Babak Belurs

Minggu, 27 Desember 2020

Met Office warnings EXTENDED: Snow and ice alert for almost all of UK TOMORROW - maps - Daily Express

The Met Office has issued snow and ice warnings which cover much of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland from this afternoon. A band of rain, sleet and snow followed by wintry showers will move south across western and central parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland on Sunday evening and then into parts of northern England and north Wales early on Monday morning.

Today the east will see the best of the sunshine, however, following on from Storm Bella there will also be blustery showers.

Netweather forecasters have said the cold air is now of polar origin meaning showers will turn wintry.

Already there has been snow over Scotland and on hills further South, with showers of rain hail and sleet turning to snow at times even at lower levels in some of the heavier showers.

Met Office snow and ice warnings are in place from today through to Monday, with wintry showers, sleet and snow likely across warning areas.

The forecasters warn: "Localised accumulations of 1-3 cm are possible to lower levels but higher accumulations are likely over higher ground. Above 250 metres, accumulations of five to 10 cm are possible.

"Skies are expected to clear from the north overnight and widespread ice is likely to develop and persist through to Monday morning, especially across central and eastern areas."

Maps show plunging temperatures today and Monday with charts turning purple with the cold as snow hits much of the country.

Met Office snow and ice warnings are concentrated in the North of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland today, before spreading south to include London, the East Midlands and East of England on Monday.

The snow and ice warnings in place today are for Central, Tayside & Fife, East Midlands, Grampian, Highlands & Eilean Siar, North East England, North West England, Northern Ireland, SW Scotland, Lothian Borders and Strathclyde.

These warnings last from 3pm today until 10am on Monday, with the Met Office cautioning of the potential for icy surfaces and some travel disruption.

Another snow and ice warning is in place today until 3pm, for Central, Tayside & Fife, Grampian, Highlands & Eilean Siar, North East England, North West England, Northern Ireland, Yorkshire and Humber, SW Scotland, Lothian Borders and Strathclyde.

The forecasters warn: "Following clearance of heavy rain this evening, colder conditions will lead to ice forming on untreated surfaces across many parts of the warning area.

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"There will also be showers which will turn increasingly to snow on high ground: parts of western Scotland look likely to see a few cm above about 200m elevation, with a slight cover at low levels in heavier showers."

On Monday, the East Midlands, East of England, London and South East England, North West England, South West England, Wales and the West Midlands are under a snow and ice warning from midnight until 6pm.

The Met Office warns: "An area of rain is likely to move south through Sunday night and Monday across parts of England and Wales.

"There is the potential for this to turn to snow for a time.

"There is a lot of uncertainty in where snow develops with some areas seeing little or no accumulations.

"However, there is a very low likelihood of one to three centimetres, and locally five to 10 cm falling in a few places, particularly over higher ground of Wales above 200 metres.

"As well as snow, widespread ice may also be an issue, especially where treatment has been washed off road surfaces."

As Storm Bella moves southward, Netweather forecasters say it will bring some longer spells of sleet or snow to parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland, the North West and perhaps to North Wales during the night.

This will leave a covering especially on hills, and as temperatures fall to between -2 and 0C, wet or slushy surfaces at lower levels will turn icy.

Elsewhere there should be fewer wintry showers between clear spells, but snow could fall almost anywhere, leaving a covering on some hills by morning.

Temperature maps show continuously cold conditions over the next few days, turning purple as the mercury drops.

As the week continues, further snowfall is likely, especially on northern hills, but at lower levels, the showers may fall as rain, sleet or hail at times.

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2020-12-27 10:51:00Z
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Storm Bella winds give way to snow and ice warning - BBC News

Early morning snow fall in the Glens of Antrim

Winds of almost 60mph have been recorded as Storm Bella moves across Northern Ireland.

But NI has missed the worst of the conditions that have rattled England and Wales, with strong winds now giving way to warnings of ice and snow.

Temperatures are expected to fall below freezing on Sunday night after a prolonged batch of sleet and snow.

A Met Office snow and ice warning is in force until Sunday 15:00 GMT, and again from 18:00 GMT until Monday morning.

