42 Funny Facts About The UK

The United Kingdom, sometimes referred to as Great Britain (or is it? – more on that below), generally includes the separate nations of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Well – it doesn’t include Northern Ireland if you’re calling it Britain, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves!

It is one of the most influential nations on Earth! Chances are, you’ve heard about the British Empire – and if not, you’re probably aware that some of the most important and popular writers, musicians, and actors hail from good old Blighty!

To celebrate the United Kingdom, I’ve brought together stacks of facts about the UK that might just surprise you. It’s time to dispel a few myths along the way, too!

1. The UK is amazingly diverse.

You can find over 300 languages spoken in the UK at the time of writing, though as you’ll probably work out, English is the official language.

However, in nations such as Wales, you will also find many people still speaking Welsh. Some still speak Gaelic in Scotland, and so on!

2. The UK really is a tea-drinking nation.

British people really, genuinely do drink more tea than any other nation, anywhere else in the world (that’s to the tune of what’s estimated as 165 million cups a day)! So, why is this black tea with milk so special?

Many people drink it really out of tradition – generations in families all love sitting down with a warm “cuppa.”

We also can’t forget that the cold weather in the UK usually makes a warm brew more than welcome! It can also help wake you up without needing a full coffee, and with a bit of sugar or honey, it’s a lovely sweet treat. Old and young love this warm beverage!

3. His Majesty owns the swan population.

This urban legend is completely true – the King is the proud owner of every swan in the UK. And, this didn’t start with Queen Elizabeth II. This law has been around for centuries! In fact, it started in Medieval times!

This means that it is a criminal offence to harm or kill swans in the UK as they belong to the crown.

4. It’s a nation of chickens.

Believe it or not, Great Britain has more chickens than it does people. What’s more, the British consume roughly 2.2 million chickens a day.

Tragically, this means that a great deal of chickens are quickly bred, fed, and killed in order to keep up with the demand.

5. Champagne was actually invented in England.

Although many believe the tale of the French monk known as Dom Perignon invented the bubbly alcohol back in the late 1600s, it was actually a British scientist who had been adding a bit of sparkle to their wine over 30 years earlier!

However, the English simply dubbed it sparkling wine. Champagne is named as such as it comes from the Champagne region of France, so, technically it still belongs to the French!

6. The UK’s laws can be bizarre.

There are some very… interesting laws in the UK. For instance, it’s said to be illegal to consume mince pies, a traditional festive treat, on Christmas day!

One of the strangest ones, especially for Brits, is that it is actually illegal to be drunk in a pub! You are also not allowed to be drunk while handling a cow, which, while very oddly specific, seems pretty logical!

7. Some of the world’s best chefs are from the UK.

If you’ve ever turned your nose up at British cuisine before, it’s time to get those tastebuds in check.

The UK is home to some of the most celebrated Michelin star chefs on the planet – including Heston Blumenthal and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey. If you thought UK cuisine was all fish and chips, head on over and taste a real difference.

8. The UK held the shortest conflict on record.

Britain holds the record for the world’s shortest war, just 38 minutes!

The war in question was the Anglo-Zanzibar War. It was fought in 1896 and started because the British gave the nation’s ruler an ultimatum, telling him that he could relinquish his throne by 9am, or be at war with Great Britain!

Within the time it takes to travel from Leeds to York on the train, the war was over and done with!

9. British cows have accents that vary by region.

This terrific fact was found out by language specialists from the UK, in the University of London. After studying cows for a while, they came to find that the moos were different from herd to herd and from region to region!

10. British names can vary, but there’s some commonality.

The most common British name is John or David Smith.

As of 2024, though, the most common British baby names were Olivia, Amelia, Ava, Lily, Noah, and George.

11. The UK’s golfing history is ancient.

Scotland is home to the world’s oldest golf course, Musselburgh. Although, this has recently been reassigned to St. Andrews.

Interestingly, the top 10 oldest golf courses in the world are all in the UK! The others on the list include Montrose Golf Links, Fortrose and Rosemarkie Golf Club, Kingsbarns Golf Links, the Golf House Club Elie, Scotscraig Golf Club, Kinghorn Golf Club, North Berwick Golf Club, and Carnoustie Golf Links, all of which are in Scotland!

12. The UK pioneered underground rail travel.

London was the very first city in the world to trial out an underground railway. The London Underground, which has since been developed to cover most of the city, first started operating back in 1863.

