For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
The Met Office has issued yellow alerts for storms and strong winds that are expected to impact several regions across the UK as wet and windy weather persists.
A yellow alert for storms stretching from London to Manchester and covering much of the Midlands and Wales has been issued for Wednesday. This warning will be in effect from 9am to 7pm BST.
The storm system is expected to bring heavy rain and slow-moving thunderstorms, leading to potential rainfall accumulation of 20-25mm within an hour. Some locations may see in excess of 40mm in a 2-3-hour period.
Another yellow alert has been issued in southern England for “unseasonably windy weather” between 4am and 6pm on Wednesday, leading to some disruption to travel and outdoor activities.
Gusts of up to 80km/h are likely in some coastal areas of the English Channel, with the most exposed locations in the far southwest possibly experiencing gusts of 89-97km/h.
“An unseasonably deep area of low pressure for the time of year will move into Ireland during the early hours of Wednesday then continue across Wales and England during Wednesday daytime,” Met Office Chief Meteorologist Dan Suri said.
“Heavy rain associated with this low [pressure] will affect large parts of the UK tonight and on Wednesday, some of the heaviest rain occurring on Wednesday over central parts of England and Wales where some locations could see 40mm of rain in just a few hours from thundery downpours.”
“This deep low will also bring high winds into the UK on Wednesday, especially the south. Gusts of up to 60mph [97km/h] are possible in the very far southwest early on Wednesday whilst further along the south coast the highest gusts will be during Wednesday daytime.”
Last month marked the UK’s sixth wettest July on record and the wettest in Northern Ireland’s history, with the UK averaging 140.1mm of rain across the month.
Areas in England further set new rainfall records, including Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside, which all experienced their wettest July since records began in 1836.
The latest delay is understood to have been to allow checks to take place amid fire safety concerns about the vessel, which arrived behind schedule in Portland, Dorset last month.
Yet it is also just one of a number of eye-catching – for better or worse – plans associated with Sunak’s “stop the boats” pledge that have struggled to get off the ground.
While the notion of “offshoring” asylum seekers has its roots in Priti Patel’s stint as home secretary, it was earlier this year, on Suella Braverman’s watch, that the use of floating barges to help slash a £6m-a-day bill for hotel rooms emerged.
It coincides with the less than smooth introduction of another part of the alternative accommodation project, using disused RAF bases in Lincolnshire and Essex to house asylum seekers.
The moves to house as many as 2,000 people at RAF Scampton have been delayed until October, according to the local parish council, while there is still confusion about the use of RAF Wethersfield in Essex. Both have been become a focus for protests by groupings including local residents, anti-racism campaigners and the far right, and have been dogged by legal action from local authorities and unhappiness among Tory MPs.
In the latter case, local people who attended an event convened by the Home Office in the village on Monday night told of coming away feeling even more frustrated because of what they said was a lack of answers.
Looming large over all of the other plans is the flagship project: the plan to fly people seeking asylum in the UK 4,500 miles to Rwanda to have their claims processed.
First announced by Boris Johnson, the project has been adopted with gusto by Sunak and Braverman, even if it has run up against tortuous legal challenges and the criticism of charities, human rights advocates and international bodies such as the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.
While the government continues to brief that it is optimistic about an appeal to the supreme court, court of appeal judges delivered a hammer blow in June when they ruled it was unlawful to send asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing.
One area where the government has been able to point to progress of a sort has been when it comes to the legislative framework that would underpin much of the above.
Last month it defeated the final resistance in the House of Lords to the plans, as the Conservative frontbench saw off five further changes to the bill, including modern slavery protections and child detention limits.
The illegal migration bill, which Rishi Sunak described on Tuesday as the “right, fair and compassionate thing to do”, is central to his “stop the boats” pledge and places a legal duty on the home secretary to detain and remove anyone entering the UK illegally.
But while the bill has overcome obstacles in a way that other components of the government’s migration plans have failed to, it was the focus of an unusually criticial UN statement last month. The UN’s human rights chief Volker Türk and its refugees head Filippo Grandi warned it would have “profound consequences for people in need of international protection”.
A retired miner who killed his seriously ill wife has visited her grave the day after being freed from prison in Cyprus.
David Hunter was convicted of the manslaughter of his wife Janice, 74, in an assisted suicide at their home and jailed for two years.
The 76-year-old was freed after spending 19 months awaiting his trial.
After her death in December 2021, Mrs Hunter was buried near their home in Tremithousa, near Paphos.
Hunter, originally from Ashington in Northumberland, had been unable to visit the grave as he was admitted to hospital after trying to take his own life immediately after killing his wife of 52 years.