A prolonged batch of sleet and snow is expected to move in from the north on Sunday evening as the second Met warning comes into force.

This will be followed by clear spells overnight when temperatures will widely drop to between 1 and minus 2 degrees Celsius with lows of -4C in sheltered rural areas.

Met Éireann also have a snow and ice warning in place for the northwest, as Storm Bella leaves hundreds without power in the Republic of Ireland.

The wind warning has lapsed after gusts reached 59mph at Castlederg and Katesbridge late on Boxing Day.

A colder airmass is likely to bring treacherous icy conditions as bands of wintry showers are moving through, bringing a mix of sleet and snow for many.

Heavier showers are expected to bring snow temporarily down to low levels, although settling snow is still most likely on the hills.

The cold snap is expected to stay with us this week with blustery northerly winds bringing sunny spells and further wintry showers, and also frost and ice at night.

Thursday and Friday should see fewer showers and more sunny spells, with less wind but daytime highs are expected to reach only mid single figures.

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2020-12-27 10:15:00Z
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Hospitals set up makeshift Covid beds in children's wards under 'surge capacity' measures - Daily Mail

NHS nears breaking point: Hospitals set up makeshift Covid intensive care beds in children's wards under 'surge capacity' measures with new mutant strain 'running rampant' through UK

Hospitals brace themselves for spike in Covid admissions in run up to New Year
Health bosses have warned hospital trusts to 'mobilise surge capacity' across UK
Some hospitals have set up makeshift Covid beds in children's and cancer wards
Memo from NHS boss reveals Covid admissions rising in 'almost all of country'

By Katie Feehan For Mailonline

Published: 09:26 GMT, 27 December 2020 | Updated: 09:33 GMT, 27 December 2020

Health chiefs have warned that hospitals are bracing themselves by setting up makeshift Covid intensive care beds in children's wards under 'surge capacity measures'.

Yesterday it was confirmed cases had increased by a third since last Saturday as 34,693 people tested positive in England and Wales alone amid a new highly-infectious strain of coronavirus.

The increase in infections has prompted health bosses to warn that hospital admissions could overtake the highest figure of 21,683 recorded during the first wave.

Hospitals across the country are being warned to brace themselves as Covid-19 admissions continue to rise in the run up to the New Year. Pictured: A Nightingale hospital in Bristol

According to the Sunday Times, hospitals have been ordered to prepare 'surge capacity' measures with some trusts setting up makeshift intensive care beds in paediatric and cancer wards.

A senior government official told the Sunday Times the new strain of Covid had overtaken the old and was 'running rampant' in the UK.

The warning comes after a leaked memo revealed the imminent pressure facing the NHS.

The six-page memo, which was sent to hospital bosses last Wednesday, confirmed that Covid hospital admissions were 'rising in almost all parts of the country' as NHS chief operating officer Amanda Pritchard instructed bosses to prepare.

Pritchard said that 'NHS trusts should continue to safely mobilise all of their available surge capacity over the coming weeks' including maximising the use of the independent sector and Nightingale hospitals.

The news comes as it has been revealed Britain could be free of tight Covid restrictions by the end of February, after Ministers pinpointed the 15 million people who would need vaccinations to end the cycles of crippling lockdowns.

With the 'game-changing' Oxford jab expected to be approved within days, the Government hopes that enough doses will soon be available to inoculate those most vulnerable to coronavirus within weeks.

Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi told The Sun that approval would likely be granted on Monday, with plans to roll out jabs to the entire country starting January 4, according to The Telegraph.

Rishi Sunak visiting Imperial Clinic Research Facility at Hammersmith Hospital in west London

Sports stadiums and conference centres would be commandeered to help the effort, with ministers planning to have 2million jab administered within a fortnight.

Writing in today's Mail on Sunday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak says the Covid breakthroughs – combined with the newly minted post-Brexit trade deal with the EU – signalled an optimistic new era for the UK.

Hailing the 'early roll-out of vaccines and the incredible work of our scientists and

', Mr Sunak pledges that next year will be the first in a 'new era of global Britain'. He also hopes to consign the rancour of the

feuds to history, writing: 'In 2021 we won't be Remainers or Leavers – only believers in Britain.'

