Rabu, 24 Januari 2024

Storm Jocelyn: 97mph gusts recorded as heavy winds hit UK - BBC

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By Simon King, BBC Weather & Oliver Slow
BBC

Storm Jocelyn has been moving across the UK - days after Storm Isha hit and left at least two people dead.

Tuesday was marked by heavy rain in parts, with strong gusts across much of the country on Wednesday morning.

The strongest gust so far, 97mph, was recorded in Capel Curig, north Wales, while in Scotland trains stopped running on Tuesday evening.

The centre of the storm has now passed the UK, and is much weaker than it was on Tuesday night, BBC Weather said.

However, it will remain windy on Wednesday afternoon across Scotland and some of northern England, where a yellow weather warning for wind is in place until 15:00 GMT and gusts of up to 55-65mph are expected.

The weather for the rest of the week looks unremarkable, with some cloud and rain in some areas, but no clear sign of the next named storm - Kathleen - in the forecast.

It has been a particularly stormy autumn and winter, and Storm Jocelyn is the 10th named storm of the season.

The storms have mainly been driven by a powerful jet stream - fast-moving winds high in the atmosphere - crossing the Atlantic, although global phenomena such as the El Niño event also have an impact.

Elsewhere, a search involving coastguard crews, a helicopter and RNLI lifeboats, for a person reported to be in the sea at Porthcawl, south Wales, has resumed after it was suspended overnight.

Both Isha and Jocelyn have disrupted the journeys of many road, rail and air travellers.

ScotRail said a small number of services had resumed on Wednesday, having been suspended on Tuesday evening.

Phil Campbell, ScotRail's customer operations director, said the company was aware of some damage overnight.

Network Rail Scotland said on Wednesday that most routes have been inspected and re-opened, with most being opened in a controlled manner.

An exception is the Highland Mainline route between Pitlochry and Perth, where river levels are too high for inspection to be possible.

TransPennine Express, which runs services between northern England and Scotland, is advising customers not to travel until noon on Wednesday on its Preston to Glasgow and Preston to Edinburgh routes.

Avanti West Coast said its services to and from Scotland would be cancelled until at least midday on Wednesday.

The storm also caused "major disruption" on Northern Ireland's road network, an official said, and the main road to Belfast International Airport remained closed on Wednesday. The QE2 bridge at the Dartford Crossing on London's M25 also shut on Wednesday due to strong wind, but has since reopened.

Labour has called for a "flood resilience taskforce" to be established to strengthen long-term protections for future freak weather events.

In an urgent question in Parliament, shadow Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden said such a unit should be established "given the frequency of extreme weather events".

In response, Cabinet Office Minister Alex Burghart said the government has learned lessons from past storms, and taken greater efforts to prepare for future extreme weather events.

An image showing wind warnings in Scotland and northern England

In Northern Ireland, power has been restored to 50,000 homes, impacted by Storm Isha, leaving 3,000 customers without electricity, according to NIE Networks.

Elsewhere in the UK, Electricity North West said power has been restored to 96% of customers affected by Storm Isha.

In northern Scotland, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said that as of 08:00 on Wednesday supplies had been restored to 2,200 customers in the north of Scotland, with just under 2,400 properties currently without.

As of 12:45 on Wednesday there are also 25 flood warnings in place across Scotland as well as 19 in England.

In York, parts of the city have flooded with water levels on the River Ouse already very high, and set to rise further.

Meanwhile, a man who died after the car he was in hit a fallen tree in Scotland during Storm Isha on Sunday has been named as James "Jimmy" Johnstone, 84, from Grangemouth, Stirlingshire. His family described him as a "much loved and well respected family man".

Information boards at Glasgow Queen Street showing all trains cancelled
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Motorists are being urged to reconsider making journeys where the weather is expected to be the worst, including western and southern Scotland and north-west England.

"With so much heavy rainfall and debris on the roads, driving conditions will be very challenging," RAC spokeswoman Alice Simpson said.

"We also suggest drivers avoid parking underneath or near to trees," she added.

