Events from the year 2018 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents Monarch – Elizabeth II Prime Minister – Theresa May (Conservative)
Events January 2 January – Rail passengers face their biggest price increase for five years, with average tickets rising in cost by 3.4%. 2–4 January – Storm Eleanor causes widespread disruption across the UK, with flooding and gusts of wind reaching 100 mph (161 km/h). 3 January – The NHS in England cancels all non-urgent treatments from mid-January until the end of the month, as reports emerge of patients facing long waits for treatment and being stuck on trolleys in corridors and of ambulances left queuing outside Accident & Emergency departments. 5 January – Jon Venables, one of the killers of toddler James Bulger in 1993, is charged with possessing indecent images of children. 8 January – Theresa May announces a Cabinet reshuffle. 9 January The manufacture of cosmetics and personal care products with plastic microbeads is banned in England, with a ban on their sale due to come into force by July 2018. Virgin Trains announces it has stopped selling copies of the Daily Mail on its West Coast trains following "considerable concern [about] the Mail's editorial position on issues such as immigration, LGBT rights and unemployment". 11 January – Theresa May pledges to eradicate all "avoidable" plastic waste throughout the UK by 2042. 12 January – US President Donald Trump scraps a planned visit to the UK, blaming his predecessor, Barack Obama, for a "bad deal" on the new embassy due to be opened in London, despite the fact it was agreed under the administration of George W. Bush. 15 January – Carillion, the UK's second-largest construction company, goes into liquidation with debts of £1,500,000,000. 16 January – Supermarket chain Iceland announces that it aims to end the use of plastic for its own-brand products by the end of 2023. 17 January French President Emmanuel Macron agrees to loan the Bayeux Tapestry to the United Kingdom after 2020; the first time in 950 years it will leave France. By 317 to 299 votes, the Conservatives reject a Labour amendment to keep the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. 18 January – Scotland Yard says that American actor Kevin Spacey is being investigated over a third accusation of sexual assault, dating from 2005. 21 January – The UK Independence Party's National Executive Committee (NEC) delivers a vote of no confidence in its leader, Henry Bolton, following a recent controversy involving his girlfriend. 23 January – Rupert Murdoch’s £11,700,000,000 bid to take full control of Sky is provisionally blocked by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). 24 January – Sir Elton John announces that he is to retire from touring after nearly fifty years. 25 January Industry body Water UK announces that all shops, cafés, and businesses in England will provide free water refill points in every major city and town by 2021. The number of rough sleepers in England reaches its highest level since records began – an estimated 4,751. 30 January – A leaked government paper shows that Brexit will damage the UK economy no matter what kind of deal is agreed, with up to 8% of GDP growth lost within fifteen years. 31 January – First Home Office record of migrants landing irregularly in the UK by small boat, seven people in a single boat; small numbers have crossed previously.
February 2 February – Finsbury Park Mosque attacker Darren Osborne, who drove a van into a group of Muslims, is jailed for life, with a minimum term of 43 years. 3 February – British YouTuber KSI defeats fellow British YouTuber Joe Weller in 3 rounds in a YouTube boxing match at the Copper Box Arena. The event is viewed by up to 1.6 million people on live streams. 7 February The chief constable of Police Scotland, Phil Gormley, resigns amid a series of investigations into claims of gross misconduct. Jon Venables, one of the killers of toddler James Bulger, is jailed for possessing child abuse images for a second time. 8 February – NHS hospitals in England record their worst ever Accident & Emergency performance, with only 77.1% of patients treated within four hours in January, far short of the 95% target. 9 February Trinity Mirror, publisher of the traditionally Labour-supporting Daily Mirror, purchases Northern & Shell, chaired by Richard Desmond, publisher of the traditionally Conservative-supporting Daily Express, for £126,700,000, soon afterwards changing the group name to Reach. An investigation by The Times newspaper finds that Oxfam covered up the use of prostitutes by senior aid workers overseas. 17 February An earthquake of magnitude 4.4 and depth of 7.4 km hits South Wales, the biggest in the UK since the 2008 Lincolnshire earthquake. The effects are felt as far away as Liverpool, Birmingham and Cornwall. UKIP members vote to dismiss party leader Henry Bolton after controversy over racist text messages sent by his partner. 21 February – The National Farmers Union elects Minette Batters, the first female president in its 110-year history. 22 February – The 2018 UK higher education strike begins with academic staff at sixty-four UK universities over proposed changes to the USS pension scheme. 27 February US cable TV giant Comcast makes a £22,100,000,000 bid for Sky, challenging an existing offer from 21st Century Fox. The Labour Party appoints transgender model Munroe Bergdorf as an LGBT adviser to Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities Dawn Butler. 27 February–4 March – Heavy snow causes disruption across much of the UK. Over subsequent days the Met Office issues the first ever red snow warning for Scotland, South West England and South Wales, meaning the weather poses a potential risk to life. With ten severe weather warnings in place, the Army is called in to help rescue hundreds of stranded motorists. Several people are reported to have died in circumstances related to the freezing conditions. As temperatures later begin rising and ice thaws, the Environment Agency issues weather warnings due to flooding, mainly in the South-West and North-East England. 28 February The UK's largest toy retailer, Toys "R" Us, goes into administration with a £15,000,000 VAT bill it is unable to pay. One of the UK's biggest electronics retailers, Maplin, goes into administration after talks with potential buyers fail to secure a sale. An earthquake of magnitude 3.2 and depth of 4 km hits Mosser, Cumbria. It is felt in Grasmere, Kendal, Cockermouth and Keswick and is the second earthquake to hit the United Kingdom within two weeks.
