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PlayThe winning numbers from the 17th March draw were 5, 7, 8, 16, and 20, with Lucky Stars 2 and 12. It was soon announced that the jackpot had been won by a sole ticket holder in the UK, making them the sixth jackpot winner of 2020 and the first of the year from the UK.
After the initial news about the winner, all went quiet, with no one coming forward to claim the money. Big winners such as this latest one usually come forward within a week or two of the draw, but on this occasion two weeks passed without any word, prompting the National Lottery to launch an appeal to find the winner.
At that point it was revealed that the winning ticket was purchased in the Scottish area of South Ayrshire but no further information was released, in order to protect the anonymity of the winner.
Now that the winner has come forward to claim the prize they will have the option to maintain their anonymity or go public with the win. Before that, though, the ticket will need to be validated.
Andy Carter, the Senior Winners’ Adviser at the National Lottery, said, “It is fantastic news that a lucky ticket holder has now claimed this enormous prize. We will now focus on supporting the ticket holder through the process.”
He went on to remind lottery players of following social distancing guidelines during the ongoing coronavirus crisis: “We’d like to encourage as many players as possible to check their tickets and play online or on the National Lottery app, and to only buy their tickets in retail or claim a retail prize if they are already in-store to do an essential shop.”
EuroMillions draws take place in Paris every Tuesday and Friday and are still being conducted as normal while the participating countries are in various states of lockdown. Due to the uncertainty caused by the virus, however, the National Lottery has taken the step of restricting how many draws you can play in advance.
You can currently purchase tickets in stores for the next two draws at the most; in normal circumstances you can play up to four weeks in advance. Given the current situation, buying your tickets online remains the safest and most convenient way to play. You can enter a single draw or subscribe on an ongoing basis.
What’s more, you may find that some retailers are not currently fulfilling payouts on EuroMillions tickets, in order to reduce contact between their staff and customers. You can still claim by post, but online tickets eliminate the need to do this as most prizes will be paid into your online account automatically.