Waves crashing at New Brighton beach, Wirral
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Workers remove a tree that fell on an electricity substation on the Kinnaird estate in Larbert
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2024-01-24 14:00:41Z
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Britons face call-up to armed forces if UK goes to war with Russia, army chief says - The Independent

The head of the British Army has warned that his forces, including all reserves, would not be large enough to defend the country if there is a war with Russia and it was essential to plan for national mobilisation.

General Sir Patrick Sanders said lessons must be learned from the Ukraine war which showed the value of a citizen army. He pointed to the defence strategies being adopted by Baltic and Scandinavian states to involve the general population as a way forward.

The Chief of General Staff (CGS) is said to be opposed to conscription, but held that civilians need to be involved in defending the country at a time of conflict.

Speaking at a conference on armoured warfare in Twickenham, south-west London, Gen Sanders said: “We need an Army designed to expand rapidly to enable the first echelon, resource the second echelon, and train and equip the citizen army that must follow.

“Within the next 3 years, it must be credible to talk of a British Army of 120 000, folding in our Reserve and strategic reserve. But this is not enough.

“Our friends in Eastern and Northern Europe, who feel the proximity of the Russian threat more acutely, are already acting prudently, laying the foundations for national mobilisation.

“As the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee warned just last week, and as the Swedish government has done, preparing Sweden for entry to NATO, taking preparatory steps to enable placing our societies on a war footing when needed are now not merely desirable, but essential.”

General Sir Patrick Sanders will deliver his warning at the International Armoured Vehicles conference in Twickenham this moring (Andrew Matthews/PA)

(PA Archive)

The UK will not escape the consequences of all out war, Gen Sanders said, and must be prepared for what may lie ahead. He said: “We will not be immune and as the pre-war generation we must similarly prepare - and that is a whole-of-nation undertaking. Ukraine brutally illustrates that regular armies start wars; citizen armies win them.”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine he stressed was “not merely about the black soil of the Donbas, nor the re-establishment of a Russian empire, it’s about defeating our system and way of life politically, psychologically, and symbolically. How we respond as the pre-war generation will reverberate through history. Ukrainian bravery is buying time, for now.”

Gen Sanders, who is due to leave his post this year, has been critical of cuts to the military and its effects in the past. In 2022 he described downsizing of the Army “perverse”, especially so “as a land war rages in Europe and Putin’s territorial ambitions extend into the rest of the decade, and beyond Ukraine”.

Last summer, he compared Army vehicles like the Warrior armoured vehicle and the Challenger 2 tank to “rotary dial telephones in an iPhone age”. He said “our procurement record has been poor and our land industrial base has withered. Furthermore our Army Reserve is not as capable and credible as we need it to be”.

General Lord Dannatt, a former general staff of the British Army, hit out at the shrinking size of the army. He said it has fallen from 102,000 in 2006 to 74,000 today “and falling fast”

(Getty Images)

Speaking at the conference Gen Sanders said “over the last 30 years, the Army has been halved in size; in the last 12 years, we’ve absorbed a 28% reduction”. And this was while there is “a fragile world order that our enemies wish to dismantle. I use that term with care, noting that the definition encompasses those who actively oppose or are hostile to our interests”.

While recruitment has been a problem through public services “applications to join the Army are the highest in 6 years. Our nation’s youth are as ready to serve, to seek adventure, to find where they belong, and to better themselves as they ever were. I see the very best of them every day, selflessly committed to service in the armed forces. Generation Z serves with distinction today but they, like their peers of any generation”,.

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the head of the military, has pointed out that the Army will be recapitalised next decade with a £44 billion programme. Gen Sanders pointed out “ that money is just 18% committed. During an electoral cycle, uncommitted money is vulnerable.

The National Audit Office’s report into the MoD’s Equipment Plan reported that the Army was £12 billion short of the funding required to meet the full demands of the Integrated Review Refresh. It noted, nevertheless and unlike other services, that by taking considered risks against capability, the Army’s plan is affordable.”

Foreign secretary David Cameron meets British troops, part of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission, during a visit to Pristina, Kosovo

Gen Sanders comments come just days after Nato military commander Admiral Rob Bauer said that the military alliance needed to prepare for conflict with Vladimir Putin’s forces in the next 20 years.