However, its first electrified line was opened a few decades later in 1890. Nevertheless, it remains the oldest one in the world, inspiring other big cities to follow suit!

13. Wales has a train station that’s extremely hard to pronounce.

Wales has a railway station named “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.”

Interestingly, the town was supposedly named as such, which is a bit of a joke! The goal was to entice tourists to come to the place with the longest name in Britain!

To be fair, it has since become a bit of a challenge for people of the UK, as most simply cannot pronounce it properly! You need a good Welsh accent in order to be able to properly pronounce it – by all means give it a go!

14. The UK has pubs everywhere.

The most remote pub, or public house, in Britain is 107 miles from the nearest city. And, wherever you are, you are likely to find more than one pub to choose from! That is because there are over 46,000 pubs currently operating in the UK!

Sadly, however, it’s estimated that around two pubs close every day in the UK due to the economic climate. In 2023 alone, the UK said goodbye to more than 500 pubs.

15. You need to be careful posting letters – or do you?

It is considered treason to paste a stamp upside down on any mail you send. Technically, this is a bit of a myth among Brits, but the palace has never denied its truth!

People came to believe that it was illegal due to the Treason Felony Act of 1848. The act states that it is an offence to do anything to depose the reigning monarch.

Somehow, Brits took that to mean that placing a stamp (which commonly has the reigning monarch’s face on it) upside down would be such an offence.

16. Royal gifts in the UK are hard to beat.

Queen Victoria was once given a giant cheese wheel measuring 3 metres in diameter.
Believe it or not, it was actually a wedding gift that was given to her in 1840. It was gifted to her by a group of farmers from Somerset.

In order to make the giant cheese wheel, they needed milk from 750 cows!

17. His Majesty is banned from some areas of parliament!

It’s a weird fact that the King may not enter the House of Commons. The rule has been in place since 1642. In fact, it was a rule that had to be put in place because of King Charles I, who entered the House of Commons accompanied by multiple armed guards as he tried to have various members arrested.

He didn’t manage to make any arrests that day – but nevertheless, it was because of this act that all reigning monarchs were strictly prohibited from entering the House of Commons!

18. The London Eye is a record breaker.

England is home to the largest Ferris wheel in Europe: The London Eye. Built in 1998 to help commemorate the-then forthcoming millennium in 2000, the London Eye measures an impressive 135 metres high!

Interestingly, it was originally built for publicity by the British aviation company, British Airways, as well as Marks Barfield and the Tussauds Group. It was only meant to stay up for five years!

However, the Merlin Entertainment Group eventually gained ownership of the London Eye.
Today, it is one of the biggest tourist attractions in all of the UK and it attracts around 3.75 million people every year!

19. Sausages are a British delicacy, and once had a really weird name.

Sausages used to be named “Bags of Mystery.” Even today, the popular dish of sausages and mashed potatoes is known as bangers and mash! Believe it or not, this name actually came from the fact that the sausages used to explode!

Since they had to be made with relatively cheap ingredients and lots of water, during cooking, the mix of everything would make the albeit tasty sausages explode!

Thankfully, this is no longer an issue in the UK, so don’t worry about ordering sausages if you go there!

20. Scotland once made kilts illegal.

Kilts were temporarily illegal in Scotland. However, this wasn’t any Scottish person’s choice! The ban was implemented in order to suppress Highland culture in an attempt to force Scots into a more “British” way of life. This happened in 1746, and thankfully, it didn’t work out too well for the English!

19. Scotland loves malt.

Scotland produces over 250 million litres of whisky yearly – Scotch whisky is world-famous. You’ve probably heard it just called “Scotch”.

Some of the most famous Scottish whisky brands include Lagavulin, Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Glenlivet, Macallan, Johnnie Walker, and Grant’s.

22. The UK is a country full of diverse dialects.

Bizarrely, the British accent is said to change even slightly once every 25 miles.
It is believed that there are about 40 different dialects across the UK! So, if you ever want to try using a British accent, you’ll have to carefully choose which one!

23. British trousers can be fatal – no, really.

6,000 people in Britain suffer serious harm every year because they tripped over their trousers. Some of them fall down the stairs while trying to put their trousers on – meaning it really does pay to be careful if you’re trying to put pants on upstairs!

24. The British adore eating curry.

The world thinks that ‘Fish and Chips’ are the UK’s favourite meal. However, UK residents once voted for chicken tikka masala as their favourite dish.

In fact, it is believed that one in five Brits eat a curry-based dish every week! What’s really interesting about the tikka masala is that it originated in Scotland – it was a swift improvisation!

