THE UK’s warm weather might seem like a thing of the past, but the rain doesn’t don’t mean you have to miss out on theme parks and amusement attractions.
And as the weather takes a turn for the worse across the UK the rest of this week and into the weekend, what better way to spend it than heading to one of these spots?
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Babylon Park in Camden is an indoor theme park and even has a rollercoasterCredit: Babylon Park
The UK is home to several, with most catering to the different age groups – even adults – so here are some of the best to check out.
Babylon Park in Camden, London
Theme parks are a lot of fun, but when it is rainy and all the rides are outside it can quickly become less fun.
However in Camden, London, you can head to Babylon Park which is a space-themed indoor amusement park with its own indoor rollercoaster.
Across different levels, there are a number of rides including a drop tower and there is also a soft play area from smaller kids.
There are several retro arcade games too including dance challenge machines and you can have a go at hooking a duck – though it is actually a hybrid unicorn-duck.
For adults, there’s a restaurant and bar to grab a drink in while the kids play.
The attraction is free to enter, but you will need to buy a £1 Babylon Card to pay for the attractions.
You then load credit onto the card via an app or at the attraction’s kiosk.
For reference, £15 will get you around 144 game coins and the attractions cost different amounts of game coins – for example, the rollercoaster costs 48 game coins.
Gravity Max in Liverpool, Cardiff and London
At Gravity Max, kids can get competitive with e-kartingCredit: Gravity MAX
For kids who love adrenaline and competitive fun, take them to Gravity Max either in Liverpool, Cardiff or a couple spots in London.
The parks feature e-karting across huge tracks that leave visitors feeling as if they have stepped into a real lifeMario Kart game.
The venues also have augmented reality bowling and immersive gaming zones.
Fancy a tipple? Don’t worry they have a bar as well.
Adult karting (visitors aged 14 or older) costs from £16 per person and junior karting (kids aged eight or older) costs from £15.25.
The Playhive, Stockeld Park in North Yorkshire
The Playhive in North Yorkshire is one of the biggest indoor playgrounds in the UKCredit: Refer to Source
The Playhive in North Yorkshire is thought to be one of the biggest indoor playgrounds in the UK with a “journey through four interconnected worlds of space, air, the jungle, and sea”, according to the attraction’s website.
Inside visitors will find spaceships, planes and submarines, which are all different play structures.
There are even jungle-themed climbing walls for kids to let out their inner Tarzan.
Toddlers get their own areas too with smaller climbing features and swings.
Parents who feel like chilling can hang out in the Playhive Pizzeria, where a variety of snacks, pizzas and drinks are served.
Sessions at the attraction allow visitors an hour-and-a-half of play time costing from £13.50.
Woodlands Family Theme Park, Devon
Woodlands theme park in Devon has a huge indoor soft playCredit: Alamy
Woodlands theme park in Devon is home to the county’s largest soft play area with drop slides, ball pits, climbing frames and obstacle course sections.
Dedicated to children over 90cm tall, it’s the ideal place to let your kids run around and burn some energy for hours on end.
There are two other areas for smaller kids – one for toddlers under 95cm and another for children up to 125cm tall.
And if that wasn’t enough, the Circus Dome Zone has more soft play and in another area – Big Top Soft Play – you’ll find stacking cubes and games for younger children.
Travel Reporter Cyann Fielding grew up nearby and visited many times – she said: “Woodlands is a great day out, especially when the weather takes a turn.
“After stepping foot inside the play area, my family knew they wouldn’t see me for hours on end and they only time they would is when I was worn out or wanting a drink after running around.”
Tickets to Woodlands cost from £23.31 per person.
Play Factore, Manchester
Play Factore in Manchester claims to be the biggest indoor family entertainment arena in the UKCredit: Play Factore
Claiming to be the biggest indoor family entertainment arena in the UK, Play Factore boasts the tallest standing indoor slide in the UK as well as a huge laser tag arena.
Little ones aren’t left out though, as there are two floors for kids under five-ears-old which include a soft play area and obstacle courses.
There’s even a football pitch and basketball court inside as well.
