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Holidaymakers have been left questioning everything after spotting an unexpected airport sign, with some admitting it would have sent their anxiety through the roof

There are plenty of things you have to remember to check before setting off on holiday, and for lots of people, this can be an anxiety-inducing experience. Before leaving home you’ve likely double-checked the hob is off twice, made sure the windows are closed four times over, and checked every door is locked. So, after checking in your bags and making it into duty free, the last thing you want to see is a reminder about whether or not you left your oven on.

But that’s exactly what some travellers came face-to-face with at one airport, thanks to Notre Dame Federal Credit Union (FCU), which has created what has been described as the “most anxiety-inducing” sign in existence.

Hanging overhead as passengers make their way through the airport, the sign reads: “Did you leave your oven on? Sorry, have a nice trip!” While some Reddit users couldn’t help but laugh at the sign, others admitted it immediately sent their anxiety levels soaring as they began second-guessing themselves.

‘That would absolutely ruin my day’

The sign was shared on Reddit, where it quickly struck a nerve with travellers who are all too familiar with the fear of leaving an appliance switched on. One user said: “As someone with OCD this would absolutely ruin my day.” Another added: “That’s diabolical.”

A third admitted they have their own method for avoiding the dreaded post-departure panic.

They wrote: “And this is why I take a picture of my stove…every…damn…time….like a weirdo. I routinely go back and clear those photos out.” They added: “Thanks mum for giving me this fear (though for her it was the garage door).”

‘The house didn’t catch fire’

For another traveller, the sign brought back a particularly memorable experience involving an iron.

One user explained that they had once ironed a shirt before an international flight because they wanted to look their best when they arrived. As a single man who rarely irons clothes, he decided to do it on his coffee table.

But two weeks later, when he returned home, he discovered the iron was still switched on.

He said it had been left on its highest heat setting, sitting sideways on the carpet next to the coffee table.

The carpet was left with a deep permanent burn, but thankfully the house hadn’t caught fire.

He said the experience had made him “much more paranoid”, meaning he now double-checks everything before leaving home.

‘Smart marketing’

Not everyone was left traumatised by the sign, however.

Some users praised Notre Dame FCU for coming up with a memorable piece of marketing, pointing out that the message had certainly succeeded in sticking in travellers’ minds.

Sept. 22, 2026 6:56 PM PT

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration plans to limit the number of refugees admitted to the country to 17,500 mostly white South Africans, the administration told Congress on Tuesday, as it continues to transform a program that at one point served as a pathway to safety for people fleeing war and strife from countries around the world.

In a notice to Congress obtained by the Associated Press, the administration said the white South Africans faced seizures of their land and other forms of persecution and would be likely to assimilate when they come to America. The South African government has repeatedly rejected the idea that the white South Africans, who are Afrikaners, are a persecuted minority in the home country.

The Trump administration has dramatically altered a refugee program that historically enjoyed strong bipartisan support as it welcomed tens of thousands of refugees from countries around the world to new lives in America, and instead the administration has transformed it into a vehicle to resettle white South Africans in America.

The administration told Congress in the announcement that it intended to spend about $500 million to resettle the new arrivals to the U.S.

Presidents set the cap on how many refugees the U.S. will approve through the program each year, and historically, they’ve allocated those numbers across various geographic regions while factoring in wars or conflicts that spark humanitarian needs around the globe.

Santana and Kim write for the Associated Press.

Bake Off has been shaken up for the new Channel 4 series with Nigella Lawson replacing Prue Leith alongside Paul Hollywood

Nigella Lawson spent her breaks filming the Great British Bake Off lying on a chaise longue reading books – with the show hosts in awe and only entering her room when summoned. The TV cook, 66, has replaced Dame Prue Leith on the series, who herself replaced Berry in 2017.

Speaking about working with her, host Alison Hammond said: “Unbelievable. Yeah, she is so beautiful. When she walked in, I was like that, everyone just stops in their tracks- and looks, and you’re like. How is she that beautiful? She’s so lovely as well. Really nice.”

Co-host Noel Fielding added: “We have these little sort of shepherd’s huts that we all sort of have, and they face each other, and you can just see Nigella in her shepherd’s hut currently reading.

“She’s got a stack of books- and she sort of lies like- Cleopatra would lie. On a chaise longue. And sometimes as you’re walking by, she summons you in, and you sort of kneel down at her feet- because she lies across the whole thing- so there’s nowhere to sit. Like a child in assembly. She’s amazing.”

The pair also said Nigella’s fellow judge Paul Hollywood sometimes strips down to a vest and cook pizzas during his breaks from filming – with Alison being particularly impressed.

Speaking on the Dish podcast, Alison revealed: “He’s got a pizza oven, obviously. An inbuilt pizza oven- doesn’t he? Anywhere he goes, he wheels a pizza oven. I think when we were filming Bake Off in the bubble during the pandemic, he brought his pizza oven.

“So, he would do a pizza night- and he’d get out that big shovel, you know. And he’d always have sort of some vest top on, so his muscles would be out. He’d be getting bronzed by the fire- like an advert. Diet Coke advert. And he’d be up there with like, you know, tea towel tucked in. That got me excited.”

Hollywood has described his new Bake Off co-judge Nigella Lawson as being “warmer” to the contestants than Mary Berry.

Speaking to the Radio Times about his on-screen chemistry with his new co-star, baker Paul described her as a “very warm person, especially to the bakers”.

He said: “There’s a very nurturing nature to Nigella, which was quite strong this year.”

Comparing Nigella to the previous judges, he continued: “Mary was different to Prue, Prue was different to Nigella and Nigella is different to Mary.

“They each bring their own character to it, and Nigella is a very warm person, especially to the bakers. More so than Mary was and I think more akin to Prue.

“There’s a very nurturing nature to Nigella, which was quite strong this year. Whereas me, I suppose I’m the constant. So I remain in my position of being constructively critical.”

* The full interview with Alison and Noel is on the Dish from Waitrose podcast, out now.

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