Britain suffered 34,693 new coronavirus cases on Boxing Day - an increase of more than 7,000 on last Saturday despite incomplete figures.

Britain has seen a spike in the number of coronavirus cases on Boxing Day as 34,693 new cases were confirmed which was an increase of more than 7,000 on last Saturday. Pictured: NHS staff care for a Covid patient in the intensive care unit at Whiston Hospital in Merseyside

But deaths in England and Wales have fallen by 55 per cent on last week's figures, as 210 were recorded on the UK Government's dashboard today.

Cases increased by a third since last Saturday as 34,693 people tested positive in England and Wales alone amid a new highly-infectious strain of coronavirus.

Daily deaths and cases figures won't be updated in Northern Ireland until December 28, while Scotland will continue to upload case numbers, but not deaths until December 28.

According to hospital figures released earlier yesterday, in England and Wales 196 patients died on Boxing Day, with London suffering 44 deaths as a mutant variant has sent the number of cases in the region skyrocketing.

Some 35 of the patients who died in UK hospitals in the 24 hours to Saturday, December 26, were in Wales.

There were 34 deaths in the North East and Yorkshire, and 32 in the Midlands, according to the latest figures.

The Excel Centre in East London that had previously been turned into Nightingale hospital to help support the NHS. London is currently in Tier 4 in Covid 19 restrictions due to new strain

Modellers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found the new virus strain, found first in Kent, was 56 per cent per cent more infectious.

It comes as Sussex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire moved into Tier 4, created in response to the variant of Covid-19, yesterday.

The parts of Essex still in Tier 2, Waverley in Surrey and Hampshire including Portsmouth and Southampton, but with the exception of the New Forest, also moved into the toughest tier.

In Tier 4, no household mixing is allowed, though one person can meet one other person outside in a public space, while all non-essential shops and businesses must close, including personal care and indoor entertainment.

Nobody can enter or leave Tier 4 areas and residents must not stay overnight away from home.

Meanwhile, Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset including the North Somerset council area, Swindon, the Isle of Wight, the New Forest and Northamptonshire plus Cheshire and Warrington moved up to Tier 3.

The additional six million that have gone into Tier 4 takes the total number of people under the toughest restrictions to 24 million - 43 per cent of England's population. A further 24.8 million will be in Tier 3.

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2020-12-27 09:26:00Z
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Sabtu, 26 Desember 2020

Brexit: PM vows to focus on 'levelling up country' after securing deal - BBC News

The prime minister has vowed to focus on "levelling up the country" and "spreading opportunity", after securing the post-Brexit trade deal this week.

Boris Johnson told the Sunday Telegraph the deal would provide new legislative and regulatory freedoms to "deliver for people who felt left behind".

But fishermen's leaders have accused him of "caving in" and sacrificing their interests to reach the agreement.

MPs will vote on the deal in Parliament on 30 December.

The agreement was reached on Christmas Eve after months of fraught talks on issues such as fishing rights and business rules.

Scrutiny of the treaty began in earnest on the morning of Boxing Day when the 1,246-page document was officially published, with Conservative Eurosceptics among those promising to pore over the details of the accord.

In his first interview since the deal was agreed, Mr Johnson said "big changes" were coming, declaring "it is up to us now to seize the opportunity of Brexit".

He said a "great government effort" had gone into the plans, with animal welfare, data and chemicals being areas where the UK could diverge from EU standards.

"This government has a very clear agenda to use this moment to unite and level up and to spread opportunity across the government," Mr Johnson added.

'Sovereignty is the key'

The prime minister insisted he had been willing to go for no deal when negotiations had been going in the wrong direction.

He also said the deal could withstand the "most ruthless scrutiny" from the European Research Group of Conservative Brexiteers.

The group has assembled a self-styled "star chamber" of lawyers led by veteran Eurosceptic MP Sir Bill Cash to examine the full text ahead of a Commons vote.

Senior Conservative backbencher Sir Bill said "sovereignty is the key issue" as his team analysed the small print of the deal.