For six to 11-month-olds, it costs £3.95 each and then for one to four-year-old’s, it’s £12.95 each.
Kids aged between five and 16 years old cost £13.95 each and parents cost £5.25 each.
Riverside Hub, Northampton
Riverside Hub in Northampton has a number of different zones for different age groupsCredit: facbook
In Northampton, you could head to the Riverside Hub which has a number of zones including Role Play Villages where kids can explore an imaginary world with its own cafe, shop, witch’s house and tooth fairy dentist.
Older kids on the other hand can venture on a number of climbing activities, including a 10-metre beanstalk.
Toddlers can also test out a number of ball pits and activity walls.
And if that wasn’t enough, there’s also a giant play frame with slides, games and even a football pitch.
There is even a fake mini village for kids to role play iCredit: facbook
Travel writer Catherine Lofthouse said: “There’s so much to do here that it’s a struggle to fit it into the two and a half hours that each session is allocated.
“We could have happily spent the whole day and still have gone back for more.
“With three boys aged between five and 12, it can sometimes be difficult to find somewhere that has enough to keep all ages happy as the older two are getting a bit big for soft play, but that certainly wasn’t a problem here.”
Tickets cost £8.50 per adult, £14.50 per child aged one to three-ears-old and £17.50 for kids between four and 17-years-old
Flip Out, various locations
Flip Out has a number of venues across the UKCredit: Flipout
Flip Out has several locations across the UK including Bradford, Doncaster, Chichester and Coventry.
Each Flip Out boasts an indoor adventure and trampoline park, where visitors can bounce into foam pits and off of stunt walls.
In some of the more recent venues, such as Flip Out Canary Wharf, you can also have a go at laser quest or bumper cars.
And for football fans, some venues have interactive football.
Travel writer Catherine Lofthouse headed to Flip Out Coventry with her three children.
Inside each, there are usually slides, trampolines and a number of obstaclesCredit: Supplied
She said: “The dark space and graffiti vibe of the upper floor really appealed to my 11-year-old and 13-year-old, feeling a bit more grown-up than the bright lights and primary colours of soft plays aimed at younger children.
“But there was still lots to love for primary aged children here too – my six-year-old enjoyed the inflatables, roller rink and football zone.
“For little ones, there’s a dedicated toddler soft play next to the cafe area, so they can play in safety while tired parents have a rest nearby, hot drink in hand.”
Prices vary depending on destination and session length.
Seoul – Shekinah Yawra had no other option but to spend the night at a South Korean jjimjilbang, a 24-hour bathhouse, after every hotel near central Seoul sold out in late March.
But sleep was secondary for the 32-year-old Filipino who had made her way to Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square at 7am to secure a spot in a crowd that city officials estimated would grow to hundreds of thousands.
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All this was for a glimpse at the seven-member K-pop supergroup BTS, who returned to the stage on March 21 after almost four years away from the limelight for their staggered, mandatory military service.
Though she failed to secure one of 22,000 free tickets for BTS’s first return concert in the square, Yawra was still ecstatic to stand on the sidelines and watch the concert live on a big screen set up for the occasion.
“We all came just for this,” she told Al Jazeera, recounting how friends had flown in from the Philippines for a single night to catch the concert.
Worldwide, more than 18.4 million viewers tuned in for the Netflix livestream of the concert.
Kpop group BTS perform during ‘BTS The Comeback Live Arirang’ concert in central Seoul, South Korea, March 21, 2026 [Kim Hong-ji/Pool/Reuters]
With an estimated 30 million fans worldwide – who refer to themselves as the BTS ARMY – the K-pop group is the most visible symbol of “Hallyu”, or the “Korean Wave”, and the global surge of interest in South Korean popular culture and the financial revenues being generated as a result.
In late March, BTS’s 10th studio album, Arirang, topped the charts in the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom, the world’s three largest music markets. The group’s upcoming world tour is expected to generate more than $1.4bn in revenue across more than 80 shows in 23 countries.