Family photograph
He was then held in prison before being cleared of premeditated murder but found guilty of manslaughter by a three-judge panel.
He was allowed to walk free within 15 minutes of being sentenced at Paphos District Court on Monday due to time already served and good behaviour.
Hunter could not initially find the grave and was guided to it by Michael Polak of Justice Abroad, which represented him during his trial.
Carrying a bouquet of pink, purple and yellow flowers, he knelt by the grave for about half an hour.
PA Media
The couple's daughter, Lesley Cawthorne, previously said she believed that her father would stay in Cyprus to be near Mrs Hunter's grave and "say his goodbyes properly".
Hunter told his trial, which lasted more than a year, that his wife "cried and begged" him to end her life as she suffered from blood cancer.
He said he would "never in a million years" have taken Mrs Hunter's life unless she had asked him to.
PA Media
He showed the court how he held his hands over his wife's mouth and nose and said he eventually decided to grant her wish after she became "hysterical".
Judges heard he then tried to kill himself by taking an overdose but paramedics arrived in time to save him.
A British pensioner who killed his terminally ill wife in Cyprus to end her suffering has visited her grave for the first time the day after being freed from prison.
Retired miner David Hunter was released from custody on Mondayafter a court sentenced him to two years in jail for the manslaughter of Janice, his spouse of 52 years.
After her death in December 2021, Mrs Hunter was buried at a cemetery minutes from the couple's Cyprus home in Tremithousa - a small village near the coastal resort town of Paphos.
But Hunter, 76, has been unable to visit the grave as he was admitted to hospital immediately after Mrs Hunter's death following a failed suicide attempt, then taken into custody and prosecuted for murder.
The pensioner spent 19 months in prison before being cleared of premeditated murder but found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter by a three-judge panel.
He was jailed for two years but allowed to walk free within 15 minutes of being sentenced at Paphos District Court due to time already served and good behaviour.
On Tuesday morning, he paid his first visit to Mrs Hunter's grave.
He could not initially find the plot and was guided to it by Michael Polak of Justice Abroad, which represented him during his trial.
Carrying a bouquet of pink, purple and yellow flowers, he immediately knelt down by the grave and appeared to be silently shaking.
Hunter stayed at the site for around half an hour.
The couple's daughter, Lesley Cawthorne, previously said she believes, rather than return to the UK, her father will initially choose to stay in Cyprus to be near Mrs Hunter's grave and "say his goodbyes properly".
Hunter, from Ashington, Northumberland, told his trial, which lasted for more than a year, that his wife had blood cancer and "begged him" to take her life because she was in so much pain.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:41
'I can't describe how I'm feeling'
He broke down in tears as he said he would "never in a million years" have taken Mrs Hunter's life unless she had asked him to.
He showed the court how he held his hands over his wife's mouth and nose and said he eventually decided to grant her wish after she became "hysterical".
Image:The house in Tremithousa, Cyprus where Mrs Hunter was killed by her husband
Judges heard he then tried to kill himself by taking an overdose but medics arrived in time to save him.
His legal team had argued Hunter should be given a suspended sentence, in a case which is a legal first in the country.
Image:The couple were married for 52 years
In mitigation, his defence lawyer, Ritsa Pekri, said his motive was to "liberate his wife from all that she was going through due to her health conditions".
The court heard it was Mrs Hunter's "wish" to die and that her husband "had only feelings of love for her".
Members of the UK’s largest teaching union have voted to accept the government’s 6.5% pay award, bringing to an end protracted strike action in schools in England.
The National Education Union said 86% of members in England who participated in the ballot voted to accept the deal and end the current wave of industrial action, with a turnout of 60%.
The vote brings to a close a long-running pay dispute, as part of which teachers walked out across the country in eight days of strike action, forcing many state schools to either fully or partially close.
The government decided this month to implement a recommendation by the independent School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) for a 6.5% pay increase for teachers in England from September.
The NEU said 14% of members (25,541) who took part in an electronic ballot voted to reject the government’s offer and said they were willing to undertake more extensive strike action, while 86% (154,987) voted to “accept the offer as progress made by our action” and agreed to end the strikes.
The joint NEU general secretaries, Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, said: “As a democratic union, the NEU leadership promised members that any pay and funding offer given by government that warranted their consideration would be put to them. Members have spoken very clearly and in great numbers.
“The NEU submissions to the STRB went a long way towards changing the government’s position on pay and funding. The strike action taken by our members also shifted the dial, securing the highest pay award for more than 30 years. Members should be proud they have also secured extra funding for schools.”