March 1 March Paper £10 notes featuring Charles Darwin cease to be legal tender in the UK. Former Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, is suspended from the Labour Party indefinitely, amid claims of anti-semitism. 4 March – Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia are poisoned with a publicly unidentified nerve agent in Salisbury. They are brought to hospital in critical condition, along with a police officer who was first on the scene. Counter-terrorism police investigate amid speculation the Kremlin was behind the incident. 5 March After the recent cold spell, homes across the UK have water supply problems and thousands of people in Wales and South-East England are urged to use as little as possible. A Sinn Féin delegation meets the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels about the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland due to Brexit. The sale of energy drinks to under-sixteens is banned by most UK supermarkets due to high levels of sugar and caffeine. 6 March – Ex-UKIP leader Henry Bolton announces he will create a new political party called "OneNation" that would "campaign unceasingly for our full independence from the EU", and "mirror some of the changes that I sought to bring to UKIP". He registers a party as Our Nation on 31 November;Registration summary, Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2018-11-29. this survives for one year. 7 March Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman starts a three-day visit to the UK, amid protest concerns from Prime Minister Theresa May. Carbon emissions in the UK fall to the level last seen in 1890. The EU rejects Theresa May's proposal for "mutual recognition" of standards between the UK and EU as part of a post-Brexit trade relationship, while also ruling out British membership of EU regulators such as the European Medicines Agency after Brexit. 11 March – Following the events of 4 March, up to 500 pub-goers and diners in Salisbury are told to wash possessions after traces of a nerve agent are found. 12 March The government confirms that internet pornography age checks will be delayed and will no longer be introduced in April. Meghan Markle, Prince Harry's fiancée, joins the Queen for her first official event, at a service to mark Commonwealth Day. 13 March The government's fiscal statement, which is now called the Spring Statement, is published. Russian exile Nikolai Glushkov is found dead at his London home. Police launch a murder investigation three days later. 14 March Stephen Hawking, world-renowned theoretical physicist, author, and cosmologist, dies at his home in Cambridge, aged 76. It is reported that all "Toys "R" Us" stores in the UK will close within six weeks following the chain's collapse into administration in February and its failure to find a buyer. The government calls for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and Yulia Skripal on 4 March. Theresa May announces that 23 Russian diplomats will be expelled from the UK after Russia fails to respond to claims of involvement. 15 March Following the events of 4 March, Theresa May visits Salisbury. In a joint statement, the leaders of the UK, US, France, and Germany say the ex-spy poisoning was the first offensive use of a nerve agent in Europe since the Second World War, and that Russian involvement is the "only plausible explanation". The Space Industry Act 2018 becomes law, giving UK spaceports the legal framework to function. 17–19 March – Heavy snow affects much of the UK. It is dubbed the "mini beast from the east"; a sequel to the previous cold wave at the start of the month. On 17 March, amber weather warnings are issued for North-West England, Yorkshire, the Midlands, London and South-East England. On 18 March, they are issued for South-West England, South-East England, mid-Wales and the West Midlands. Dozens of vehicles are stuck overnight on the A30 in Devon whilst two weather warnings remain still in place for much of the UK after wintry showers disrupt many parts of the country. 18–19 March – Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson dismisses claims from Russian EU ambassador, Vladimir Chizhov, who said that Porton Down may have been the source of the nerve agent. It is reported that experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons will arrive on 19 March to test samples of the substance. 19 March The Gambling Commission recommends that fixed odds betting terminal payouts should be cut to £30 or less from £100. David Davis meets Michel Barnier in Brussels to finalise details of the Brexit transition period after March 2019. Channel 4 airs a documentary about Cambridge Analytica, the data analysis company that worked on the successful Leave.EU campaign advocating British withdrawal from the EU, and for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Undercover reporters, talking to executives from the firm, discover the use of bribes, honey traps, fake news campaigns, and operations with ex-spies to swing election campaigns around the world. An emergency court order is requested to raid the Cambridge Analytica offices.