In the aftermath of Jeremy Corbyn's reshuffle of the Labour Party, Shadow Attorney GeneralCatherine McKinnell resigns, citing party infighting, family reasons and the desire to speak in Parliament beyond her legal portfolio.[3]
12 January – Junior doctors in England providing non-emergency care strike for 24 hours in a dispute with Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt over pay and working hours.[5]
14 January
The gang of "brazen burglars" involved in the £14m Hatton Garden jewellery heist, dubbed the "largest burglary in English legal history", face jail after the final three are convicted of involvement.[6]
The Metropolitan Police announce that an extra 600 armed officers are to be trained and patrols more than doubled to help counter the threat of a terrorist attack in London.[7]
15 January – Tim Peake conducts the first spacewalk by an "official" British astronaut, stepping outside an ISS airlock.[8]
20 January – Unemployment rates fall to 5.1%, their lowest level in almost a decade, but figures show that wage growth has slowed.[9]
Figures show that murders and killings in England and Wales have increased to their highest level for five years, largely due to an abnormally high number of deaths in June when 75 people were killed.[11]
28 January – After three weeks of appeals, Camelot receive a "valid claim" for the record breaking £33m Lotto jackpot prize drawn on 9 January.[12]
8 February – Storm Imogen hits the United Kingdom, causing thousands of power outages and structural damage across the country, along with disruption for many commuters.[16]
10 February – Junior doctors walk out in their second recent strike over Saturday working arrangements, causing disruption to medical services.[17]
12 February – After many years as print newspapers, it is announced that the UK newspapers The Independent and the Independent on Sunday will cease to print and become online-only at the end of March.[18] Its stablemate, the i, will be sold to Johnston Press.[19]
16 February – BBC Three becomes the first UK television network to become online only, having broadcast for its final night after 13 years as a television channel.[20]
22 February – The pound hits its lowest level against the dollar, falling down as much as 2.4%, in almost seven years amid concerns about a possible exit from the European Union.[23]
March
7 March – Official tourist figures for 2015 show the British Museum remains the most popular attraction in the United Kingdom.[24]
9 March
Four of the gang of "brazen burglars" involved in the Hatton Garden jewellery heist are sentenced to seven years' imprisonment, while a fifth is given six years.[25]
Junior doctors strike for the third time over new contracts, with NHS England saying that more than 5,000 operations have been cancelled as a result.[26]
21 March – Brian Reader, the ringleader in the Hatton Garden jewellery heist, and the last of the gang to be sentenced, is given more than six years in jail.[31]
22 March – Transgender fell-runner Lauren Jeska attempts to murder UK Athletics official Ralph Knibbs, stabbing him multiple times in Birmingham. Jeska had feared her records and ability to compete in women's events would be investigated due to the unfair advantage she had from being born male.[32]
28 March – Storm Katie rips through parts of the United Kingdom through the Easter weekend and many parts of the country suffer damage. The storm causes disruption with many flights cancelled or diverted as a result.[34]
30 March – British steel maker Tata Steel reports that it will sell off its British operations in a move to save money, leaving many thousands of jobs at risk, including those at the large Port Talbot steelworks in Wales.[35]
31 March
Prime Minister David Cameron cuts short his spring break to return to the UK for an emergency meeting with ministers on the planned closure of the Tata Steel works.[36]
This Morning agony aunt Denise Robertson dies aged 83 after a short battle with pancreatic cancer having been diagnosed in early 2016.
Ferrybridge Power Station in West Yorkshire closes after 50 years of electricity generation to make way for a greener future after major fire destroyed part of the plant on 31 July 2014.
