After years of working out the very best way to break into the teen market, Simon Cowell's Christmas No 1s all came at once in late 2010 when five young singers separately auditioned for the X Factor. Quickly moulded into a boy band, One Direction progressed to the show's live final, eventually placing third after Matt Cardle and Rebecca Ferguson.

Little more than a year later, Niall, Liam, Zayn, Louis and Harry are the real deal. Their 2012 Best British Single BRIT award for 'What Makes You Beautiful' may have mystifyingly, criminally, overlooked Adele's stellar 'Someone Like You', but for '1D' it matters not, and nor should it. They are getting the recognition that their success merits and, fittingly, they will be hitting the road for a massive arena tour this time next year.

It may seem a long time to wait but the teens have just finished another big tour, taking their No 2 album 'Up All Night' (as if, lads) on an extensive roadtrip which ended three weeks ago.

The huge tour kicks off with two dates The O2 Arena in Greenwich on 22nd and 23rd February 2013, followed by Glasgow, and then two gigs in each of Cardiff, Dublin and Belfast before arriving at the MEN Arena on 15th March.

After Manchester, the boys head to Liverpool, Sheffield, Nottingham and Birmingham, before the final gig announced so far at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle on Sunday 24th March 2013.

We will have tickets available for all dates when they go on sale at 9am on Saturday 25th February, priced from around £25/ £32.50 depending upon seating/ standing location for UK shows and from €40 for the Ireland dates.

This ticket sale will be one of the quickest of the year and are likely to sell out in minutes, not hours. So favourite this page and set your alarm.

Update: April 2013 dates added

As predicted, the initial tour dates sold out very quickly, with extra dates soon being snapped up. But fear not 1D fans as, on Saturday 10th March, six extra April 2013 dates go on sale for London's O2 Arena (4th & 5th), Newcastle (10th), Sheffield (14th), Birmingham (17th) and finally Manchester (19th April).