He said that a large amount of civilians will have to be called out if conflict accelerates in Europe and that governments needed to consider “mobilisation, reservists or conscription”.

Adml Bauer said: “The discussion is much wider... people that have to understand they play a role... The realisation that not everything is plannable and not everything is going to be hunky dory in the next 20 years.”

Gen Sanders intervention comes as the army has faced growing recruitment challenges, but remained focused on bolstering hiring and improving retention – and last summer laid out pay increases for personnel.

Last week General Lord Dannatt, a former general staff of the British Army, hit out at the shrinking size of the army. He said it had fallen from 102,000 personnel in 2006 to 74,000 today and was “falling fast”.

Writing in The Times, he drew parallels with the 1930s when the “woeful” state of the UK’s armed forces failed to deter Hitler. “There is a serious danger of history repeating itself,” he said.

Pointing to rising geopolitical uncertainty, he said: “If our armed forces are not strong enough to deter future aggression from Moscow or Beijing it will not be a small war to contend with but a major one.”

Under government proposals, the size of the regular army will be cut from a commitment of 82,000 troops to 73,000 by 2025.

But analysis by the The Times suggested numbers could drop below that as soon as next year and continue on a steep downward trajectory.

If the army continues to shed troops at the current rate, the number of regular soldiers will fall below 70,000 by 2026, according to the figures compiled by the newspaper.

Additional reporting by PA

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2024-01-24 13:43:44Z
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Storm Jocelyn: 97mph gusts recorded as heavy winds hit UK - BBC

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By Simon King, BBC Weather & Oliver Slow
BBC

Storm Jocelyn has been moving across the UK - days after Storm Isha hit and left at least two people dead.

Tuesday was marked by heavy rain in parts, with strong gusts across much of the country on Wednesday morning.

The strongest gust so far, 97mph, was recorded in Capel Curig, north Wales, while in Scotland trains stopped running on Tuesday evening.

Thousands of homes remain without power in parts of the UK, while transport is still disrupted in some areas.

It has been a particularly stormy autumn and winter, and Storm Jocelyn is the 10th named storm of the season.

The storms have mainly been driven by a powerful jet stream - fast-moving winds high in the atmosphere - crossing the Atlantic, although global phenomena such as the El Niño event also have an impact.

While Jocelyn will continue to move away from the UK during Wednesday, strong to gale-force winds will still affect many northern areas, especially through the morning - winds will only gradually ease off through the day.

The Met Office has issued warnings for wind covering much of the country until Wednesday afternoon. These are:

  • A yellow warning for wind across the whole of Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern Wales and north-west England until 13:00 on Wednesday
  • A yellow warning for wind for south Wales, the Midlands and north-east England from 12:00 on Tuesday until 15:00 on Wednesday

The strongest winds were expected in exposed parts of northern and western Scotland, and the area was covered by a Met Office amber wind warning until 08:00 on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, a search involving coastguard crews, a helicopter and RNLI lifeboats, for a person reported to be in the sea at Porthcawl, south Wales, was suspended early on Wednesday.

The coastguard said the incident would be reviewed again later.

Both Isha and Jocelyn have disrupted the journeys of many road, rail and air travellers.

Suspended ScotRail trains will not restart until later on Wednesday morning, or into the afternoon, the operator said.

Phil Campbell, ScotRail's customer operations director, said the company was aware of some damage overnight and that the picture would become clearer as inspections were carried out in daylight.

The train company said each route would need to undergo a safety inspection before trains are able to run due to the risk of trees and other debris falling onto the track.

TransPennine Express, which runs services between northern England and Scotland, is advising customers not to travel until noon on Wednesday on its Preston to Glasgow and Preston to Edinburgh routes.

Avanti West Coast said its services to and from Scotland would be cancelled until at least midday on Wednesday.

The storm also caused "major disruption" on Northern Ireland's road network, an official said, and the main road to Belfast International Airport remained closed on Wednesday. The QE2 bridge at the Dartford Crossing on London's M25 also shut on Wednesday due to strong winds.