They warned, however, that their campaign for a better-funded education system would not go away and the government should be in no doubt that they would “hold its feet to the fire” on delivering for teachers and support staff on workload and funding.
“It remains the view of the NEU that school and college funding is far from adequate. It remains a commitment of the NEU to campaign for further increases in teacher pay,” they said.
“Everyone in the school and colleges community deserves an education system that attracts and keeps teaching staff, and one that ensures every child gets the attention and support they deserve.”
The Association of School and College Leaders suspended a ballot on strike action after members voted in favour of accepting the government’s offer on teacher pay and funding for 2023-24.
Some teachers expressed concerns that the pay offer would be funded from already straitened school budgets, but the government said the 6.5% award would be “fully funded”, with £525m additional funding for schools in 2023-24 and a further £900m in 2024-25.
Ministers will be hugely relieved at the result. A statutory re-ballot of NEU members in England, which opened in May – preceding the government’s updated offer – to renew the union’s mandate for industrial action came back with a resounding vote in favour, with 95% prepared to take part in more strikes, on a turnout of 53%, comfortably meeting the required legal threshold.
The education secretary, Gillian Keegan, said the ballot result was good news for teachers, parents and pupils. “The deal brings an end to the disruption faced by parents and young people, and means we can focus on what matters most – giving our children a world-class education,” she said.
NEU school support staff members in England also voted to accept the pay offer, with 85% in favour and a turnout of 46%. The NASUWT teachers’ union and the National Association of Head Teachers are expected to announce their response to the pay offer shortly.
Rishi Sunak has defended a planned expansion of oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, claiming it is "entirely consistent" with the government's goal to reach net zero by 2050.
This morning, Number 10 announced plans to grant hundreds of new oil and gas licences off the coast of Scotland to "boost British energy independence" and "reduce reliance on hostile states".
But critics claimed the decision sent "a wrecking ball through the UK's climate commitments", with one Tory MP warning the prime minister would end up "on the wrong side of history" if it went ahead.
Image:The prime minister has approved more North Sea oil and gas projects
The move also puts down a marker between the government and Labour, which has proposed a block on all domestic new oil and gas drilling as part of its strategy to achieve zero-carbon electricity by 2030.
Shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband accused Mr Sunak of lurching towards "a culture war on climate" to make up for "13 years of failed Tory energy policy".
But ministers have stressed the need to use North Sea fossil fuel resources, especially since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), which is responsible for regulating the oil, gas and carbon storage industries, is currently running the 33rd offshore oil and gas licensing round, and it expects to award more than 100 new licences in the autumn.
However, such moves have prompted alarm from climate campaigners, with the government already facing opposition to any development of Rosebank, 80 miles northwest of Shetland.
Advertisement
Speaking on a visit to Aberdeenshire, Mr Sunak said using domestic oil and gas saved "two, three, four times the amount of carbon emissions" than "shipping it from halfway around the world", and granting new drilling licences was "entirely consistent with our plan to get to net zero".
Asked specifically whether Rosebank would be approved, he added: "Licensing decisions are obviously made the normal way but what I'd say is that - entirely consistent with transitioning to net zero - that we use the energy that we've got here at home because we're going to need it for decades."
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:17
Government needs to pursue net zero targets - Lord Deben
The prime minister has also confirmed locations for two new carbon capture usage and storage clusters - with billions expected to be pumped into the schemes.
Carbon capture sees polluting fumes collected to either be used elsewhere or stored underground instead of going into the air, and is viewed as an increasingly important tool in achieving net zero.
The Acorn carbon capture project in North East Scotland - a joint venture between Shell and other firms - and the Viking project in the Humber will be "vital to driving forward and investing in clean technologies that we need to realise our net zero target", Downing Street said.
But while ministers predict the move could support up to 50,000 jobs, the target for the two new sites to be up and running isn't until 2030.
Speaking to broadcasters, Mr Sunak said: "It is really important for everyone to recognise that even in 2050 when we are at net zero, it is forecast that around a quarter of our energy needs will still come from oil and gas - that's why technologies like carbon capture and storage are important.
"But what is important then is we get that oil and gas in the best possible way and that means getting it here at home.
"[It is] better for our energy security, not being reliant on foreign dictators, better for jobs, for example 100,000 supported here in Scotland, but also better for the climate because if we are going to need it, far better to have it here at home."
He added: "Everyone should be excited about the prospect of us leading the world, transitioning to net zero and strengthening our energy security. That's the right balance and that's what I'm delivering as prime minister."
Tories focusing policies on voters it can win - not environmentalists they have lost
Rishi Sunak wants to set a dividing line with Labour.
