Lottery Euro Lottery: Unclaimed £83.4M Jackpot Sparks Search for UK Winner

A EuroMillions jackpot exceeding £83.4 million remains unclaimed a week after the draw, making it the largest unclaimed lottery prize in UK history, according to a lottery spokesperson. The winning ticket, purchased in a shop, matched all five main numbers (02, 11, 19, 30, and 49) and both Lucky Star numbers (03 and 08) in the January 24th draw.

The National Lottery operator, Allwyn, described the situation as “very unusual” for a prize of this magnitude. They stated that it represents the “biggest prize to have gone unclaimed at this stage” and emphasized the importance of the winner coming forward.

alt text: Close up of stacked EuroMillions lottery tickets.

While the location of the winning ticket purchase remains undisclosed, Allwyn plans to initiate “bespoke activity” in the area if the prize goes unclaimed beyond next Friday. They stressed that claiming the prize is in everyone’s best interest.

Andy Carter, senior winners’ adviser at Allwyn, expressed disbelief that the winner hasn’t come forward, urging all EuroMillions players to thoroughly check their tickets. “There are 83,474,081 reasons for them to check their ticket straight away,” he stated.

Currently, nine other unclaimed EuroMillions prizes are waiting to be claimed by UK ticket holders, although the next largest is valued at £1 million, according to the National Lottery website. Historically, the largest unclaimed EuroMillions prize in the UK was £63.8 million in June 2012.

Winners have a 180-day window from the draw date to claim their prize, providing ample time for the lucky ticket holder to emerge. This significant Lottery Euro Lottery event has generated considerable buzz and underscores the importance of checking tickets after each draw.