The basics

A Brexit deal has been agreed, days before a deadline. It means that the UK and the EU can continue to trade without extra taxes being put on goods - but we don't know all the details yet.
What took so long? The UK voted to leave the EU in 2016 and actually left on 31 January 2020, but leaders had until the end of 2020 to work out a trade deal.
There are big changes ahead. Although it's a trade deal that has been agreed, there will also be changes to how people travel between the EU and UK, and to the way they live and work.

What happens next with Brexit?

And writing in the Mail on Sunday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said next year would begin a "new era" for the nation as he pledged invest in infrastructure and reward "risk-takers and entrepreneurs".

He said: "I want next year to be the start of something much more meaningful for all of us - a moment to look afresh at the world and the opportunities it presents, and to consider how to take advantage of them."

UK 'surrender'

But the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisation (NFFO) accused Mr Johnson of having "bottled it" on fishing quotas to secure only "a fraction of what the UK has a right to under international law".

Barrie Deas, chief executive of the NFFO, said Mr Johnson had "sacrificed" fishing to other priorities, after the subject proved to be an enduring sticking point during negotiations.

"Lacking legal, moral or political negotiating leverage on fish, the EU made the whole trade deal contingent on a UK surrender on fisheries," Mr Deas said.

Senior UK negotiators have admitted to compromising "somewhat" over fish, although they say the EU also made concessions.

Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, accused the government of having "sold out Scottish fishing all over again", adding: "Promises they knew couldn't be delivered, duly broken."

The share of fish in British waters that the UK can catch will rise from about half now to two-thirds by the end of the five-and-a-half-year transition.

After this, the UK would be free to reduce EU access to its coastal waters further but could face retaliatory action.

Government sources have said any measures taken by the EU would have to be proportionate and would be limited to the fishing industry.

Meanwhile, the EU's 27 member states indicated they will within days give their formal backing to the deal, which covers about £660bn of trade to allow goods to be sold without tariffs or quotas in the EU market.

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2020-12-27 02:47:00Z
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GLEN OWEN: How Boris Johnson struck Brexit gold inspired by Bismark's dictum - Daily Mail

GLEN OWEN: How Boris Johnson struck Brexit gold inspired by Bismark's dictum - 'If I deal with a pirate, I try to be a pirate and a half'

By Glen Owen for The Mail on Sunday

Published: 00:30 GMT, 27 December 2020 | Updated: 00:31 GMT, 27 December 2020

It was the diplomatic chat-up line from Boris Johnson which signalled that a deal was finally imminent.

'You look fresh,' the Prime Minister told Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, 'for someone who has been counting fish all night.'

The comment came on Christmas Eve morning after Mr Johnson had just completed a run with his dog, Dilyn, and marked the end of 11 months of tortuous negotiations over mackerel quotas and car tariffs.

The talks finally concluded with the £660 billion trade agreement which has lifted the Covid-induced gloom in Downing Street.

It was the diplomatic chat-up line from Boris Johnson (pictured) which signalled that a deal was finally imminent

Mr Johnson has told allies that he credits the 'hardball' strategy of UK chief negotiator David Frost and his deputy Oliver Lewis for the successful outcome, and in particular the controversial decision in October to break international law by legislating to override the Brexit divorce agreement's restrictions on Northern Ireland.

The move was condemned by five former Prime Ministers – but is seen in No 10 as the moment when the EU's granite-faced approach started to crack.

Shortly afterwards, Mrs von der Leyen moved to sideline the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier and took over effective control of the talks.

As they worked through long days and nights in dreary Covid-compliant conference rooms in Brussels and London, Lord Frost's team sought inspiration from 19th Century German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, who once said of his diplomatic strategy of that combined charm and menace: 'With a gentleman I am always a gentleman and a half, and when I have to deal with a pirate, I try to be a pirate and a half.'

'You look fresh,' the Prime Minister told Ursula von der Leyen (pictured), the president of the European Commission, 'for someone who has been counting fish all night'

The UK's 'pirate' moment came when No 10 introduced the Internal Market Bill to deal with the Northern Ireland issue, which was described by Tony Blair and Sir John Major as 'irresponsible, wrong in principle and dangerous in practice'.