Map of Scotland with north-western fringe highlighted in orange, representing amber warning from 18:00 GMT Tues - 08:00 Wed, wind gusts 55-65mph and risks of wind up to 80 mph

In Northern Ireland, power has been restored to 50,000 homes, impacted by Storm Isha, leaving 3,000 customers without electricity, according to NIE Networks.

Elsewhere in the UK, Electricity North West said power has been restored to 96% of customers affected by Storm Isha.

In northern Scotland, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said that as of 08:00 on Wednesday supplies had been restored to 2,200 customers in the north of Scotland, with just under 2,400 properties currently without.

As of 09:45 on Wednesday there are also 27 flood warnings in place across Scotland as well as 19 in England.

In York, parts of the city have flooded with water levels on the River Ouse already very high, and set to rise further.

Meanwhile, a man who died after the car he was in hit a fallen tree in Scotland during Storm Isha on Sunday has been named as James "Jimmy" Johnstone, 84, from Grangemouth, Stirlingshire. His family described him as a "much loved and well respected family man".

Flooding in York
PA Media

Motorists are being urged to reconsider making journeys where the weather is expected to be the worst, including western and southern Scotland and north-west England.

"With so much heavy rainfall and debris on the roads, driving conditions will be very challenging," RAC spokeswoman Alice Simpson said.

"We also suggest drivers avoid parking underneath or near to trees," she added.

Workers remove a tree that fell on an electricity substation on the Kinnaird estate in Larbert
PA Media
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How is the weather affecting you? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:

If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission.

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2024-01-24 10:27:02Z
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British Army chief's call to 'mobilise the nation' in the event of war 'should be listened to', Tobias Ellwood says - Sky News

A warning from the head of the British Army that the UK would not be prepared in the event of a war should be "listened to carefully", a former defence minister has said.

Tobias Ellwood told Sky News there was a "1939 feel to the world" and that Britain was not equipped to deal with "what is coming over the horizon".

He was responding to a report in The Daily Telegraph, which said that later on Wednesday, General Sir Patrick Saunders was due to give a speech warning the British public would have to be called up to fight if the UK goes to war because the military is too small.

Politics Live: Tory infighting breaks out after PM faces call to quit

Mr Ellwood, who has served alongside General Sir Patrick, said he was "one of the most cerebral thinkers that we've got" and a "strategist".

"We need to listen and listen carefully, we've been too complacent," Mr Ellwood said.

"What's coming over the horizon should shock us. It should worry us and we are not prepared."

The MP for Bournemouth East said that following decades of post-Cold War peace there was a growing sense authoritarian states could "exploit our timidity, perhaps our reluctance to really put fires out" - pointing to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"So Patrick Saunders is saying prepare for what's coming over the horizon - there is a 1939 feel to the world right now," he said. "These authoritarian states are rearming.

"There's a risk averseness about the West in wanting to deal with that and our global institutions such as the United Nations aren't able to hold these errant nations to account."

According to The Daily Telegraph, General Sir Patrick would not support conscription but wants the government to "mobilise the nation" in the event of war with Russia.

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British Army numbers to be '73,000'

Read More:
Minister rejects claims army will shrink after danger warning
Critical' for NATO allies to grow defence budgets

He has previously been outspoken about the need to rebuild the UK's warfighting capability in the wake of Vladimir Putin's attack on Ukraine, saying Britain's combat power has been hollowed out by consecutive governments since the end of the Cold War.

The Ministry of Defence declined to comment, but earlier this week, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps denied the size of the army was "shrinking" and said under the Conservatives, it would not dip below the current level of around 73,000.

However, Mr Ellwood said he agreed with General Sir Patrick that the army is "overstretched", in part because of issues to do with pay and accommodation.

He said the army, as well as the navy, is about "half the size of what it should be" while the RAF is lacking the equipment it needs.

"In the Cold War, we had 36 fast jet squadrons, we're down to about six today. And that's just an illustration of just how small our armed forces are," he said.

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Will defence spending hit 2.5%?

The senior MP said the defence budget needed to be upped from its current level of 2% of GDP to at least 3%.