Domestically, inbound tourist numbers for the first 18 days of March rose 32.7 percent from the previous month, according to Ministry of Justice data, as the return concert approached and hotel prices surged across central Seoul amid the demand for rooms.
In the week leading up to the concert, sales of BTS merchandise – from BTS glow sticks to blankets – surged 430 percent at the Shinsegae Duty Free retail outlet in central Seoul, the company said.
Over the concert weekend, revenues also rose 30 percent at the city’s Lotte Department Store and 48 percent at Shinsegae overall, compared with the same March weekend a year earlier, in 2025.
Fans cheer before the BTS The Comeback Live Arirang concert as they wait near the concert venue, in central Seoul, South Korea, on March 21, 2026 [Kim Hong-ji/Reuters]
As far back as 2022, the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute (KCTI) – a government-sponsored think tank and research organisation – estimated that a single BTS concert in Seoul could generate up to 1.2 trillion won ($798m) in overall economic impact.
KCTI researcher Yang Ji-hoon told Al Jazeera that a sample study of the crowd at the BTS comeback event at Gwanghwamun Square highlighted the uniqueness of fandom-driven tourism. More than half of those at the concert were foreign visitors and many required long-haul travel to attend.
“In Europe and the United States, travel tends to be concentrated within its own regions,” Yang said.
“So, for people to overcome such travel barriers and come to South Korea, it usually requires more than just ordinary motivation or typical spending – it’s not something that happens easily,” he said.
K-pop’s transition to the global mainstream
The scale of BTS’s return to the entertainment world reflects a broader state-backed strategy.
When music promoter Hybe requested Seoul city support for the Gwanghwamun square comeback concert, authorities approved it on public-interest grounds, treating the event as a showcase of national cultural influence.
Almost befitting an official event, more than 10,000 state personnel were deployed for security, logistics and crowd control.
According to data retrieved by South Korean publication Sisain, through a public information disclosure request to the Seoul government, close to 130 million won ($87,400) of city funds were spent as part of logistics for the comeback concert.
South Korean government support for BTS has a precedent.
As members of the boyband approached South Korea’s mandatory military service age, policymakers debated special exemptions for members of BTS, which was estimated to have generated $4.65bn annually to the country’s economy.
After BTS’s forthcoming concerts in Mexico City sold out in just 37 minutes, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum urged South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung to “bring the acclaimed K-pop artists more often”, noting nearly one million fans in Mexico had attempted to secure 150,000 tickets.
South Korea’s cultural influence is also extending beyond music.
South Korea’s cosmetics exports surpassed $11bn last year, according to global accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), overtaking France in cosmetics shipments to the US, while South Korean food and agricultural exports reached a record $13.6bn, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
KCTI researcher Yang described the growing interest as a phase of “transition to the global mainstream”, where South Korean products are internationally recognised and content output is measured against worldwide benchmarks such as the Billboard charts and the Academy Awards.
He also warned that structural reform is now essential to keep pace with the wave of interest in South Korea.
“As the industries expand in scale, they must also evolve in its underlying systems, infrastructure, and workforce,” he said.
“Rather than focusing solely on direct financial support, future governmental policies should move toward strengthening foundational conditions – such as improving labour environments, addressing unfair practices, building relevant infrastructure, and establishing more robust statistical and data systems,” he said.
Politicians appear to be paying attention.
During his election campaign last year, President Lee framed the next phase of cultural expansion as “Hallyu (Korean Wave) 4.0”, with promises to grow the sector into a 300 trillion won ($203bn) industry with 50 trillion won ($34bn) in exports.
In line with this vision, the government set the budget to bolster “K-content”, support the “pure” arts sector and strengthen the overall culture-related fields at a record 9.6 trillion won ($6.5bn) — reflecting the president’s view of the cultural sector as a strategic national industry rather than merely a consumer market.
South Korea’s strategy appears to be paying off.
South Korea now ranks 11th globally in “soft power”, according to Brand Finance’s Global Soft Power Index, placing the country as both “influential in arts and entertainment” and “products and brands the world loves”, just behind the US, France, the United Kingdom and Japan.