Theresa May, David Cameron and Gordon Brown soon added their voices to the criticism.

But Frost and Lewis had calculated that because the Brexit divorce deal imposed new bureaucracy for trade across the Irish Sea – by keeping Northern Ireland in the EU single market for goods – Brussels would be able to blackmail London into accepting a deal on its terms by deploying the threat of tariffs on goods coming from the mainland.

Within weeks of the Government introducing the Bill, the EU had caved: Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove secured agreement with European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic that, in the event of No Deal, 98 per cent of goods crossing the Irish Sea would be tariff-free. Now that a deal has been struck, it is 100 per cent.

A source on the British negotiating team said: 'The EU were threatening to sever Northern Ireland from the mainland.

'Michael's deal removed their leverage, and ensured that we achieved much better terms in the final deal on issues such as fish and EU rules.'

When the Cabinet met last week to discuss the deal, Mr Gove echoed the Prime Minister in saying that the Internal Market Bill was a tactic which had 'unlocked the result'.

Downing Street officials are full of praise for the 'calm, composed and professional' Mrs von der Leyen – or 'VDL', as the negotiators referred to her – for breaking the impasse caused by the stubbornness of Mr Barnier and the naked self-interest of Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel.

The source added: 'October was when we broke down the intransigence. VDL had already wounded Barnier by vetoing his insistence that the European Court of Justice should remain the ultimate authority over the UK, but when we landed the Internal Market Bill on them, she killed him completely.'

It was a complicated courtship.

No 10 had hoped that Mr Johnson and Mrs von der Leyen's dinner of scallops, turbot and pavlova in Brussels on December 9 would provide the breakthrough, as Britain proposed a deal based on accepting certain tariffs in return for freedom from EU rules.

But behind the scenes, French President Macron and German Chancellor Merkel resisted the idea, fearing the UK would appear as a dynamic and attractive 'Singapore-style' market on its doorstep.

That fear was behind the determination to make the UK 'crawl on broken glass' – as one negotiator phrased it to The Mail on Sunday – before getting a deal, and explains why the 'tariffs for freedom' plan received a cool response.

After they removed their masks to pose for the official photographs before that ill-fated meal, Mrs von der Leyen told Mr Johnson to 'keep your distance', prompting the Prime Minister to mutter in response: 'You run a tight ship here, Ursula. And quite right too.'

The chemistry between Mr Johnson and Mrs von der Leyen was placed under even greater strain on Monday, when the EU deployed its 'hammer' – the threat of billions of pounds of tariffs if the UK reneged on any of the agreement on fishing rights.

Mr Johnson told her that he would never accept such a punishment clause, saying: 'I cannot sign, and I will not sign.'

He added in her native German: 'Viel hummer, kein hammer' – 'lots of lobster, no hammer'.

But when Mrs von der Leyen sent her highly regarded consigliere, Stephanie Riso, deputy head of Cabinet, to attend last week's talks, it was seen as a sign that a deal was back on the table.

During the final hours of the negotiations, it came down to a straight haggle between Mr Johnson and Mrs von der Leyen over the length of the agreement on fish.

Mr Barnier's original demand for a 14-year deal was whittled down to the point where Mr Johnson was asking for five years and Mrs von der Leyen for six years.

It is why a compromise was reached at five and a half, during which EU boats will have to hand over a quarter of the catch landed in our waters.

Mr Johnson's 'fresh' flirtation with Mrs von der Leyen came after a long night of splicing and dicing quotas for cod, herring, mackerel and tuna, combined with reassurances for EU fishermen over a mechanism to stop the UK backtracking on its promises.

After gruelling shifts in which some negotiators said they had to resort to 'washing their underwear in the hotel room sink', by Wednesday evening a deal looked sufficiently certain for Thursday's papers to be briefed on the details.

However, it was to be delayed again because of a last-minute hitch over a three per cent discrepancy in estimates of UK fish stocks.

When a relieved Mr Johnson announced the deal at a press conference in the afternoon, the world was treated to flashes of the old, buoyant Boris as he wisecracked his way through the questions.

