Babak Belurs

Kamis, 27 Juli 2023

2022 was UK’s warmest year on record, says Met Office - The Guardian

2022 was the warmest year on record in the UK, the Met Office has confirmed, with experts warning the unprecedented heat is a sign of things to come.

It was also the first year in which a temperature above 40C (104F) was recorded in the UK. A record-breaking 40.3C was recorded on 19 July at Coningsby, Lincolnshire.

Prof Liz Bentley, the chief executive of the Royal Meteorological Society, who oversees the journal that published the annual report, said: “I’ve never seen 40C in the UK before … to break that record I think was a real milestone.

“This was probably the first time we saw a hot, dry summer for a while. If you look at future climate projections, we are on a path [towards] hotter, drier summers. So 2022 was very much a sign of things to come.”

A host of other records were set last year. It was warmer than average throughout 2022, except for December, which was the coldest since 2010. Despite this, all four seasons were in the top 10 hottest since records began in 1884. The past decade, from 2013-22, was also the UK’s warmest.

Met Office studies have found the record heat and the heatwave last July, when the organisation issued its first red warning for extreme temperatures, were made more likely because of human-induced climate breakdown.

Mike Kendon, the lead author of the report, said: “The observations show that extreme temperatures are changing faster than the average and, as our climate warms, we expect far more high temperature records to be broken, potentially by wide margins, and far fewer low temperature records.”

People watch the sunset from a hill in Ealing, west London, on 11 August 2022, after the Met Office issued an amber warning for extreme heat.

The report also found that the sea level in the UK had risen by 18.5cm since the 1900s, with about 11.4cm of this rise having taken place over the past 30 years.

A newer section is on phenology, the study of recurring biological or natural events in relation to climate. This refers to events such as leaves staying on trees longer or flowers blooming earlier.

Fritha West, a phenologist at Woodland Trust, said: “Species will react in different ways, and these reactions will impact human life in different ways, but the speed of these changes could cause concern.”

How species react could tell us a lot, such as how spring arriving earlier and autumn getting milder, she added.

The report also found:

2022 was one of the least snowy years on record compared with the past 60 years.
January to August 2022 was the driest across England and Wales since 1976.
Last year was the seventh sunniest in the UK since 1919.

The report also included possible scenarios for average temperatures. The study forecast that in 2060, under a medium emission scenario, 2022 would be considered an average year in terms of temperature, while by 2100 it would be considered a cool year.

Kendon said the UK’s future climate was dependent on political decisions made today. He added: “Our role is to provide the science to government to make the policy decisions that they do. But obviously the science is clear: the longer we take to reduce emissions, the longer and harder it will be to reduce the impacts that we are seeing.”

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2023-07-27 07:27:00Z
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Rabu, 26 Juli 2023

2022 was UK’s warmest year on record, says Met Office - The Guardian

2022 was the warmest year on record in the UK, the Met Office has confirmed, with experts warning the unprecedented heat is a sign of things to come.

It was also the first year in which a temperature above 40C (104F) was recorded in the UK. A record-breaking 40.3C was recorded on 19 July at Coningsby, Lincolnshire.

The report also found that the sea level in the UK had risen by 18.5cm since the 1900s, with about 11.4cm of this rise having taken place over the past 30 years.

A newer section is on phenology, the study of recurring biological or natural events in relation to climate. This refers to events such as leaves staying on trees longer or flowers blooming earlier.

How species react could tell us a lot, such as how spring arriving earlier and autumn getting milder, she added.

The report also found:

2022 was one of the least snowy years on record compared with the past 60 years.
January to August 2022 was the driest across England and Wales since 1976.
Last year was the seventh sunniest in the UK since 1919.

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Warnham: Teenager dies after village stabbing - BBC

By Bob Dale

BBC News

A 17-year-old boy has died after being stabbed at the weekend.

He was injured in the early hours of Sunday at an address in Marches Road, Warnham, near Horsham, West Sussex, and taken to hospital in a critical condition.

