 other supermarket pregnancy tests – all confirmed I was pregnant.

‘It’s very likely the urine sample I took before my tummy tuck didn’t pick up on the pregnancy because my HCG levels (used to confirm pregnancy) were too low. At the beginning of pregnancy, they typically rise,’ she adds.

Gemma says that the thought that she’d been under anaesthetic while pregnant made her ‘heart drop’, but an ultrasound the next day confirmed she was indeed 21 weeks pregnant, and everything was fine.

‘I had conversations about my options, but I knew in my heart that I wanted another baby,’ she explains.

Gemma had had her three older children, 14, 17, and 20, with an ex partner, and hadn’t planned on having more kids.

In May 2025, she gave birth to her healthy baby boy, weighing 7lbs 10oz, on May 2, 2025, although she is no longer with the father.

‘Thankfully, my baby is happy and healthy,’ she says. ‘It’s definitely a story for the book – I don’t think I’ll ever be as shocked again in my life.

‘I never expected to have another child, let alone not know for 21 weeks. Looking back, I can’t believe it.’

She might’ve had three kids, but that didn’t make motherhood any easier the fourth time around.

‘It’s been turbulent,’ she admits. ‘He had a good set of lungs on him in the early days.

‘But I’m grateful – my baby boy is adorable. He’s getting his little personality and has started to laugh and smile.’

Despite the fourth pregnancy, Gemma’s nearly £10,000 expense didn’t go to waste, with the tummy tuck causing her to drop from a size 16 to a size 12.

‘Little did I know that I wouldn’t just be dropping a few dress sizes but gaining another little one to my brood,’ Gemma laughs.

Marks and Spencer has released a new zip-up cardigan that is perfect for layering and has been described as ‘cosy’ by shoppers – and it’s already selling out

Becoming a new parent is often wrapped up in a bow and presented to us at the best and most rewarding thing we will ever do.

But that doesn’t mean it can’t feel, at times, insurmountably difficult, with more than three quarters (79%) of parents struggling with their mental health during or after pregnancy.

Armed with this knowledge, budget supermarket Aldi has implemented a vital change to its some of its Mamia range of baby products, to help parents in need.

On-pack mental health messaging that supports parents with information of the signs of perinatal mental illness will now feature on its Mamia Sensitive and Extra Sensitive baby wipes.

It will highlight some tell tale signs such as low mood, anxiety and tearfullness, which mean you should seek support for your mental health.

Other symptoms include feeling irritable, or getting angry easily, losing interest in other people and the world around you, loss of appetite or over eating, negative thoughts, and feelings of guilt or hopelessness, according to the NHS.

The change has already begun to roll out in stores across the UK, with packs available from 75p.

The supermarket partnered with perinatal mental health charity PANDAS Foundation, as Aldi research shows just 17% of parents who experienced mental health struggles during or after pregnancy accessed specialist support.

A mere 7% of them reached out to a charity or helpline, despite 89% of people being aware of issues around mental health struggles during or post-pregnancy.

The baby wipes packaging will also include a callout to PANDAS’ free helpline and support groups, signposting parents to accessible emotional support.

‘Mental health struggles in parenthood are more common than many realise – but they’re not always easy to talk about. We’ve partnered with PANDAS Foundation to help make support more visible,’ Julie Ashfield, Aldi’s chief commercial officer, says.

‘We aim to provide comfort and a sense of connection to any parent who needs to hear: you’re not alone,’ she adds.

For Annie Belasco, CEO of PANDAS Foundation, the campaign is to ‘ensure no parent feels alone’.

‘[It] brings together two powerful things: empathy and visibility. So many parents are struggling in silence – and this puts a message of hope directly into their hands,’ Annie says.

‘Together, we can help more families feel seen, supported and able to find joy in the journey.’

The campaign and messaging has been endorsed by TV presenter Kate Lawler, who became the first female winner of Big Brother UK after winning the third series in 2002.

‘When I became a mum, I had no idea how intense the emotional rollercoaster would be,’ Kate explains. ‘The sleepless nights, the breastfeeding struggles and sheer overwhelm took a huge toll on my mental health.

