In the UK, the popularity of saunas is giving pubs a boost

The glass door bursts open and two young women in swimsuits step out, laughing. "It's horrible inside, it's way too hot!" Their skin steaming and covered in sweat, they take a deep breath and give each other a determined look, ready to face the second test: complete immersion in a barrel filled with ice water. Everything in their eager reactions shows that this is their first time here. In a few sessions, they'll be able to adopt the same detached air as the other regulars, who wring out their towels and sip cinnamon tea between two rounds of hot and cold.

In 2025, the cool British kids are no longer hanging out in pubs or concerts, but in the saunas that are springing up like mushrooms all over the country. The British Sauna Society counted 104 of them in May 2024. A year later, their number has doubled, and it's not impossible that the 300 mark will be passed within the year. The one in Hackney Wick, in East London, has set up shop at the back of a former public baths building that has been abandoned for years – a