Author: Michael Dawson

I am a local news reporter for Manchestertime.co.uk. I specialise in providing timely weather reports and in-depth local guides, keeping the community informed about both the forecast and the best things to do in the Manchester area.

Manchester’s weekend brunch culture has moved decisively beyond plates and refills. Across the city centre, particularly around Canal Street, Saturdays are now built around experiences that bundle food, drink and performance into one fixed block of time. Buff Bingo Bottomless Brunch sits squarely in that shift. From covering weekend listings across Manchester, it is clear that brunch has become a way of organising the day rather than filling a table. Groups arrive with a booking, stay put for hours, and expect entertainment as part of the deal. In a city where nights out have always shaped daytime culture, this format…

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On most evenings along Deansgate, the queue outside Flat Iron Manchester tells its own story. In a city centre where new restaurant openings come thick and fast, consistency is rare. Flat Iron has found it quickly. Manchester has never lacked steak options, but Flat Iron Manchester has tapped into something different. It is not chasing luxury diners or special occasion bookings. Instead, it has become a dependable choice for people who want good food, fair pricing, and a restaurant that fits naturally into city centre life. Why Flat Iron Manchester Works on Deansgate Deansgate is one of Manchester’s most demanding…

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Walk past 111 Portland Street on any given evening and you’ll likely spot a queue forming beneath the cherry blossom neon. Since opening in late 2021, Sushi Mami has quietly established itself as one of Manchester’s most reliable Japanese dining options not through spectacle or social media theatrics, but by solving a long-standing city centre dilemma: where to eat genuinely good sushi without paying Spinningfields prices. In a Manchester dining scene where “all you can eat” often signals compromise, Sushi Mami has found a confident middle ground. It sits between budget conveyor belts and premium Japanese restaurants, offering unlimited Japanese…

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Storm Chandra is impacting Greater Manchester today, bringing periods of heavy rain, strong winds and difficult travel conditions across the region. Weather warnings remain in place as residents face the risk of localised flooding, transport disruption and worsening conditions through much of the day. The storm is the latest in a run of unsettled weather affecting the North West, with its impact felt from Manchester city centre to surrounding boroughs including Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan. What Manchester Residents Are Facing Today Heavy rain moved into Greater Manchester during the early hours, with further downpours…

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For anyone living in Manchester, the weather is never background noise. It dictates the school run, the commute, matchday plans, and whether you chance leaving the house without a proper coat. This manchester 7 days weather forecast shows a familiar winter pattern for the city: unsettled, often wet, occasionally brighter, and requiring a bit of forward planning. Here’s how the next seven days are shaping up, broken down clearly for Mancunians who just want to know when the rain is coming, when it might ease, and which days are worth circling in the diary. Monday: Grey Skies and Showers Later…

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For anyone who spends time in the city centre at night, Freemount Manchester is no longer just a search term or a name on a chalkboard. It has become shorthand for a particular kind of Manchester evening: live music crammed into the corner, Guinness poured almost on muscle memory, and Oldham Street viewed through steamed up windows as the Northern Quarter does what it does best. Freemount Manchester is a live-music pub on Oldham Street in the Northern Quarter, best known for nightly bands, a Guinness-heavy bar, and its role in the area’s late-night economy. Now, The Freemount’s shift across…

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It is a Tuesday evening on Stevenson Square and the outdoor tables are already filling up. Cyclists cut through the square, someone balances a takeaway pizza box, and three different doorways leak three different soundtracks into the cold air. The Northern Quarter finished its transformation into Manchester’s default bar district years ago, so most people barely glance at another Irish pub frontage on Hilton Street. That was the reality Nancy Spains stepped into when it opened its Manchester outpost last spring, taking over the former Corner Boy unit. This is a city that knows stout, live music, and Irish pubs…

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Getting to London from Manchester Piccadilly without breaking the bank can feel like winning the lottery. Walk-up fares regularly push into three figures, advance singles often land well above what most people want to pay, and even booking weeks ahead does not guarantee a sensible price if you need to travel at a practical time. That is why avanti superfare has become such a talking point among Manchester travellers looking for a cheaper way to reach London without committing to a specific train. The idea sounds appealing. A fixed low fare. No surge pricing. No watching ticket prices creep up…

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Meteorologists are closely tracking a significant disturbance high above the Arctic, as the latest polar vortex collapse forecast points to a major stratospheric shake-up as winter moves into its final phase. Several long-range models now suggest the polar vortex could weaken sharply or even partially collapse in early February, raising fresh questions about how the rest of winter may unfold across the UK and Europe. While the most immediate impacts are being felt in North America, the evolving pattern is one that UK forecasters are watching carefully. History shows that when the polar vortex is disrupted, knock-on effects can ripple…

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Walk down Portland Street just before half four on a weekday and you’ll see it happen in real time. People hovering outside, checking their watches, waiting for doors to open. Families with pushchairs. Office workers still in lanyards. Students already planning plate one. This is the real chinese buffet manchester scene. Busy, practical, and driven by value rather than hype. Manchester’s food scene has changed dramatically over the past decade, but Chinese buffets have quietly held their ground. While pop-ups come and go and prices climb everywhere else, buffets keep doing what Mancunians actually want. One fixed price, plenty of…

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