‘What Aldi and PANDAS are doing is so important: putting a message of support right in the hands of parents. Sometimes, just knowing you’re not alone can make all the difference.’

But the German supermarket isn’t stopping at messaging on baby wipes, it’s also donated £30,000 to the PANDAS Foundation to support its services to parents who need it.

Agony aunt Coleen Nolan has advice for a reader who’s struggling to cope with her daughter’s anxiety around going to school, and her relationship is under pressure too

There was a time in Aisling McCarthy’s life when she was in agony and couldn’t look at herself in the mirror.

After being diagnosed with arthritis and fibromyalgia in her early thirties, the mum-of-one struggled with searing pain that would shoot through her back, hips and hands, which left her feeling depressed. 

‘I was exhausted and sometimes, it felt like my whole body was on fire,’ the 43-year-old tells Metro. ‘I’d feel so low, and to deal with it, I ate my feelings. It was constant toffee popcorn, chocolate bars, muffins and ice cream… Then I started to lose mobility, which caused me to gain even more weight.’

When Aisling was pregnant with her daughter in 2014, she was often using crutches or a wheelchair, and after Bethany, now 10, was born, the new mum couldn’t lift her.

Aisling weighed 17 and a half stone, and was determined to feel healthy, while still maintaining her curves, so she tried ‘every diet under the sun’, including Slimming World and Slimfast shakes. Although she had some success, it never lasted. ‘I gained it all back because I was starving,’ Aisling remembers.

Then, on one visit to her GP in early 2022, the word ‘Ozempic’ was mentioned. The prescription semaglutide drug had only been approved by the EMA [European Medicines Agency] for weight loss in November 2021; previously, it was primarily used as a treatment for diabetes.

‘There weren’t many people talking about using Ozempic specifically for weight loss at the time, so I was a little anxious about injecting something into my body that I didn’t know a lot about. It wasn’t like it is now, with everyone aware of exactly what it is,’ she explains.

To ease her concerns, Aisling contacted the makers, Novo Nordisk, who talked her through the ins and outs. She learnt that it mimics the hormone GLP-1, which regulates appetite and slows down digestion, meaning users feel fuller after eating less. ‘I was still nervous, but I started to believe it could work, so I was willing to try,’ she adds.

Once she received her prescription, Aisling began injecting herself with a 0.25mg dose every week, which doubled after four weeks, and rose to 1mg after another two months.

Taking Ozempic

It wasn’t the easiest of starts; Aisling struggled with nausea and fatigue for the first six weeks. ‘I went to my GP about it and he asked: “Are you eating?”’ she says. ‘The issue was Ozempic was so effective at turning off any food noise — the little voice nagging me to go into the cupboard — that I was having one meal per day. I started setting an alarm every two hours to remind myself to have some food.

‘The weight started coming off straight away, but I didn’t see it myself until around three months, even though my clothes were hanging off me.’

Aisling also noticed that she had more energy and confidence, which had many benefits, including a healthier sex life with her husband, Jonathan. ‘He was supportive from the start, but then he was very happy,’ she says with a smile. 

Her friends in Cork also began to notice changes. Never secretive about how she achieved it, Aisling says the most common reaction was ‘you jammy b***h’. 

What was most important was how she felt: ‘I’d gone from hating to loving myself, and that’s a hard thing to do. I’m in less pain, which means I’m able to do things I haven’t done since my twenties.’

Recalling a holiday to France during the summer of 2023, a disastrous error demonstrated how far she’d come: ‘Jonathan realised the day before that his passport had expired. I took Bethany alone, which I wouldn’t have been able to do before.

‘Being on holiday and even silly things, like being able to go down a slide with her, felt huge. Before, I wouldn’t have been able to walk up the steps to get to the top.’

Within a year, Aisling had reached her goal weight of 11st and stopped taking Ozempic. The decision was down to a combination of ‘being happy with her curves’ and supply shortage issues due to growing demand. ‘It was a bit late one month, and then again, and then I couldn’t get it at all. I thought if I didn’t choose to come off it, I would start to struggle mentally,’ she explains.

