Newspapers and companies have been spinning tall tales all morning in an effort to dupe the public as part of this year’s April Fool’s Day.
The annual tradition sees firms announce bizarre and nonsensical products and rebrands, while many media outlets also publish invented stories.
Among this year’s crop of pranks include Uber unveiling a pogo stick option in its app, a crematorium threatening to fine funerals which overrun and Google reintroducing the classic mobile game Snake.
Here we’ve rounded up some of the best jokes and pranks.
Welcome to The Independent's live coverage of this year's April Fools' Day.
As usual, companies and media outlets around the world have attempted to dupe the public with a new swathe of pranks and fake announcements.
Follow along to find out what may not be all it seems among the news this morning.
Tech giant Google was one of the first out of the blocks today.
Its Google Maps team have sneakily added the classic mobile game Snake to their app to mark 1 April.
To play, simply open the app on your iOS or Android device, tap the menu icon, and then select Play Snake.
Users can choose to play in either Cairo, Sao Paolo, London, Sydney, San Francisco, Tokyo or the entire world.
In a twist of the wildly popular game made famous by being included on early Nokia mobile phones, in the Google Maps version you play as a train trying to collect passengers.
Uber in Australia has launched a new mode of transport called UberGO - pogo sticks.
Dubbing them a crucial tool to get people out of cars and tackle congestion in cities, the taxi firm said the bouncing toys could help cut air pollution.
Oddly enough, there is a rival app to Uber actually called Pogo, which promises to offer parents an easy way to find people to carpool their children to school.
But not everything is all fun and games. A crematorium in York has got into hot water after it put up a joke notice warning ministers, celebrants and funeral directors they would be fined £200 if they over-ran, even by a few seconds.
The notice included a clipping from the Grimsby Telegraph, which reported on a Grimsby crematorium which had indeed introduced such a policy and fined a grieving family whose funeral was 14 seconds longer than agreed.
But the City of York Council said the April Fools prank was in "incredibly poor taste" and launched an internal review to find out how the joke poster had come to be put up.
"The sign was removed as soon as we became aware of it and we'd like to sincerely apologise for any distress this may have caused," Pauline Stuchfield, assistant director of customer and digital services for the council, said.
If you have ever wondered why we even celebrate April Fools' Day, this explainer is worth a quick read.
It is difficult to pin down the actual truth, but it is thought it may date back to 1564 when France formally changed its calendar to the modern Gregorian version, and thereby moved the celebration of the New Year from the last week of March to 1 January.
Other stories point back even further, to ancient Rome where the Hilaria festival celebrated the resurrection of a demigod with the donning of disguises.
In the medieval Feast of Fools a Lord of Misrule was elected to parody Christian rituals, leading to centuries of church censorship.
Newspapers have also being getting in on the fun by printing their own deliberate fake news stories.
The Sun reported this morning the Royal Mint had supposedly unveiled a new range of emoji-themes 50p coins, including one which featured the poo emoji.
A "coin expert" called Penny Silver allegedly told the paper: "What with Brexit, Royal Mint must have decided everyone could use some light relief.
“Emojis are a great way to communicate and express ourselves, so it makes sense to mark this with a coin collection.”
Tinder's April Fools gag saw it pretend to introduce "height verification", to stop users pretending to be taller than they actually are.
In a blog post on the dating app's website, the company wrote: "It’s come to our attention that most of you 5’10ers out there are actually 5’6. The charade must stop. This type of dishonestly doesn’t just hurt your matches — it hurts us, too"
To combat this kind of fakery, users could verify their height with Tinder by uploading a screenshot of them standing next to a "commercial building".
Those who Tinder can confirm are as tall as they say they are would be given a special Height Verification Badge on their profiles.
"Only 14.5% of the US male population is actually 6’ and beyond. So, we’re expecting to see a huge decline in the 80% of males on Tinder who are claiming that they are well over 6 feet," the blog concluded.
Famous British brand Colman's Mustard has announced its latest product: Mustard Custard.
This unique condiment is ideal for both sweet and savoury food, the firm said, making it perfect for accompanying both the main and dessert of a Sunday roast dinner.
"Designed to pack a punch, Colman’s Mustard Custard tastes equally delicious with roast beef and parsnips or chicken and carrots as it does with an apple crumble or a sticky toffee pudding," the firm said in its press release unveiling the new item.
“Fifteen years in the making, Colman’s Mustard Custard is our most innovative development to date," said Daisy O'Farllop, Colman's head of product development, said.
“In a world where less is more, we recognised that consumers are crying out for a streamlined condiment stash and we’re confident this one will be loved by the whole family.”
Sport is not immune to April Fools' either. Apparently, next season's Carabao Cup will make it even easier for goalscorers to mark their exploits by installing smartphones on every corner flag.
The first-in-the-world plan would make it possible for players to take a picture of themselves while still on the pitch and share it immediately on social media.
The EFL said its innovation followed in the wake of maverick Italian striker Mario Balotelli who famously went live on his Instagram account just seconds after scoring for Marseille in Ligue 1.
A spokesman for the EFL said: "We have no doubt the new technology will set apart the Carabao Cup from many other cup competitions across the world.”
Although their Silicon Valley rivals Google are famous for April Fools' pranks, tech giant Microsoft has banned its staff from taking part in any hoaxes this year.
In a memo reported by tech website The Verge, Microsoft's marketing chief Chris Capossela warned his employees they could damage the firm's brand if they accidentally spark a backlash.
"I appreciate that people may have devoted time and resources to these activities, but I believe we have more to lose than gain by attempting to be funny on this one day," he wrote.
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"Sometimes the outcomes are amusing and sometimes they’re not. Either way, data tells us these stunts have limited positive impact and can actually result in unwanted news cycles."