The prime minister's announcement on hundreds of new North Sea licences in Scotland today comes as the government accuses Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer of risking the "lights going out" with his only policy to ban new drilling.
The PM is pitching himself as being on the side of the people, framing Labour as being in cahoots with Just Stop Oil.
Those claims are obviously far-fetched – Sir Keir has been highly critical of the campaign group – but polling does suggest some environmental policies are unpopular with Conservative voters.
The cost of living and the NHS tend to come top of voter priorities, a YouGov poll for The Times suggests this morning, and seven out of 10 Tory voters are against the 2030 ban on the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles.
The government maintains it is committed to that deadline, and to reaching net zero by 2050, but the language has changed since the Uxbridge by-election.
Mr Sunak is now talking about a "pragmatic and proportionate" approach to net zero.
It's also worth remembering that parts of North East Scotland are important Conservative election battlegrounds - West Aberdeenshire is energy minister Andrew Bowie's seat with just an 800 majority, for example.
A government source told me they believe Number 10 are focusing on votes they can win, not the environmentally-minded who the Conservatives will already have lost.
The PM will hope pledging jobs and investment in the North Sea will chime with the people he wants to listen.
Tory MP Chris Skidmore, who has long campaigned on green issues, was furious at the plans for new drilling licences, tweeting: "This is the wrong decision at precisely the wrong time, when the rest of the world is experiencing record heatwaves."
The former energy minister, who has announced he is stepping down at the next election to focus on the fight for net zero, added: "It is on the wrong side of a future economy that will be founded on renewable and clean industries and not fossil fuels.
"It is on the wrong side of modern voters who will vote with their feet at the next general election for parties that protect, and not threaten, our environment, and it is on the wrong side of history that will not look favourably on the decision taken today.
"Worryingly, this decision has also been announced when MPs are on recess, unable to hold the government to account. I will be writing to the Speaker to call for an emergency debate as soon as we return."
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
4:40
SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has said it's important to be conscious of energy security.
Mr Skidmore's sentiment was echoed by WWF UK's Kate White, who said the move would "do nothing to cut household energy bills or shore up our energy security - it will simply line the pockets of the extractive industry while the world burns".
She added: "Our reliance on fossil fuels is not only driving the climate crisis and the extreme temperatures we've seen sweeping southern Europe, it's driving the cost of living crisis and the price of inaction now will be deeper and more expensive cuts later which will be disastrous for the economy and for nature.
"If Rishi Sunak is serious about 'powering up Britain' the solution to the climate crisis and the cost of living crisis is in affordable, clean energy; better insulation for our homes; and restoring our natural world."
The head of Oxfam Scotland, Jamie Livingstone, also called the new licensing rounds a "short-sighted and selfish decision by the UK government" which "flies in the face of climate science and common sense".
He added: "The UN has made clear that we must end our global addiction to fossil fuels, so this decision sends a wrecking ball through the UK's climate commitments."
Spreaker
This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only.
Meanwhile, Labour's Mr Miliband questioned whether the prime minister was the right person to make the decisions over future energy security.
He said: "[The PM's] weak and confused policy will not take a penny off bills - as his own party chair has admitted - will do nothing for our energy security and drive a coach and horses through our climate commitments, while continuing to leave us at the mercy of fossil fuel dictators like Putin."
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said it was right to be "conscious of energy security" and keeping the large oil and gas workforce in Scotland employed, calling it a "silly position" to end all drilling.
But speaking to Sky News, he did not give his full support to the new licences, saying Tory plans to "take every single drop" from the North Sea was "a little bit morally bankrupt".
A new green dividing line in politics?
The move comes as both main parties continue to argue over their commitment to key net zero policies and environmental promises.
The Conservatives' narrow victory in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election opened a can of worms within Labour over London Mayor Sadiq Khan's plan to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to outer boroughs - something Sir Keir Starmer blamed for the loss.
The Labour leader and Mr Khan are continuing to hold discussions over the extension, with Sir Keir calling on his colleague to "reflect" on the impact on voters.
But Mr Khan has stood by the decision on the basis it will improve air quality for five million people in London.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Meanwhile, MPs on the right of the Conservative Party are appealing to the PM to rethink the government's net zero commitments in light of the win, with calls for delays to a number of targets - including putting back the ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035.
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith - who was among 43 signatories to a letter urging Mr Sunak to look again at the plan - told Sky News the date was "plucked out of nowhere", adding: "If you want to get them to clean emissions, you've got to do it in a way that still keeps our industry going in the UK."
Downing Street has confirmed ministers are scrutinising existing pledges "in light of some of the cost of living challenges".