April
1 April – A new National Living Wage comes into force in the United Kingdom, requiring employers to pay all workers over 25 years old at least £7.20 per hour.[37]
6 April – The 2016 Dog Microchipping Legislation comes into force, requiring every dog in England, Scotland and Wales to be micro-chipped if they are over eight weeks old. The law was already introduced in Northern Ireland in 2012.[38]
7 April – A junior doctors' strike over pay disputes enters its second day, with over 5,000 operations and procedures being postponed.[39]
13 April – Stoke Gifford Parish Council in Gloucestershire votes to charge the weekly Little Stoke Parkrun event for use of its park, becoming the first in the UK to do so. The move is wildly condemned.[41]
15 April – The European Union membership referendum campaign gets underway in the UK as both sides prepare to persuade voters to decide whether they want to leave or remain in the EU when the referendum takes place in June.[43]
16 April – Thousands of people take part in a protest against austerity cuts in central London, including the Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell.[44]
21 April
Welsh Footballer Ched Evans has his 2012 conviction for rape quashed by the Court of Appeal. Evans had been wrongly imprisoned for two and half years, a retrial was ordered to take place in October.[45]
7 May – Sadiq Khan is sworn in as mayor of London, succeeding Boris Johnson and becoming London's first Muslim mayor.[50]
18 May – The government's planned new laws are set out by the Queen in her annual speech, which include a large overhaul on prison laws and support for a spaceport and driverless cars.[51]
June
1 June – Archaeologists announce identification of one of the Roman Bloomberg tablets found during 2010–13 excavations in advance of construction of new Bloomberg London offices in the City of London as the oldest known hand-written document in the United Kingdom, dating back to AD 57.[52]
12 June – UEFA threatens to disqualify England from Euro 2016 after "totally unacceptable" violent hooliganism between England and Russia fans during an England-Russia game on 11 June.[53]
London's stock market plunges more than 8% in the wake of the EU referendum result, with the pound falling to its lowest level against the dollar since 1985.[57]
26 June
Several Labour Party shadow cabinet ministers quit, with many more expected, in protest at Jeremy Corbyn's leadership and "lacklustre" referendum campaign. Corbyn issues a statement in response, vowing to stand in any new leadership election and to reshape his shadow cabinet.[58]
Chancellor of the ExchequerGeorge Osborne makes a statement to calm the markets, claiming the UK is ready to face the future "from a position of strength" and indicating there won't be an immediate emergency Budget.[60]
Ratings agency Standard & Poor's state the referendum result could lead to "a deterioration of the UK's economic performance, including its large financial services sector" as the United Kingdom loses its top AAA credit rating.[61]
6 July – The Chilcot Inquiry report into the Iraq War is released, more than seven years after the inquiry was first announced, showing that the UK went to war before peaceful options were exhausted, that military action was not the "last resort", ill-prepared troops were sent into battle with inadequate plans for the aftermath, and that the threat from Saddam Hussein was overstated; ultimately rejecting former Prime Minister Tony Blair's case for the 2003 invasion.[71]
8 July – Women are now permitted to serve in close combat roles in the British armed services.[72]
24 July – Chris Froome wins the Tour de France for the second year running and third time overall. Froome's victory means that a British rider has won four of the last five editions of the race.[78]
28 July – EDF approves investment in the first new nuclear power plant to be built in the UK in 20 years at Hinkley Point, Somerset; however, the government delay a final decision, calling for it to be reviewed by the autumn.[79]
8 August – A five-day strike by workers on Southern Rail begins, disrupting train services between London, Surrey and Sussex, the longest rail strike in the United Kingdom since 1968.[82]
12 August – Mumin Sahin and Emin Ozmen are jailed for a total of 42 years for their part in the UK's largest ever drugs haul, in which 3.2 tonnes of cocaine worth £512 million was seized from a vessel in the North Sea.[83]
16 August
The radical Islamic cleric Anjem Choudary and his assistant Mohammed Mizahnur Rahman are found guilty at the Old Bailey of inviting support for a proscribed terrorist organisation, Islamic State.[84]
The world's largest ever wind farm, consisting of 300 turbines producing 1.8 gigawatts of clean energy, is approved for construction off the Yorkshire coast.[85]
17 August – The Airlander 10 hybrid airship, the world's largest aircraft at 92m (302ft) in length and 38,000 m3 (1,300,000 cu ft) in volume, has its maiden civilian flight in Bedfordshire.[86]
The UK experiences its hottest September day since 1911, with 34.4°C recorded in Gravesend, Kent.[93]
15 September – The government approves the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant, which will cost £18bn, and says it will introduce "new safeguards" to future projects.[94]
16 September
Flash flooding hits parts of England as thunderstorms dump almost half a month's rainfall in some areas overnight.[95]
12 October – Welsh footballer Ched Evans is cleared of rape in a retrial, having previously been wrongfully convicted for the offence, serving two and half years in prison.[100]
2 November – The High Court in London rules in favour of ClientEarth in their case against the government regarding dangerous levels of air pollution in the UK.[103]
5 November – The British tennis player Andy Murray becomes ATP world number one, the first British player of either sex to reach number one in tennis rankings in the modern era.[104]
The second phase of the high-speed rail lineHS2 is confirmed by the government, with lines running from Crewe to Manchester and the West Midlands to Leeds.[108]
23 November – Chancellor Philip Hammond delivers the Autumn Statement to Parliament, announced to be the final such Statement, being replaced by a full Budget in 2017.[110][111][112]
16 December – A riot occurs at HMP Birmingham, described as the worst since the Strangeways prison riot and protest of 1990. Authorities regain control of all four wings after more than 12 hours of disorder involving 600 inmates.[116]
Undated
London based cloud-computing company Carrenza is acquired by Six Degrees.[117]