The Euromillions is giving away a £199m jackpot tonight (Image: Getty)
A staggering jackpot of £199million is up for grabs in tonight’s (Tuesday’s) EuroMillions draw after the bumper jackpot rolled over yet again – and now Brits are being told the most and least likely numbers to win based on previous prizes.
Last year, 383 people in the UK became millionaires on the National Lottery, with the single biggest win being a staggering £177million given to one person in November. Today, the jackpot is back up to £199million and Brits up and down the country will probably be having a flutter to try to grab the truly life-altering lump sum. According to data analysts at OLBG, there are some numbers more and less likely to win than others. They looked at the data on tickets from February 2004 all the way to March 25, 2025, to find out the most common 10 numbers which have been drawn.
To win the Euromillions, you must match five balls plus the two lucky stars. This is far harder than it sounds – your chance is just 1 in 139,838,160. That’s nearly 1 in 140 million.
The chance of matching five balls and one lucky star is still 1 in 6.9 million, but the jackpot for this is far lower – just £130,554. Overall, the chances of winning any prize at all is 1 in 13, but the lowest prizes pay out £2.50.
The research by OLBG found that the most common ball number in the EuroMillions is 23, with 209 draws, followed by 44, with 205, 19, with 204, and 21, with 203.
The top ten most common numbers drawn were: 23, 44, 19, 21, 42, 50, 29, 10, 17 and 20.
Conversely, the least common 10 numbers were: 22, 46, 33, 41, 18, 40, 47, 43, 8, 9 and 32.
The number 22 has been drawn just 146 times, more than 50 fewer than 23.
When it comes to Lucky Stars, since 2024, the study found that the number 3 “had over 20% chances of being drawn as a Lucky Star” while the number 2 was second most likely. Conversely, the number 12 has the lowest percentage of draws in the last 21 years with only 8% of appearances.
So the best chances would be a set of numbers: 23, 44, 19, 21, 42 with Lucky Stars 3 and 2.
OLBG also surveyed 1,500 people to ask what they would do if they won.
When it comes to fears around winning, 42% of respondents admitted they would feel overwhelmed by unwanted attention if they won a large sum of money, whilst one in four (25%) thought it would damage their family relationships.
Almost two in five (39%) would be scared of being hit by scams and 32% fear they would become a target of theft, highlighting that it would complicate their life more than anything.
Finally, Brits are also scared about the thought of having to manage such large sums of money (16%), and nearly one in five (19%) are scared they would make poor investment or spending decisions.
NATO humiliates Keir Starmer as flagship defence proposal torn apart
Trump and Starmer (Image: Getty)
The US will force the UK into boosting defence spending up to 3.5% of GDP as US President Donald Trump pressures Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and other NATO allies into bolstering their military power, according to reports. Defence sources believe that Sir Keir will be forced to sign an agreement targeting the figure by 2035 at an upcoming Nato summit, despite refusing to commit to a timescale for even a 3% target only hours earlier.
On Monday, the UK government unveiled its long-awaited strategic defense review, referred to by commentators as the SDR, vowing that Britain’s armed forces are moving toward’s “war-fighting readiness” amid the growing threat of Putin’s Russia
Sir Keir agreed to boost defence spending from the 2.33% of GDP being spent currently to 2.5% by 2027 and 3% in the next parliament, but without a firm date.
Mark Rutte and Keir Starmer at a meeting in March (Image: Getty)
However, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte has been pushing for allies to commit to spending 3.5% on hard defence as well as 1.5% on cyber, intelligence and military-related infrastructure at a two day Nato summit being hosted at The Hague, starting on June 24th.
Rutte is keen to retain Trump’s support for the alliance by heeding the US President’s calls for Nato members to dramatically increase their military spending.
That would see total broader defence spending rising to 5%, with members of the alliance increasingly concerned by Moscow’s apparent refusal to meaningfully negotiate an end to its war in Ukraine, and fears that one of Russia’s Nato neighbours could be next.
One senior insider since told Sky News that the UK would “without a doubt” sign up to a proposal from Rutte to go well beyond the government’s current goal.
Insiders told The Guardian that the PM is set to hold a discussion on the 3.5% target on Tuesday.
However, the 3.5% figure may not include some elements, like intelligence, that are categorised as Nato-qualifying spending by the UK Treasury, as per the outlet.
Negotiations would be expected to take place on these details, with the meeting now only weeks away. A defence spending increase of this size would likely require tax hikes and savings from other departments.
Sir Keir has already cut the foreign aid budget in his bid to raise military spending and hasn’t ruled out reducing the level further. Though by 2027 its expected to only be around 0.3% of GBP, meaning ministers may have to make unpalatable political decisions to raise funding.
The Cabinet Office has been approached for comment.