With the tech industry struggling in recent months under the weight of negative headlines around fake news, abuse on social media, screen time concerns, and privacy issues, it seems Microsoft has decided to try and keep its head down this 1 April.
Many today have also been remembering some of the classic April Fools' pranks in years gone by.
The BBC sport TV programme Grandstand pulled off an excellent fake fight in the background of a live broadcast back in 1989, which was tweeted out by BBc Sport earlier today.
The Daily Telegraph's story this year is particularly meta. The newspaper reports all British April Fool's gags have been banned this year because the public can no longer tell the difference between "reality and farce".
Apparently, an ancient parliamentary statute from 1653 is being used to enforce this draconian new rule.
The medieval order bans the issuing of false reports and includes the punishment: "splitting of an offender's ribs".
The Cabinet Office minister "Lord Japes" has supposedly revived this never-repealed ordinance, "Flora Poil" reports for the newspaper.
Costa Coffee report they have taken a drastic step to safeguard the future of their business: they are looking into cryogenically preserving the taste buds of their "Master of Coffee".
Gennaro Pelliccia, who previously had his precious assets insured for £10m, is responsible for ensuring the coffee shop chain's key product is of the highest quality.
But because he cannot stay in the role forever, Costa claim they are exploring options to freeze his taste buds so they can use his unique quality control ability forever.
Even the sober guardians of public order are getting involved in the April Fools japes.
British Transport Police (BTP) have announced a new ban on eating any smelly food on trains, with fines of £2,000 for any offenders.
Apparently, a Criminal Food Behaviour Order will be slapped on anyone caught consuming prohibited items: eggs, fish (whether fresh or tinned), blue cheese, sausage rolls, fermented shark or vegetables, and even all "fast food".
Inspector Pete Pong (ahem), said: "Stinky food has been a long-standing contentious issue on Britain’s rail network and I am pleased we could respond to the public’s concerns and work to stamp out this very pressing problem.
“In my years at BTP I have witnessed numerous horrors, from those thinking it’s acceptable to crack open a homemade tuna sandwich, to others eating boiled eggs like apples. Not OK.
“BTP is proud to be a progressive force, and I hope passengers welcome this exciting announcement.”
“In my years at BTP I have witnessed numerous horrors, from those thinking it’s acceptable to crack open a homemade tuna sandwich, to others eating boiled eggs like apples. Not OK.
“BTP is proud to be a progressive force, and I hope passengers welcome this exciting announcement.”
We all know drinking industrial quantities of tea is a national obsession, but what about those times when you just cannot get enough tea in you through mugs of the caffeinated liquid gold?
Worry no longer, because Yorkshire Tea claims to have invented tea which can be spread on toast and then eaten as an accompaniment to that lovely cup of tea.
Apparently, this revolutionary product is just like "normal tea, only thicker".
And to mark the momentous occasion of the birth of the child who will be seventh-in-line to the throne, Britain's largest airport Heathrow will rename its four terminals after the newest generation of royals.
Terminal 5 - the airports busiest - will become Prince George Terminal and Terminal 4 will be named after Princess Charlotte. The youngest current royal, Prince Louis, will lend his name to Terminal 3, and Heathrow's Terminal 2 will be christened whatever Prince Harry and Meghan decide to call their baby once it is born.
In addition, runway slots at the airport will be allocated in order of succession to the throne.
(Heathrow perhaps lose some April Fools kudos by feeling the need to add a note in their press release confirming this otherwise entirely believable scheme is indeed a prank.)
Staying with the airline industry, even bigger news comes from Ryanair.
The budget carrier has announced it will expand its operations even further, by offering flights into space.
The Dublin-based airline said it wanted to battle it out with ambitious entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk and Richard Branson in competing to offer paying customers the chance to leave Earth.
"Twenty years from now, tourists will not be content with a week in Spain, or a fortnight on the beach in Turkey. They will be looking further afield, maybe to Mars, but certainly as far as the moon and the outer limits of the stratosphere," the firm's head of space development, "Eprila Murka", said.
Brexit was bound to come up in this year's April Fools sooner or later, and here it is from mail-order clothing brand Boden.
The company reports as a result of Britain's disentanglement from the EU it has been stripped of its certification to produce France's famous Breton striped tops.
New rules allegedly coming into force today would mean anyone caught wearing a Breton top in Britain without the appropriate EU licence could face a €1000 fine.
Thankfully, the thoughtful folk at Boden have come up with a solution: a complimentary Bret-off service which will erase all stripes from Breton tops.
Steering us onto less contentious waters are Sainsburys, who charmingly offer us a simple, straight down the line April Fools this year: pink avocados.
Apparently the supermarket has been working with a new supplier in Peru for five years to perfect the world's first rose-hued avocado, which is said to "guac" your world (sorry).
These "rosa-vos" will go on sale today to gauge interest, mainly expected to be millennials hungry for new content for their Instagrams. 
The Guardian's April Fools offering this year is also Brexit-themed. It reports political parties are working together behind the scenes to come up with a national healing and reconciliation project to bring the country back together after the division of Brexit.
The parties are said to be squabbling over who should be appointed to the new post of "healing tsar". The Liberal Democrats favour famous Remainer Bob Geldof, arguing he had already proven his capacity for national catharsis by spearheading Live Aid. But Labour are instead proposing the lead singer of Chumbawumba Alice Nutter, whose hit Tubthumping would be the perfect anthem for our times: "I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down..."
Also in the pipeline is a new Festival of Britain, although plans are being held up by the Democratic Unionist Party's insistence it be renamed the Festival of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and be held in the constituency of their leader, Arlene Foster.
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