Following a bumper year for sport that included the Paris Olympics and Euros, 2025 may appear somewhat anticlimactic. But there are still a host of showcase events to appeal to every sports fan.

Darts
The sporting year starts with a bang as the PDC World Darts Championship final takes place on 3 January at Alexandra Palace in London. Teenage sensation Luke Littler, who made his breakthrough at the event at the start of this year, is odds-on favourite to go one better this time and clinch the title at Ally Pally.

Cricket
The Women's Cricket World Cup takes place in India next year, while the Ashes cricket series will start in Australia for England's women in January and men in November.

Rugby
England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales go for glory in the Six Nations Championship from 31 January to 15 March. Ireland will be looking to retain their crown, with England aiming to do the same in the Women's Six Nations, from 22 March to 26 April, having won the Grand Slam in 2024. The Women's Rugby World Cup, last won by New Zealand in 2021 (pictured above), will then come to England in August and September.

Horse racing
Four days of National Hunt jump racing will attract thousands of fans to Cheltenham Racecourse from 11 to 14 March, followed by the three-day Grand National Festival at Aintree from 3 to 5 April.

Snooker
The World Snooker Championship will be held at the legendary Crucible Theatre in Sheffield for the 49th consecutive time from 19 April to 5 May.

Football
FC Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena hosts the Uefa Champions League final on 31 May. It marks the culmination of an expanded and reformatted Champions League. England's Lionesses will be the defending champions at Euro 2025 in Switzerland in July. And the 35th edition of Africa's biennial football tournament, Africa Cup of Nations, will be hosted by Morocco for only the second time, starting on 21 December.

Tennis
Wimbledon, one of the UK's summer marquee events, will see the world's top tennis players head to SW19 for the grass court grand slam event, from 30 June to 13 July.

Motorsports
The British Grand Prix takes place on the first weekend of July at the spiritual home of motor racing, Silverstone Circuit, in Northamptonshire.

Cycling
The 112th edition of the Men's Tour de France starts in Lille on 5 July, with the final stage ending on the Champs-Élysées in Paris just under three weeks later. The women's race begins on 26 July.

It's no surprise that more than half of us will up our alcohol intake this month, according to a survey by charity Drinkaware.

"As Britons, we're hardwired to overdo it at Christmas," said Celia Walden in The Telegraph, "drunkenly hanging onto wall panelling at parties and complaining daily about hangovers".

If you have ever drunk too much, you will know only too well the consequences. But there are steps you can take to reduce the morning-after pain.

Pacing and zebra striping
"The search for alcohol hangover cures is as old as alcohol itself," said Justin Stebbing, professor of biomedical sciences at Anglia Ruskin University, on The Conversation. "Many cures and remedies are sold, but scientific evidence for their effectiveness is lacking."

The body's "breakdown of alcohol, which involves the liver chemically changing it using its own protein machinery, is the primary cause of hangover symptoms such as dehydration, headaches and nausea". So the best "methods to prevent or mitigate hangovers" include maintaining hydration levels, eating a nutritious meal "rich in protein, fats and complex carbohydrates", pacing drinks and then replenishing nutrients.

Drinkers can try the "new" trend of zebra striping. No, not an alternative to leopard print, but the practice of alternating boozy beverages with no/low-alcohol drinks. This is a "newish and buzzy-sounding term for an old and well-worn concept", said Vogue. It will halve your alcohol intake, and could make the difference between "waking up feeling just fine" or "with a sense of ambient doom and a face like a slightly deflated water balloon".

Dry Christmas
For those who want to be sure of avoiding a hangover, "the best way is not to drink", said DrinkAware.

This Christmas, over three-quarters of young people said they may opt to drink no alcohol at all. According to a poll of 2,000 adults, 78% of those born after 1996 will be having a "dry Christmas". "Moderation isn't impacting people's enjoyment," said Brian Perkins, president of Budweiser Brewing Group UK&I, who commissioned the study. "In fact these results reaffirm that we can and do still enjoy ourselves just as much."

Among older people surveyed, only 6% were considering a dry Christmas. "I'm amazed the figure is that high," said Celia Walden in The Telegraph. "This year I'd rather pace myself and 'enjoy' a little less of it."

From seeing spectacles of the natural world to cultivating a more serene state of mind, here's how experts believe we'll choose to spend our time off in the coming year.

Softly, softly
Soft travel means "pared-back" trips with an "inward-looking focus" that prioritises "simplicity, and ease", said Forbes. This encompasses experiences of "basic joy" much like "quality time spent with family" as well as "walking in beautiful surroundings; sleeping under canvas; foraging from the land", said luxury tour operator Original Travel.

For the long haul
Asia is "set to welcome the biggest year-on-year rise in visitors", said the Abta Travel Trends report. Thailand (pictured above) is likely to be the most talked-about tourism destination in 2025, partly due to "set-jetting" and visa-free entry expansion.

The future of flying
With AI, in-flight high-speed WiFi and virtual reality, travellers can look forward to a "highly personalised, connected, and immersive experience", said Amadeus Travel Trends. Many passengers currently watch or listen to content on their own devices, but "airlines are upping the ante" by delivering algorithmic entertainment "tailored to the individual flyer".

Natural phenomena
Travellers will be keen to see breathtaking natural spectacles, from stargazing to "heading to the beach to watch sea turtles hatch", according to Expedia Group's latest trend report, Unpack '25. Top of the hot list is the Northern Lights, followed by geological wonder sites like volcanos, geysers and lava fields in Iceland.

Men's health and wellbeing
"Men-only retreats focusing on wellbeing and personal growth" are set to become "more prevalent", said Booking.com's 2025 Travel Predictions. Almost half of the 27,713 travellers surveyed would encourage a men-only break as a way to escape the "pressures of modern life".

The crisis in social care is a hidden iceberg that could rip a hole in the NHS this winter
Daniel Keane in the London Evening Standard
There are several factors behind the now "inevitable meltdown" in the NHS every winter, writes Daniel Keane, but "none are more pressing than the crisis in social care". Hospitals are "losing vital capacity" by housing people well enough to leave – and the consequences can be fatal. Labour has sent a "strong message" that the sector will "not be prioritised", but without "ambitious action" they risk repeating previous governments' mistakes: passing the buck to future generations.

Millions of Britons want a fresh start and a new life. But they will find it at home, not in Australia
Martin Kettle in The Guardian
A "certain idea" of Australia still "lingers strongly" in British minds, writes Martin Kettle: a place where one can live a "British life, but more prosperously and with better weather". But that is "an anachronism". Immigration to Australia is "much more restricted", and the country has "mostly shaken off any remaining deference towards Britain". The psychological need of some to "cling to the long-outmoded belief" that countries like Australia are "still neo-Britains" is a "failure".

There's only one type of person who's allowed to hate New Year's…
Maja Anushka in The Independent
I'm used to being "the only one" who likes New Year's Eve, writes Maja Anushka. But why "all the resistance"? No, "the universe doesn't shift" at midnight but "even the most cynical" must admit there's a "buzz". The only legitimate excuse for being grumpy about tonight is having to work. To everyone else, if you let go of your "massive expectations", NYE is "exactly as good as you allow it to be".