Lotto results: Saturday jackpot estimated £7.1m as no player wins top prize

Lotto players on Saturday (April 18) will be playing for an estimated jackpot of more than £7 million after no one scooped the top prize on Wednesday night’s National Lottery games. The midweek prize has rolled over, meaning a jackpot of around £7.1m on Saturday, though one player did become a millionaire overnight, having matched five numbers and the bonus ball to scoop a £1m prize.

Elsewhere, there were 26 players who each won £1,750 after matching five of the six numbers. The winning Lotto numbers on Wednesday, April 15, were 22, 45, 49, 53, 54 and 56 and the bonus number was 25.

No players matched all five numbers to claim the Lotto HotPicks top prize, which uses the same numbers as the Lotto draw, but three matched four numbers to claim £13,000 each. The winning Thunderball numbers were 01, 05, 17, 34 and 35 and the Thunderball was 08.

No one scooped the £500,000 top prize by matching five numbers and the Thunderball nor did anyone match five numbers to win £5,000.

Allwyn, which runs the National Lottery, has revealed a new game – and changes that will give players two chances to win the main jackpot. The company has struck a deal to join America’s Powerball, bringing the popular draw to the UK in what is the first new game in UK National Lottery history.

It is set to launch this summer, with UK players able to pay £4 per line to compete with their US counterparts to win the shared jackpot of over £1 billion, which will be paid out over 30 years. Allwyn has reached agreement with the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) in the US to bring Powerball to the UK although an exact launch date is yet to be set as it waits for final regulatory approval.

It comes as the National Lottery also makes the biggest overhaul to its draw-based Lotto game since launch in 1994, with players being given two chances to win for every £2 ticket. The change will be rolled out from June 7 and is expected to more than double the number of Lotto millionaires – from around 140 a year to about 345. The first two-round draw will take place on June 10, with Lotto draws continuing to take place at around 8pm every Saturday and Wednesday.

It follows the recent completion of a £450 million major tech upgrade to the lottery, which involved moving 18 million player records and more than three billion historical transactions from old platforms to new ones, and transforming the technology used by retail partners.

Allwyn chief executive, Andria Vidler, said: “We are delivering on our promise to bring more games, more entertainment and more innovation to The National Lottery. With extensive upgrades to our digital and retail channels now complete, we have a fantastic summer lined up, as we are now able to bring these exciting new games to our players.”

She added: “By offering a wide range of complementary games, we’re ensuring there is something for everyone – returning the magic, building our player base and making sure The National Lottery remains part of the national conversation.”

The group said the new games will boost returns for good causes, with the new Powerball draw set to see over 30% of ticket prices going to good causes, meaning it will deliver around £1 billion extra over the first five years.

“This will raise more money for good causes, helping us reach our goal of doubling weekly returns to good causes from £30 million to £60 million by 2034, with £33 million a week currently raised”, Ms Vidler said.

Allwyn said recently that total National Lottery sales, including lottery tickets bought in shops, came in at £8.1 billion in 2025, up 3.5% on the previous year. More than £1.7 billion was generated for good causes – which incorporates funding for health, education, arts, sports heritage and charitable causes – and £967 million was raised in taxes.