By Victoria Mckeown-
UK ticket-holder has started the new year by winning the EuroMillions jackpot of nearly £40m.
One ticket matched all five regular numbers and two lucky stars in the draw on Friday night to win the £39,774,466.40 prize.
Camelot’s Andy Carter, senior winners’ adviser at the National Lottery, said: “What an amazing start to 2021 for UK EuroMillions players.”
The winning numbers were 16, 28, 32, 44 and 48 with the lucky stars 01 and 09.
Mr Carter confirmed that 10 other ticket-holders had each won £1m in the UK Millionaire Maker New Year’s Day event. Those who had bought a ticket should check their numbers and contact the National Lottery “to claim the first big prizes of 2021,” he added.
The news comes as it was revealed that three Set For Life winners of £10,000 per month for a year from December 28 have not come forward.
Andy Carter, the National Lottery’s winners’ adviser, said: “The draws have not long happened but now it’s a case of urging all players to check their tickets.
The downside of winning the national lottery in Covid times is the fact that winners have very limited options for them to enjoy their newfound wealth in these difficult times of restrictions.
Investing in business is also difficult in these times, making the prospects of enjoying the experience relatively low.
Many lottery winners have spent their winnings travelling the world and buying dream homes, including dishing out cash to close friends and family.
However, the pandemic naturally imposes restrictions on the extent to which lottery winners can immediately enjoy their huge winnings. Booking dream holidays will not be as convenient as in past times, as they will be required to first take Covid-tests, and some countries have banned travel from the Uk until further notice.
Argentina, Mainland China, and Columbia have banned flights from the Uk until further notice.
The Canadian government has suspended all inbound passenger flights from the UK until 6 January.
The Government of Equatorial Guinea has announced that entry into Equatorial Guinea is prohibited for all passenger flights (including stopover flights) from the UK.
Estonia
From 22.00 GMT Sunday 20 December, Estonia will not be permitting the operation of air passenger services to or from the UK. The restriction to air services is temporary and subject to review, but will last until at least 31 December.
A statement from Camelot to The Eye Of Media.Com read:
”Camelot UK Lotteries Limited, operator of The National Lottery, has today confirmed that it has received a claim for the EuroMillions jackpot prize won by a single UK ticket-holder from the draw on New Year’s Day, Friday January 1, 2021. The lucky ticket-holder scooped an incredible £39,774,466.40.
”As with all major prizes, the claim will now go through the process of validation, which includes checks to ensure the Games Rules Terms and Conditions are adhered to and the integrity of The National Lottery is protected. Subject to validation the prize will then be paid at an appointment with one of Camelot’s Winners’ Advisers.
Once the ticket has been validated and paid, the ticket-holder will then decide whether or not to go public and share their news. There will be no information on whether it is an individual or syndicate winner, or where the ticket was purchased, unless the ticket-holder decides to go public”.
Camelot’s Andy Carter, Senior Winners’ Advisor at The National Lottery, said, “What a start to 2021 for EuroMillions players. Not only did the giant jackpot get won in the UK, but a further ten lucky players banked £1M in the Millionaire Maker event. In all, over 900,000 UK players won a prize in the New Year’s Day draw.
“It is fantastic news that the jackpot winning lucky ticket-holder has now claimed this enormous prize. We will now focus on supporting the ticket-holder through the process.
“All National Lottery games can be played in your local store, online or via the National Lottery app. Playing online via the website or app means that your ticket is checked, and you get an email notification if you win a prize. You can also scan your retail tickets on the National Lottery app to check if you’re a winner.”
Camelot said the UK has got off to a flying start in 2021 with a EuroMillions jackpot win and ten further millionaires on day one.
The organisation said 2020 year saw four EuroMillions jackpots won in the UK help The National Lottery make an astonishing 391 new millionaires in 2020, as players banked over £4Billion in prizes across all games. There will be further big winners on Saturday 9 January 2021 with a guaranteed £20M Must Be Won Lotto jackpot waiting to be won.
Players of the national lottery help to raise an average of £30M every week for National Lottery Good Causes across the UK. This money helps support arts, community and charity, heritage, education, environment and the sport sectors – everything from the local charity making a difference where you live through to helping our nation’s athletes win Olympic and Paralympic gold medals.
Over £42Billion has been raised and distributed to National Lottery Good Causes through more than 625,000 individual grants.
This year, thanks to National Lottery players, up to £800M is being used by charities and organisations affected by the impact of the coronavirus outbreak across the communities, the arts, heritage and sport.
This includes up to £400M in funding support from the National Lottery Community Fund which is being used to help groups best placed to support people and communities through the crisis – from helping support food banks to causes that combat loneliness and isolation, support for the elderly and projects that aid health in the community.