After months of unrelenting misery from Covid, the Prime Minister looked to be back in his political comfort zone.

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2020-12-27 00:30:00Z
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Brexit deal and Covid vaccines 'to deliver £145billion boost to London stock markets' - Daily Mail

Brexit deal and Covid vaccines 'to deliver £145billion boost to London stock markets'

Businesses have greeted Boris Johnson's agreement with the EU with relief
The deal was a 'double dose of good news' for the country along with vaccines
Analysts had been predicting a crash in shares if a No Deal had happened

By Mail on Sunday Reporter

Published: 22:44 GMT, 26 December 2020 | Updated: 23:10 GMT, 26 December 2020

Pension funds and investors on the London stock market are expecting a £145 billion boost following the Brexit accord, according to a top City firm.

Businesses and financial markets experts greeted Boris Johnson's agreement with the European Union with relief.

Analysts at financial data giant Bloomberg said the deal was a 'double dose of good news' for the country as excitement also swept the market over the anticipation that vaccines would begin to turn the tide against Covid.

Pension funds and investors on the London stock market are expecting a £145 billion boost following the Brexit accord, according to a top City firm

The analysts said the markets may remain subdued for the first six months of next year until the pandemic receded, but the value of shares listed on the FTSE should increase eight per cent during 2022 as markets gain fresh confidence.

Businesses and financial markets experts greeted Boris Johnson's agreement with the European Union with relief. EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier is pictured

The same analysts had been predicting a crash in shares if a No Deal had been declared, even with a pandemic recovery.

Economist and Brexit advocate Gerard Lyons said: 'The Brexit deal should be a positive for the UK.

'The deal has also relieved a degree of uncertainty that impacted us for a period.'

Mr Lyons said the deal was 'not just about leaving the EU – it's about the policies we implement once we have left'.

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2020-12-26 22:44:00Z
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UK weather forecast: Horrifying new chart shows Storm Bella surging towards Britain - Daily Express

Storm Bella is set to sweep across the UK today, bringing yet more strong gales and heavy rain after several parts of England saw severe flooding. The Met Office has issued a handful of weather alerts in response to the storm, which has been spotted surging towards Britain on several weather maps.

One map shows the ferocious storm approaching the UK from the north west.

The chart, from Magicseaweed, characterises the storm by a large mass of red and purple.

The eye of the storm is shown by an area of dark grey, with small areas indicating where the unsettled conditions are heading.

A second weather map from WXCharts shows the UK turn dark purple as Storm Bella moves across the whole of the UK by 6pm on Sunday.

Another weather chart from the forecasters show the UK turn a deep red as the storm sweeps over Britain at 12pm on Sunday.

According to the chart the south of England looks set to see the worst of the tumultuous conditions.

The Met Office has predicted 15-25mm of rain will fall in Wales and southwest England today, reaching 40-60mm over some hills.

Bouts of heavy rain are also expected to affect wester and southern regions.

JUST IN: Met Office weather warning: Amber alert UPDATED

They add: “Injuries and danger to life is likely from large waves and beach material being thrown onto coastal roads, sea fronts and properties.”

The forecasters also warn power cuts may occur.

Five additional yellow rain and wind warnings also cover swathes of the UK today and tomorrow.

Deputy Chief Meteorologist Tony Wardle, said: “Conditions will turn very unsettled after Christmas day, with a large area of low pressure sweeping across the UK from Boxing Day.

“Very strong winds will impact much of England and Wales, with particularly strong gusts on south west facing coasts.

“Heavy rain will also move in from the north, with heavy downpours through the afternoon in Scotland and Northern Ireland moving south across England and Wales overnight.

“This will be a notable change from the calmer conditions over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so take extra care and stay up to date with the latest forecast.”

On Christmas Day, residents in more than 1,300 homes along the River Great Ouse in Bedfordshire were asked to leave by police after the river burst its banks, causing bridges and roads to be flooded.

The widespread rainfall which caused the flooding has passed, but the Environment Agency (EA) has warned that a significant flood risk remains - with river levels in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire remaining significantly high.

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2020-12-26 18:00:00Z
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