Since then, Aisling has had a breast reduction and an apronectomy to remove loose skin, and now weighs 10st and 9lbs. ‘I used to put talcum powder under my breast to stop infections and smells. I don’t have to anymore,’ she says.

Looking forward

Today, Aisling’s doctor calls her the ‘poster girl for Ozempic’ because she’s bucked recent research by the University of Oxford, which found people taking weight loss medication usually regain any lost pounds within a year of stopping.

‘Weaning off made the difference. I tell everyone not to go cold turkey, because it’s hard to handle the appetite coming back in one go,’ she explains. Gradually reducing her dosage has also meant Aisling has been able to keep her portions small and limit sweet treats. As someone who went through counselling while taking Ozempic, she adds that it’s imperative to do the mental work. 

‘Some people are looking for a quick fix, rather than a tool,’ she says. ‘They’re not treating the reason they gained the weight, so when they stop, the issues that caused the gain creep back, and they don’t know how to handle them. You have to work on your mind as well as your stomach, because otherwise, they’ll sabotage each other.’

Although it’s thought that around 1.5million people use weight loss injections in the UK, it was only in June that GPs were given the green light to prescribe Mounjaro (tirzepatide) and Wegovy (semaglutide).  

This latest NHS rollout is expected to see around 220,000 people with the ‘greatest need’ receive the jabs over the next three years. Health Secretary Wes Streeting claims that it’s not only about lowering weight, but also taxes, as people will become less reliant on the NHS.

‘It does save money,’ agrees Aisling, who experiences fewer flare-ups from arthritis and fibromyalgia. ‘I’m no longer needing as much medication, a physio, or a dietitian.’

Talking about the public perception, she adds: ‘There’s still a lot of bias and fat phobia towards people taking the medication. A lot seems to come from personal trainers, and people who’ve been slim their whole life, so they don’t understand. 

Aisling has also noticed that social media can be full of unwarranted comments: ‘I get messages saying “You lost all the weight, but you’re still fat.” I don’t want to be too skinny; it wouldn’t suit me. I like my curves, so why would I want to be something that I don’t like?’

Taking the drugs comes with risks, which Aisling was also made aware of. And although she hasn’t experienced any negative side effects, Aisling warns that Ozempic shouldn’t be a go-to for anyone wanting to lose weight. 

‘It shouldn’t be people’s first choice,’ she stresses. ‘I would advise people to do their research, but if they do go ahead, then they shouldn’t feel any shame in trying to get healthy. 

‘Ozempic genuinely changed my life, so I have no regrets.’

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Josie.Copson@metro.co.uk 

Share your views in the comments below.

Hopping out of the front passenger seat, I walked around the car to give my son, Charlie, a hug goodbye.

It was June 26, 2021 and my husband, Richard, and I had just dropped him home. Charlie was looking forward to a relaxing night alone, eating takeaway and watching football.

‘I love you,’ I said. ‘See you tomorrow for a Sunday roast?’ He smiled, then walked off towards his flat.

That was the last time I saw my son. Within just a few hours, Charlie was dead at 32.

From a very early age, Charlie was always telling jokes and making people laugh. He was also a bit of a wind-up merchant to his four sisters, but we all loved him.

At 14, he randomly started getting seizures. He didn’t actually tell anyone except one of his friends at the time because he loved playing rugby, water polo, and cycling and he thought seizures could jeopardise that.

Then it happened one day when he was at home. His sister, Lily, found him on his bedroom floor and ran down to tell me.

We called for an ambulance and he was taken to Barnet Hospital, which is when I was devastated to find out from him that it had been going on for months. Within days, he was diagnosed with epilepsy.

Over the years, Charlie tried at least 10 different types of medication to manage his condition, with little success. As a result, he’d have seizures monthly or even weekly, which resulted in broken noses or teeth, as well as split eyebrows and cheeks.

More often than not, they came on randomly, which I know felt very frustrating for him. But some things like hot weather, exercise, or stress could induce them too.