He died on Tuesday, Sussex Police said.

A 16-year-old boy is in custody after being arrested on suspicion of murder, while a 16-year-old girl and a 52-year-old woman have been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.

Det Ch Insp Kimball Edey, of the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team, said: "Our thoughts are with the victim's family and friends at this incredibly difficult time.

"We know that there were a number of young people in attendance at an event, and are keen to speak to them.

"Further arrests have been made in this case, and we ask the public not to speculate about the incident on social media as it may jeopardise the ongoing investigation."

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk.

Selasa, 25 Juli 2023

NatWest boss quits after Nigel Farage leak admission - The Telegraph

NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose has finally stepped down effective immediately, after admitting that she leaked private banking information about Nigel Farage to the BBC.

Dame Alison fell on her sword just hours after Downing Street expressed “significant concerns” about plans for her to remain in her post.

Howard Davies, chairman of the NatWest Group Board, said in a statement: “The Board and Alison Rose have agreed, by mutual consent, that she will step down as CEO of the NatWest Group. It is a sad moment.

“She has dedicated all her working life so far to NatWest and will leave many colleagues who respect and admire her.”

Dame Alison said: “I remain immensely proud of the progress the bank has made in supporting people, families and business across the UK, and building the foundations for sustainable growth.

“My NatWest colleagues are central to that success, and so I would like to personally thank them for all that they have done.”

NatWest’s board was locked in emergency talks on Tuesday night over Dame Alison’s future. The board had initially expressed full confidence in her, but indicated it would dock her £5m a year pay and bonuses in a last ditch attempt to save her skin.

A statement from the board on Wednesday confirmed Paul Thwaite, the current chief executive of the company’s Commercial and Institutional business, would take over Dame Alison’s responsibilities for the next year, pending regulatory approval.

The appointment of a permanent successor would take place “in due course”, it said.

Dame Alison has quit her post as chief executive Credit: Bloomberg

Dame Alison’s resignation, which was widely anticipated in Government, follows weeks of growing controversy over Coutts’ decision to “de-bank” Mr Farage because of his political views.

But it will only fuel calls for further heads to roll with Mr Davies, the chairman of the NatWest Group which owns the upmarket bank, now directly in the firing line.

Dame Alison had earlier admitted she was the source of a BBC story which claimed Mr Farage’s account was closed because he fell below Coutts’ wealth threshold.

She acknowledged the briefing was a “serious error of judgment” but said she believed the information she disclosed to the broadcaster was already in the public domain.

The Telegraph last week revealed Dame Alison had sat next to Simon Jack, the BBC’s business editor, at a charity dinner the day before the BBC article was published.

‘Serious error of judgment’

In an earlier statement, Dame Alison said: “I recognise that in my conversations with Simon Jack of the BBC, I made a serious error of judgment in discussing Mr Farage’s relationship with the bank.”

Mr Farage, the former Ukip leader, earlier said Dame Alison, Coutts CEO Peter Flavel and Sir Howard Davies, the NatWest chairman, all deserved to lose their jobs over the scandal.

Speaking on his GB News show, he said Dame Alison was “unfit” for her role, adding: “This is a serious breach. I hadn’t said to anybody that the bank I was having trouble with was Coutts... She chose to put it into the public domain with Simon Jack. She broke an essential confidence.”

Mr Farage also said he was unhappy with Dame Alison’s explanation, pointing out that the BBC had said in its own statement on Monday that it had gone back to her the next day to check its story and request approval to publish.

He wrote on Twitter:

The statements between NatWest and the BBC are contradictory. Someone is lying here. My full verdict and response at 7pm on @GBNEWS.
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) July 25, 2023

Meanwhile, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the banking watchdog, revealed that it had raised concerns about breaches of confidentiality by Coutts and its parent company NatWest and said it had “made clear” to the bigger bank the need for an independent review.