The darker side of K-pop: Pressure to become a perfect idol
Amid its global success, the darker side of the K-culture industry has received more scrutiny.
Mega-promoter Hybe has been embroiled in a prolonged dispute with K-pop’s New Jeans, a band considered to be a potential heir to BTS and their all-female colleagues Blackpink. The highly public legal dispute that started in 2024 highlights industry tensions over creative control and artist autonomy.
Since the early 2000s, K-pop has also grappled with the legacy of “slave contracts”, or highly restrictive agreements limiting artists’ freedom. Although reforms by the Fair Trade Commission have improved protections for performers, contractual obligations in the K-pop industry are exacting on new performers and their strict work routines have long been documented.
From their trainee years, aspiring idols endure gruelling schedules that involve long workdays and little sleep.
Many top stars often face contractual restrictions on socialising, using their phones or dating. They are also typically limited in what they can say publicly, relying on agency-managed messaging to communicate with fans and the media.
While the rise of social media and other online platforms has opened new avenues for more direct expression and interaction in recent years, concerns over burnout and depression have continued to shadow the industry, with several high-profile stars taking their own lives.
Beauty standards associated with the K-culture genre have also become another flashpoint for controversy.
A 2024 report by South Korean economy news site Uppity found 98 percent of 1,283 respondents born between 1980 and 2000 viewed physical appearance as among the most desirable “social capital” an individual can possess.
Nearly 40 percent of respondents in the survey had undergone cosmetic procedures, while more than 90 percent held neutral or positive attitudes regarding undergoing medical procedures to enhance beauty.
According to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, South Korea has the world’s highest rate of procedures, with 8.9 per 1,000 people compared with 5.91 per 1,000 people in the US and just 2.13 per 1,000 in neighbouring Japan.
Yoo Seung-chul, a professor of media studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, said that K-culture has reinforced the normalising of beauty as a significant metric of personal and social value.
“K-culture has reinforced systems and structures around self-expression,” Yoo told Al Jazeera.
“With the rise of webtoons that incorporate themes like plastic surgery, there has been a noticeable reduction in the stigma towards going under the knife among younger audiences in their teens and early twenties,” Yoo said, explaining that popular plastic surgery platforms such as Unni have further normalised the trend by connecting people to clinics and reviews of these clinics and their surgeons.
At the same time, globalisation has reshaped the K-culture industry itself. Many new K-pop acts now include international members to broaden appeal.
Hybe has expanded this strategy through its US subsidiary, Hybe America, producing globally oriented groups like Katseye, which only has one South Korean member in its six-member girl group.
The shift has prompted debate.
Even BTS’s latest album Arirang – a nod to South Korea’s most iconic folk song – has divided fans over its use of English lyrics and foreign producers.
“K-content is being designed with global audiences in mind from the outset. In film, there has been a noticeable rise in genres like horror and science fiction, which are easier to export internationally,” Yoo said.
“This global orientation is also reflected in K-pop agencies recruiting foreign members for idol groups,” he said.
But international audiences do not always prefer highly globalised versions of Korean content, Yoo said, adding, in fact, that many are drawn to K-pop’s “sense of locality”.
As audiences increasingly seek authenticity, Yoo argues the industry faces a defining challenge.
“Industries and companies need to figure out how to preserve a sense of local identity while effectively marketing to global audiences,” Yoo added.
“Striking that balance will be crucial in shaping the next phase of Korea’s cultural exports.”
HOUSTON — Deandre Ayton has a simple explanation for his first career ejection.
“We’re both sweaty guys,” the Lakers center said after his accidental elbow to the back of Alperen Sengun‘s head resulted in his ejection from Sunday’s loss to the Houston Rockets.
The Lakers center was assessed a flagrant foul 2 with 5:41 remaining in the third quarter of the 115-96 Game 4 loss. It “looked crazy on camera,” Ayton acknowledged, but it was not malicious.