Then he started on a breakthrough drug called Fycompa that changed everything, aged 30. The seizures slowed right down and never really came on unprovoked anymore.

He was finally in a good place. But it all came crumbling down in 2021. 

On Thursday June 24, Charlie received a notification that one of his recent contacts tested positive for Covid-19 so he needed to self-isolate. The problem was, he had planned to travel back to Brunel University of London – where he was studying occupational therapy – on Friday, which was two hours away.

He was going to the campus pharmacy to pick up his repeat prescription, as he would run out of medication on Friday evening. But he could now no longer go due to travel restrictions.

On Friday, Charlie contacted his GP to arrange an emergency refill, but this was never issued. By Friday, he had run out of medication and called me in a panic asking what to do.

Calming him down, I suggested he call 111 because I’d received an urgent prescription from them before. Around 10:30am, he called and the operator told him they’d send it to his local pharmacy, Superdrug.

Nervous that he’d be breaking Covid-19 rules about isolating, he asked if I’d come with him to pick it up. So Richard and I – as well as our grandchild, who we were babysitting at the time – got into a car and drove 20 minutes to meet him at the pharmacy.

Richard and the baby stayed in the car, while I greeted Charlie, who was clearly already fed up with the whole situation. I went inside and was flatly told no prescription had been sent.

For Sarah

Last year, on March 10, we lost our beloved colleague Sarah Whiteley. Sarah was a fantastic journalist; she was Metro’s parenting columnist and a valued member of our first-person and opinion desk.

Sarah died aged 39 from SUDEP – sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. It is thought that every year around 1,000 people die from causes related to epilepsy.

With support from Sarah’s family, Metro is fundraising for two very important charities: SUDEP Action and Epilepsy Action.

Sarah was so incredible at helping other people share their experiences; she was a born storyteller and we hope to do her proud and raise money in her memory.

Charlie ended up calling 111 a further two times – around 11:30 and midday – and even had the 111 handler talk directly to the pharmacist, but they eventually told us there was probably ‘some sort of supply issue’ and that a clinician would need to call us back to see what they could do.

By this point, Charlie was stressed and frightened. Desperate for an alternative to continuing a fruitless search, we went to Charlie’s girlfriend’s flat while she was away in Manchester that weekend to see if she had any spare medication.

We found two expired 6mg pills, but Charlie’s dosage had since increased to 8mg. He decided to try to make them last by taking one each night until he could get to a pharmacy when they opened again on Monday.

Charlie just wanted to go home to relax and calm down, even though I insisted that he should stay with us or I was happy to stay with him. That’s when we drove him home and I hugged him for the last time. 

I actually spoke to him a few hours later after I called to check in on him. He told me that the London Ambulance Service had come back to him – a ‘comfort’ caller from 111, not a doctor – but nothing came of it so he was just unwinding by watching football and ordering a takeaway.

The next morning, I messaged and called him but there was no reply. I immediately knew something bad had happened.

By 1pm, Richard and I made our way to Charlie’s flat but there was no reply to our knocks on the door, so we called the police. Once they arrived, they went inside and initially wouldn’t let us follow them.

When we eventually got in, we saw Charlie lifeless on the floor next to the sofa, with his uneaten takeaway on the coffee table. I actually recall a moment where I thought I saw his eyelashes flickering, so I shouted for the police to call an ambulance, but they assured me they had checked and Charlie was dead.

The flickering was caused by a breeze from the open window. I ended up just lying on the floor and holding him, crying.

It was the worst day of my life.

When Charlie’s body was released, we had a funeral for him. The church was filled with an outpouring of grief and love.

In the ensuing months, we pushed for an inquest to identify exactly what went wrong. I even gave evidence and said that the Superdrug pharmacist ‘wasted’ my son’s last day on earth, which I still stand by.

Heartbreakingly, we also heard recordings of conversations Charlie and I had with NHS 111 where he pleaded with handlers: ‘It’s an emergency, do you understand?’

The inquest concluded in February this year and the coroner highlighted ‘a significant number of failures’. Notably that the GP didn’t escalate the emergency prescription, that the pharmacist didn’t communicate that he was actually locked out of his system so couldn’t complete the 111 request, and that he only had two of the three drugs that Charlie needed. 