On Tuesday night, senior Conservative MPs demanded that Dame Alison resign or be fired from her job at a bank that is 39 per cent owned by the taxpayer.

Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, a former business secretary, said: “She has to go. She has admitted it and she has to go. She has broken one of the fundamental codes of banking and therefore she must go.”

‘She has broken the cardinal rule’

A City chief executive earlier on Tuesday said: “She has broken the cardinal rule of banking. An FCA investigation is inevitable now. Her position is untenable and she should resign. It’s ridiculous the board is backing her given the seriousness of the offence.”

The scandal engulfing NatWest comes after a Telegraph investigation revealed that Mr Farage’s accounts were closed after Coutts decided that the views of the former Ukip leader “do not align with our values”.

The BBC had previously run a story by Mr Jack that falsely claimed that Mr Farage had not met Coutts’ financial requirements. Dame Alison and Mr Jack had sat next to each other at a charity dinner the night before the BBC published its story on July 4.

Explaining what she had told Mr Jack, Dame Alison said in her statement: “Believing it was public knowledge, I confirmed that Mr Farage was a Coutts customer and that he had been offered a NatWest bank account. Alongside this, I repeated what Mr Farage had already stated, that the bank saw this as a commercial decision.”

She insisted she had not revealed “any personal financial information” about Mr Farage but admitted: “I left Mr Jack with the impression that the decision to close Mr Farage’s accounts was solely a commercial one.

“Put simply, I was wrong to respond to any question raised by the BBC about this case. I want to extend my sincere apologies to Mr Farage for the personal hurt this has caused him.”

Mr Farage earlier called for Dame Alison to quit on Twitter: “Dame Alison Rose has now admitted that she is the source. She broke client confidentiality, and is unfit to be CEO of NatWest Group.

“Meanwhile, Coutts CEO Peter Flavel must take the ultimate responsibility for de-banking me based on my political views. Sir Howard Davies is responsible for overall governance. He has clearly failed in this task, least of all by endorsing their conduct. In my view, they should all go.”

The former Brexit Party leader has accused Mr Flavel of being “asleep at the wheel” throughout the scandal. He has written to him three times, but has yet to receive a reply and has called his handling of the crisis “an absolute disgrace”.

Bank backflips

Hours before the announcement of Dame Alison’s resignation, Sir Howard Davies, NatWest’s chairman, said the bank was standing by Dame Alison.

In an earlier statement on Tuesday, he said: “This was a regrettable error of judgment on her part. The events will be taken into account in decisions on remuneration at the appropriate time.

“However, after careful reflection the board has concluded that it retains full confidence in Ms Rose as CEO of the bank.

“The board is clear that the overall handling of the circumstances surrounding Mr Farage’s accounts has been unsatisfactory, with serious consequences for the bank. The board will commission an independent review into the account closure arrangement at Coutts, and the lessons to be learnt from this.”

It is unclear whether Dame Alison’s leak to the BBC will form part of that independent inquiry. The FCA issued a warning to the bank that unless the review was “well resourced”, given full access to all “necessary” information and takes place “swiftly and fully”, it reserved the right to launch its own inquiry.

Sheldon Mills, the executive director at the FCA, said: “We have raised concerns with NatWest Group and Coutts about the allegations relating to account closures and breach of customer confidentiality since these came to light.

“We made clear our expectation that these issues should be independently reviewed and note (Tuesday’s) statement from the NatWest Group Board confirming this will happen. It is vital that the review is well resourced and those conducting it have access to all the necessary information and people in order to investigate what happened swiftly and fully.

“On the basis of the review and any steps taken by other authorities, such as the Financial Ombudsman Service or Information Commissioner, on relevant complaints, we will decide if any further action is necessary.”

The pressure on Dame Alison to admit her role in the leak had become overwhelming ahead of the publication on Friday of NatWest’s results for the first half of the year.

The announcement would have been dominated by questions over whether she was the source of the BBC story.

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2023-07-26 03:09:00Z
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