25. The monarchy marks the elderly population with cards sent to everyone who turns a century old.

The King sends personalised birthday cards to people in Great Britain who turn 100. He also does this for those who turn 105 or older.

If anyone makes it over 105 years old, they get a birthday card from the reigning monarch every year after!

26. Britain has a weight problem.

It’s thought that 25% of adults in Britain are obese. The UK has the third highest rate of obesity in Europe, falling only behind Turkey and Malta.

27. The British love coffee almost as much as tea.

As well as tea, British people like coffee too – and drink 98 million cups every day.
This is an astounding increase, as only a decade ago, that number was closer to 70 million!

28. The UK is close from coast to coast.

The UK covers 93,000 square miles. However, no location in England is further than 75 miles from the sea.

Given that it is such a small island, it’s incredible to think that it was once the base of one of the biggest and most powerful empires of all time!

29. Britain’s home to an incredibly short flight.

It takes two minutes to fly from Westray to Papa Westray. The scheduled flights between the tiny islands are the shortest in the world.

30. The UK isn’t actually Britain.

Ok – this is the fact I teased in the intro! “UK” and “Britain” are terms that are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same thing. The UK includes Northern Ireland, whereas Great Britain only includes England, Scotland, and Wales.

31. There are scores of cities in the UK.

There are 69 official cities in the UK. Some of the biggest and most famous cities include London, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast, Manchester, Leeds, York, Liverpool, and many more!

32. You can arrange for people to “bulk up” your memorial here.

In England, you can hire mourners for a funeral! No, really!

You can even request them to be very sad, lighthearted, or as involved as you wish them to be with the day!

33. There’s a strange parliamentary law you’ll want to stick to.

Weirdly, there’s a law that prohibits anyone from dying in the Houses of Parliament.
It is believed that it became illegal because the houses of parliament are technically considered to be royal areas. This means that anyone who dies in there is technically entitled to a state funeral! Or, at least they were.

34. Football has some fairly shocking origins…

When a Danish Warrior’s skull was discovered by Anglo-Saxon farmworkers, they started kicking it around, partly out of anger, partly out of amusement. This created a game called “Kick Dane’s Head”. This eventually became football, or soccer!

35. There was a curfew in the UK on domestic violence.

In the 16th Century, husbands were prohibited from beating their wives after 9pm because the noise produced disturbed the sleep of those in the vicinity.

Tragically, it wasn’t until 1976 that domestic abuse became illegal in the UK – meaning we have come some way in the past few decades as a civil society…

36. Capital punishment ended in the UK in the ’50s.

A British man was wrongfully accused of killing his wife and daughter. He was eventually executed in 1950―this compelled legislators to outlaw the death penalty.

Of course, in some US states, it’s still legal – and there are plenty of British people who feel the punishment should return.

37. Windsor Castle is seriously old!

Windsor Castle is the world’s oldest royal residence in the world. It came into existence in 1080, and it took sixteen years to build.

Now, it is one of the primary residences of the British Royal Family and remains one of the biggest tourist attractions in the UK.

38. Some British books are worth big money.

The UK officially produced the world’s first billionaire author, J.K. Rowling. Obviously, her success came from writing the Harry Potter books, which quickly became a worldwide literary and film phenomenon!

First editions of the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, often sell for thousands of dollars (or pounds, if you’re in the UK)!

39. British ancient history is… well, ancient.

Stonehenge, a popular natural tourist attraction in Wiltshire, is older than the Pyramids.
It is believed that it was contracted from anywhere between 3,100 BC and 1,600 BC.

However, to this day, it remains one of the world’s biggest mysteries as to how and when exactly it was built!

40. Postage labels are very British.

Stamps originated from the UK. The first stamp, the Penny Black, was issued in 1840.
Many tourists like to take British stamps home as they have the reigning monarch’s face on them.

41. The name of a famous British landmark is actually pretty misunderstood.

People think that “Big Ben” is the name of the famous clock tower. But they are only partly right. It is specifically the name of the bell – the landmark itself is called Elizabeth Tower.

42. Kids can drink beer in the UK.

Well… to an extent, anyway. The law permits children over five years to drink alcohol as long as they’re on private property.

However, you still have to be 18 to buy alcohol in the UK!

Do you know any fun facts about the UK?  Share them in the comments below!

Are you fascinated with the UK and want to find out more? Check out these interesting facts about London…