The biggest thing I was shocked to learn throughout this whole process is that certain medications can be requested in emergencies without a prescription – so long as you can prove you need it and you’ve previously been prescribed it.

Charlie could’ve done that and then received five days of medication to tide him over – but not once was this mentioned to us on either day.

Charlie could’ve been saved. If my son hadn’t been failed by so many people, he’d be sitting with me now.

This is why – with the help of SUDEP Action – I have created the Charlie Card (Get your Charlie Card from info@sudep.org), which is an information card you can take to a pharmacist that quotes the Human Medicines Regulations Act 2012 in order to help get emergency medicines.

And we’ve taken our fight to Downing Street because we want Wes Streeting to make this knowledge more readily available. 

I want people to understand that Charlie’s death was preventable.

My loving and funny son could still be here if we knew this information.

As told to James Besanvalle

This article was originally published July 9, 2025

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

Share your views in the comments below.

A woman who thought she caught the flu at a gig was left ‘panicking’ to learn she had actually contracted a ‘Victorian disease’ that killed an estimated 10,000 people a year during the 19th century.

Indigo Duffy began developing a sore throat after attending a ‘really hot and packed’ concert in a Brixton pub.

The 22-year-old assumed the symptom was the start of a flu or cold as she had also been to music festival the week before.

She says: ‘I was like a sick Victorian child… I had no clue what it was.’

Then, a few days later when she hopped in the shower, she noticed her legs were covered in angry red welts.

Indigo, a self-employed vintage clothes seller from Kingston, London, went to sleep and woke up the next day with a ‘burning’ rash all over her body.

‘It was really itchy and it also really stung,’ she says. ‘It was a lumpy rash which was awful,’ she says. ‘The more you itched it, it kind of made it worse.’

After Googling her symptoms, she noticed she had the tell-tale small raised bumps on her hand, neck and face associated with scarlet fever, so swiftly made her way over to the A&E department at Kingston Hospital.

There, doctors confirmed Indigo’s suspicion, giving her a week-long course of antibiotics. But it was an diagnosis that left her ‘panicked’ due to its grisly history.

‘I was just thinking of how it was a medieval disease and how it wiped out loads of people back in the day,’ recalls Indigo.

Scarlet fever was the leading cause of death in children in the late 1880s and early 1900s, but declined significantly through the mid-20th century – which is why it is often referred to as a ‘Victorian disease’.

The contagious infection (sometimes called scarlatina) is caused by bacteria called Streptococcus pyogenes, or group A streptococcus (GAS) could prove fatal to a whole family in a matter of weeks, according to the British Medical Journal.

Thankfully, Indigo recovered from the disease, with the rash going away in about three days after she started the antibiotics – which she says ‘felt like waking up on Christmas.’

It wasn’t totally over though, and the condition left her exhausted with lingering skin issues, meaning she had to get moisturiser delivered to her home.

‘I just stayed on my couch the whole week.’ says Indigo. ‘My skin was also really really dry and peeling for probably around two weeks after.’

Now she is sharing her ordeal from late last year to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of scarlet fever, after particularly virulent strains were detected in the UK this year.

In April, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reported there had been 12,176 cases of the disease between January and March 2024. UKHSA stated this was higher than average for the last five years, but below the high levels seen during an outbreak in 2023.

Although it’s a contagious infection, the NHS notes scarlet fever mostly affects young children, causing flu-like symptoms and a rash of small raised bumps that starts 12 to 48 hours later and makes skin feel like sandpaper.

Some people also experience a red and swollen tongue with a white coating that peels, leaving it covered in little bumps (called ‘strawberry tongue’) as well as flushed cheeks.

The NHS advises you to see your GP if you or your child have these symptoms and they don’t improve in a week, or straight away if you have chickenpox at the same time, are ill again following scarlet fever, or are feeling unwell after being in contact with someone who has it.

‘Expect the unexpected,’ adds Indigo. ‘You don’t think you’re going to get a Victorian disease.’