Thunderball results: Are you the lucky £500,000 jackpot winner? Winning lotto numbers on August 31 revealed

The 3,131st Thunderball draw took place on Wednesday. There were 111,904 winners in this draw. They shared the prize fund amounting to £1, 126, 912.

The winning numbers were 5,16,17,22 and 34. The Thunderball for this draw was 5. Excalibur 2 was the draw machine used and the ball set was T6.

The National Lottery website provided a breakdown of all prizes and reported that there was one lucky top prize winner of the £500,000 jackpot.

There was also one winner of the £5,000 runner-up prize for being able to match the 5 numbers. Twenty-five other players shared the £6,250 for matching 4 balls plus the Thunderball, amounting to £250 per winner.

There were 952 winners who shared the prize fund of £19,040 for matching 3 main numbers and the Thunderball, while 47,714 players won £3 each just for matching the Thunderball.

How do you play Thunderball?

Players must pick five main numbers from 1 to 39 and one 'Thunderball' number from 1 to 14 for an entry fee of £1 per line to qualify for the Thunderball jackpot draw. Prizes are won by matching the Thunderball number or at least three main numbers alone. The prize increases with the more numbers matched and the fewer players you have to share the prize fund with.

While the odds of winning the £500,000 top prize are only 1 in 8,060,598, Thunderball remains one of the more popular UK lottery games as you only need a matching Thunderball to win a prize.

Thunderball drawings are played four days a week- on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, so the player pool is smaller, and your chances of qualifying for at least one of the smaller prizes are higher.

Thunderball tickets may be bought in person at approved UK premises or online at accredited sites. As of April 2021, only those 18 years old and above may purchase scratchcards or play Lotto, Thunderball, EuroMillions or Set For Life.