National Lottery Lotto results: Winning numbers as £4.7m jackpot up for grabs in new format game

National Lottery ticket holders will be checking their numbers this morning in the hope of discovering they have landed the £4.7 million jackpot. The top prize was up for grabs in last night's (June 17) Lotto draw - with players having two chances to win under the new two-round system, which sees two sets of numbers drawn on separate machines.

Matching all six numbers in either draw would secure the top prize, giving players two chances to win big. The winning National Lottery Lotto numbers on Wednesday, June 17, were:

• Round 1: 26, 31, 36, 41, 45, 51 and the bonus ball was 16.
• Round 2: 02, 14, 18, 40, 48, 55 and the bonus ball was 56.

Meanwhile, in the National Lottery Thunderball draw, the winning numbers were: 13, 16, 23, 25, 26. The Thunderball was 04.

Lotto prize breakdown - Wednesday, June 18

The prize breakdown for Wednesday night’s draw is:

• Match all 6 main numbers - no winners
• Match 5 of 6 + Bonus - one winner of £1,000,000
• Match 5 of 6 - 52 winners of £1,000
• Match 4 of 6 - 3,702 winners of £50
• Match 3 of 6 - 93,465 of £10
• Match 2 of 6 - 985,353 winners of £1

Why are there two Lotto draws?

This is the second week that the Lotto draw has appeared in its new two-round format, including two sets of six main numbers plus a bonus ball, drawn on separate machines.

It means players can win in one round, the second round, or both - all from a single £2 Lotto line. Players don't have to make any changes and continue to pick six numbers from 59 balls, as they always have.

Jackpots still start at £2 million and can roll over up to five times before a must-be-won draw on the sixth. Players will still win a prize when they match two or more main numbers in a single round.

And there will still be two ways to become a millionaire, either by matching all six main numbers to win a jackpot prize of at least £1 million, or by matching five main numbers plus the bonus ball to secure a fixed £1 million prize. The jackpot will be shared across both rounds, while all other prize tiers will continue to offer fixed cash prizes, paid per round.

In addition, the Lotto HotPicks add-on game will also move to the new two-round format and will continue to be priced at £1.

The updated game is expected to more than double the number of Lotto millionaires – from around 140 a year to about 345, while the odds of winning a prize will improve from 1-in-9.3 to 1-in-4.9, operator Allwyn said.

Last week, Andy Carter, senior winners’ advisor at Lotto firm Allwyn, said: “This is a huge moment for players as we enter a new era for the nation’s millionaire maker, Lotto. From now on, every ticket gives you two chances to win for the same £2 price. We’re talking more winners, more excitement and hundreds more millionaires made every year. It really could be you – not once, but twice.”