Festive Draws Bring Momentous 2024 to a Close
Last Updated: Monday 16th December 2024, 15:47
A year full of big wins and exciting draws will come to an end with a special ‘10 Millionaires’ raffle in EuroMillions on Tuesday 31st December, following a Lotto Must Be Won draw on Christmas Day.
It has been a momentous 2024 for the National Lottery, with Allwyn officially taking over as operator back in February. Camelot had previously held the licence for 30 years since the lottery was launched in the UK in 1994.
The new bosses promised to ‘bring back the magic’ when they came in, and they immediately had a major jackpot on their hands as Richard and Debbie Nuttall from Colne claimed £61 million on EuroMillions. UK winners do not have to go public, but the Nuttalls were happy to share their story and revealed they would be looking for a new home in Lancashire and a holiday house in Portugal.
There has been a steady stream of wins over the last few months, and the largest of the year came just a few weeks ago on 26th November. It was a EuroMillions payout worth £177 million and it was claimed just a couple of days later.
EuroMillions creates at least one UK millionaire in every draw, and on 22nd November there were a staggering 26 on one night. One of them came in the regular Millionaire Maker, and the other 25 in a special European Millionaire Maker. This Europe-wide raffle saw 100 players pick up £1 million/€1 million across the participating countries.
Another thrilling EuroMillions event will bring 2024 to a close, with the UK Millionaire Maker set to award 10 prizes of £1 million instead of the usual one. Make sure to check your raffle code before discarding your ticket.
Lotto in 2024
It has also been a year of milestones in Lotto. The National Lottery’s longest-running and original flagship game celebrated its 3,000th draw in September.
There have been a series of Must Be Won Lotto events throughout the year, rounding off with the final one on Christmas Day. The jackpot will be raised to £15 million and it is guaranteed to be paid out, so there will either be a huge win or the money will roll down.
Rolldowns are a popular feature of Lotto Must Be Won draws as they see bigger prizes in every category. A percentage of the jackpot is allocated to all the prize tiers, and this is split between all the winners. This is added on top of the standard prizes, so you might win around £100 for matching three numbers, or more than £200 for getting four. The exact amount varies depending on the number of winners.
You can enjoy Lotto draws every Wednesday and Saturday, EuroMillions on Tuesday and Friday, and a host of other games throughout the week too. There are sure to be more big draws and special events around the corner in 2025, so keep an eye on National-Lottery.com for all the latest news.