Ayton said he was bracing for contact against the 6-foot-11, 243-pound Sengun and Ayton’s arm simply slipped off Sengun’s shoulder and hit his head. It didn’t affect Sengun at all: he finished with 19 points and six rebounds on six-of-12 shooting as the Rockets forced a Game 5 on Wednesday at 7 p.m. PDT at Crypto.com Arena.
“I’m not no guy who is a dirty player or plays like that,” Ayton said. “If anything, me trying to play dirty, I’ll damn near hurt myself. I just hope he’s all right and they don’t think it was intentional.”
Sengun and Rockets coach Ime Udoka both said the flagrant 2 call — which characterizes an act as “unnecessary and excessive” — was “soft.” Sengun said he didn’t expect Ayton to be ejected for the play. When crew chief James Williams declared that Ayton would be sent off, the Lakers center simply dropped his head and walked to the locker room. Injured Rockets star Kevin Durant, who missed the game with a bone bruise in his sprained left ankle, waved goodbye from the Rockets bench.
“We’re proud of the way he handled it, and I think that just speaks volume about who he is and his progression,” Lakers guard Marcus Smart said. “He’s learning, he’s continuing — it probably would have been justifiable if he went off, right? But to keep his composure and stay positive, I think that’s only going to help him and this team.”
Lakers’ Jarred Vanderbilt (2) and Deandre Ayton (5) go up for a rebound against Houston forward Tari Eason during the first half Sunday.
(Karen Warren / Associated Press)
It was the first time Ayton was ejected in his eight-year NBA career. The center, to the chagrin of many in the NBA, has long been known more for his finesse touch shots than physical play. Lakers coach JJ Redick called Ayton, “a sweet, just, like, kind soul.”
Lakers coaches and teammates have tried to encourage him to increase his intensity and aggressiveness. General manager Rob Pelinka even made a custom shirt with half of Ayton’s face next to the face of a lion.
Ayton answered the call Sunday with 19 points and 10 rebounds. He was one of the Lakers’ only forms of consistent offense in the blowout loss. Outside of Ayton and Rui Hachimura, who shot six for 10 with 13 points, the Lakers were shooting 31.3% from the field in the first three quarters. They trailed by as many as 26 points as Smart and LeBron James, veterans who led the team to a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, looked worn down with Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) still sidelined.
“It’s been tough for DA,” said Smart, who had nine points, five assists and four turnovers. “We’ve been hard on him. He’s been hard on himself. You guys have been hard on him. … He’s been taking it, embracing it and trying to get better and better. Today he showed that. He came out, we relied on him a little bit more. He made plays for us.”
Ayton soon had company in the Lakers locker room after teammate Adou Thiero and Rockets guard Aaron Holiday were both ejected after receiving two technical fouls with 1:11 remaining in the fourth quarter. They got tangled up under the basket and exchanged words briefly.
Thiero, who entered the game midway through the fourth quarter when the Lakers cleared their bench, made a memorable playoff debut by scoring his first postseason basket with an emphatic alley-oop dunk over Dorian Finney-Smith. But the premature ending to his first postseason appearance was “uncalled for,” James said.
“It made no sense,” said James, who had 10 points and nine assists but eight turnovers. “… I don’t think that was warranted. Give him two technicals? The kid just got in the game.”
At the end of the physical game, players from both teams jawed back and forth at midcourt after the final buzzer. Much of the Lakers bench and some coaches approached to help diffuse the situation. Redick said he was simply poking his head into the situation the way people might turn their heads to gawk at commotion in a bar. When he determined nothing was happening, he left.
“Hilarious,” Smart said with a smirk of the postgame skirmish. “Very hilarious.”
Situated along the UK coast is a county brimming with quintessential British villages and an array of scenic walking routes, and the most hygienic soft play centre for little ones
This UK county is brimming with pretty villages and scenic vistas (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
A beautiful UK county with ample walking routes and picturesque villages has the ‘cleanest soft play’ centre.
Soft play centres, with their cushioned equipment, ball pits, mats, slides and climbing frames, are not only a great way to keep young children entertained, but they also support their development. Children can improve their social skills, enhance their coordination, and develop physical movement while stimulating imagination and creativity in a fun, safe and secure environment.