Asked if his oil and gas policy was just a reaction to the Uxbridge by-election, Mr Sunak said he was "committed to net zero", but added he was "also committed to our energy security and we will get to net zero in a proportionate and pragmatic way that doesn't unnecessarily burden families with costs or hassle that they don't need in their lives right now".
A British man freed by a Cypriot court after being sentenced for killing his seriously ill wife has said he could not find words to describe his release.
David Hunter was convicted of the manslaughter of his wife Janice, 74, in an assisted suicide at their Paphos home in 2021 and jailed for two years.
The ex-miner, 76, from Northumberland, was freed after spending 19 months in custody awaiting trial.
Outside court Hunter thanked his colliery "family" for their support.
He had told the trial his wife had "cried and begged" him to end her life as she suffered from blood cancer.
Family handout
On the steps of Paphos District Court, he told the BBC: "I'd like to say thank you to all the people who've donated to me, and especially my mates and my workmates.
"I don't know where I would be without them."
"When you work in a colliery, you're a family."
Asked how he was feeling, he said: "I can't describe it. I'm sorry. I wish I could, I wish I could find words to describe it, but I can't.
"When you're under pressure for two years, not knowing which way it's going to go."
PA Media
His legal team had argued he should be given a suspended sentence, in a case which was a legal first in the country.
They had initially suggested he would be released by 18 August, but prison authorities freed him on Monday after they officially calculated his release date.
In mitigation last week, his defence lawyer Ritsa Pekri said his motive was to "liberate his wife from all that she was going through due to her health conditions".
The court heard it was Mrs Hunter's "wish" to die and that her husband "had only feelings of love for her".
Hunter, who was originally from Ashington, said he would "never in a million years" have suffocated his wife of 52 years unless she had asked him to.
He showed the court how he held his hands over Mrs Hunter's mouth and nose and said he eventually decided to grant her her wish after she became "hysterical".
The court heard he then tried to kill himself by taking an overdose, but paramedics arrived in time to save him.
Family handout
Previously state prosecutor Andreas Hadjikyrou had told the BBC Hunter killed his wife for "selfish motives", adding: "It's himself he was taking care of."
He had told the court Janice died from asphyxiation, telling three judges it was a "horrible death" and her end was "not painless or peaceful".
Prosecutors said Janice still went to the hairdresser every fortnight which, they said, proved she had a social life and took care of herself.
Sentencing Hunter, judge Michalis Droussiotis said the court was "not facing a typical case".
"This is a crime that goes against human life, which is the highest virtue. Taking it is a crime," he said.
"Before us is a unique case of taking human life on the basis of feelings of love, with the aim of relieving the person of their suffering that came due to their illness."
PA Media
The couple's daughter, Lesley Cawthorne, from Norfolk, described the past 19 months as a "living nightmare" for the family.
"I thought I'd lost him forever. I cannot believe it. It's amazing. I just didn't think, after the way the case has gone, that this was possible," she said.
"I'm elated and relieved that my darling dad has been released. Today is the start of us being able to rebuild our lives.
"Dad's release also means we can finally grieve for my mum and I hope everyone can respect our privacy whilst we take the time to come to terns with her loss.
"So many people have worked hard and supported our efforts to bring my dad home, too many to mention but you know who you are and you know you have our deepest gratitude."
'Loving relationship'
After talking to her father over the phone, Ms Cawthorne added: "Speaking to my daddy was the most amazing thing. I feel like my heart has been put back together."
She said she believes that, rather than returning to the UK immediately, her father will stay in Cyprus so he can visit his wife's grave and "say his goodbyes properly".
Mrs Hunter is buried a short distance away from the couple's former home in Tremithousa - a quiet village about three miles from the coastal town of Paphos.
PA Media
Michael Polak from Justice Abroad, which has been representing Hunter, said the sentencing had not been straightforward "given that a case like this has never come before the courts of Cyprus before".
He added his client's release was "everything we were hoping for".
"He was facing a charge of premeditated murder, which carries a life sentence which would have resulted in [him] dying in prison here in Cyprus. Then two weeks ago he was found guilty of manslaughter," he said.
"The judge gave a very balanced view of the case [today], talking about the sanctity of life but also speaking about the particular circumstances of this case.
"They'd been together for over 50 years. It was a loving relationship.
"When you've got someone there asking you to end their life because they're in so much pain, to make that decision must have been immensely difficult.
"It's a decision that we all hope we're never going to have to make in our own lives."
A plea deal, which would have seen Hunter admit manslaughter, was agreed with prosecutors in November but the murder trial went ahead after a U-turn by Cypriot authorities.