So it’s no wonder that soft play is popular among parents and their little ones. Yet parents not only want to ensure the soft play is suitable for their child, but also want to know it’s hygienic before planning a visit.
Luckily, the outdoor play specialists at Outdoor Toys have uncovered the cleanest soft play centres across 20 of the most popular UK counties, and there’s one that stood out from them all. Somerset ranked as the most hygienic soft play, according to the toy experts’ analysis of Tripadvisor reviews.
The experts revealed that fewer than 4 in 100 reviews mentioned hygiene issues at Somerset’s soft plays. Instead, unsanitary reviews made up just a mere 3.9% of all feedback on TripAdvisor, and parents praised the “clean and airy” environment at Space Adventurers Indoor Play in Taunton.
Other highly rated centres in Somerset include Play Haven SoftPlay, Ocean Adventurers Soft Play, and Safari Tots. But it’s not just the children’s play centres that warrant a visit to the county.
Somerset is packed with picture-perfect villages and picture-postcard landscapes, set against rolling hills, patchwork fields, dramatic gorges, coastal shores and ancient woodlands. Thanks to its acres of lush landscapes, the county is famously home to Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, and when the festival isn’t on, it offers ample walking opportunities, including to the summit of Glastonbury Tor.
Dunster is considered one of the prettiest villages in Somerset, with its preserved medieval architecture, more than 200 listed buildings and 17th-century Yarn Market, nestled within Exmoor National Park. There’s also the picturesque village of Selworthy, with its array of thatched cottages, All Saints Church, and scenic walking routes to Selworthy Beacon, a hill and Marilyn of Exmoor, which offer panoramic views across the coast.
There’s also the small village of Allerford, with its whitewashed thatched cottages and 15th-century packhorse bridge, located on the edge of Exmoor National Park. As well as the historic village of Mells, which has often been dubbed one of the prettiest in the UK, thanks to its ‘chocolate-box’ charm, with honey-coloured houses and walks along the Wadbury Valley and Mells River.
So why not combine a trip to the cleanest soft play centre with exploring the stunning vistas of Somerset? And with its position along the coast, you could even spend a day at the seaside during the warmer months.
Top 10 regions with the cleanest play areas
1.Somerset
Total reviews: 908
Unsanitary reviews: 35
Unsanitary reviews (%): 3.9%
2. South Yorkshire
Total reviews: 1,040
Unsanitary reviews: 57
Unsanitary reviews (%): 5.5%
3. Lancashire
Total reviews: 1,106
Unsanitary reviews: 65
Unsanitary reviews (%): 5.9%
4. Greater Manchester
Total reviews: 1,344
Unsanitary reviews: 87
Unsanitary reviews (%): 6.5%
5. Nottinghamshire
Total reviews: 401
Unsanitary reviews: 33
Unsanitary reviews (%): 8.2%
6. Essex
Total reviews: 1019
Unsanitary reviews: 87
Unsanitary reviews (%): 8.5%
7. Hampshire
Total reviews: 1,020
Unsanitary reviews: 96
Unsanitary reviews (%): 9.4%
8. Lincolnshire
Total reviews: 564
Unsanitary reviews: 55
Unsanitary reviews (%): 9.8%
9. North Yorkshire
Total reviews: 457
Unsanitary reviews: 50
Unsanitary reviews (%): 10.9%
10. West Midlands
Total reviews: 447
Unsanitary reviews: 49
Unsanitary reviews (%): 11.0%
Kim May, Creative Arts Therapist at ISP Fostering, revealed the benefits of soft play centres for young children. She told the Outdoor Toys team: “Spending time in play centres helps children to embrace the play and imagination stages of their development and is beneficial for socialisation and the development of physical and cognitive skills.
“When children are in their most infant years, development is about harnessing imagination and mobility skills, and lots of what they learn is through sensory experiences – soft play can positively contribute to this. For children under four years old in particular, they rely on their sensory memory a lot (taste, touch, sound, feel, and sight). Even if a child is too small to physically move or interact with toys or a play area, they are still learning and developing through their senses.”
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