The government's target is 2.5%, but Mr Shapps told Sky News on Sunday that "we're not there yet".

Mr Ellwood said that during the Cold War, defence spending "was about 4%".

He added: "Our world is no longer at peace. We're moving to a world at war. Britain absolutely has a role to play, but we need to upgrade our defence posture."

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2024-01-24 09:22:35Z
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‘This is getting silly’: senior Tories criticise Simon Clarke after he calls for Sunak’s resignation – UK politics live - The Guardian

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Last night Simon Clarke posted messages on X responding to the criticism he was getting from colleagues over his Telegraph article. He said “emphatically” that his call for Rishi Sunak to go was not motivated by a desire to secure the party leadership for himself, or for someone else.

I know I will be attacked for saying this.

Perhaps even accused of positioning myself or on behalf of another — emphatically neither of which I am doing.

I am speaking out because the stakes for our country and my party are too high to stay silent

Every Conservative MP will need to live with the decision they make in the coming days for the rest of their lives.

Failing to act would itself represent a decision.

Look at the polls.

Personal insults don’t change the facts.

I have no further comment to make.

No 10 has not responded to the Simon Clarke article, but Kevin Hollinrake, the postal services minister, and someone who has had a friendly relationship with Rishi Sunak for years, was doing the broadcast round this morning and he said Conservative MPs overwhelmingly disagreed with what Clarke said. He told Times Radio:

I don’t think [Clarke’s] right. I think the parliamentary party and the wider party is overwhelmingly in support of the prime minister. Quite rightly too. I don’t agree, I don’t think Simon’s right on this …

Of course, some people panic at a difficult time, but this is not the overwhelming view of the party.

Kevin Hollinrake.

As Eleni Courea reports, in private Conservatives have been even more critical of Simon Clarke than the former ministers who have been criticising him on X. She says:

Speaking privately, other Tory MPs were even more forthright. “Not sure we should be taking top tips on leadership from Liz Truss’s right hand,” one minister told the Guardian.

“What the bloody hell is Simon Clarke doing?” said a Tory MP who backed Truss in the 2022 leadership contest.

Another Tory MP said: “Simon Clarke hasn’t helped himself, the party, his country or any of his colleagues tonight – only [Keir] Starmer. He needs to go home, have a lie down in a dark room and repeatedly say ‘I must take the fight to Labour’ until it finally sinks in.”

A senior Tory official said of Clarke: “If he wants to help Sir Keir become the next PM he should just cross the floor.”

Good morning. Until last night, the only Conservative MP publicly calling for Rishi Sunak to resign was Dame Andrea Jenkyns, a Boris Johnson acolyte who spent three and a half months as a junior minister. Even lobby correspondents would draw the line at calling her a “senior Tory” and no one paid much attention. But last night Sir Simon Clarke, who has served in cabinet under two prime ministers and who is not widely viewed as a crank, joined in, publishing an article in the Daily Telegraph saying the Tories should ditch Sunak before the general election.

Potentially, this takes the Conservative leadership crisis into new territory. Clarke is close to Liz Truss, the former PM, who is about to launch a new group called Popular Conservatism (sic), or PopCon. It does not seem committed to supporting Sunak’s leadership. Perhaps more importantly, Clarke seems to have the backing of an even more important player in Tory politics: the Daily Telegraph.

But … the early indications are that this could fail just as dismally as the Geoff Hoon/Patricia Hewitt “coup” against Gordon Brown in 2010. Clarke does not seem to have any Conservative MPs clambering out of the trenches behind him, and some proper senior Tories have lined up to attack him.

Priti Patel, the former home secretary, has accused him of “facile and divisive self-indulgence”.

At this critical time for our country, with challenges at home and abroad, our party must focus on the people we serve and deliver for the country. Engaging in facile and divisive self indulgence only serves our opponents, it’s time to unite and get on with the job.

Liam Fox, the former international trade secretary, says Clarke’s initiative makes a big defeat more likely.

This is not the time for self indulgence and tribalism in the party. Those who have an agenda to destabilise the government in an election year should understand the consequences. Having been on the front bench for all 13 years in opposition, it is a miserable place. Be warned.

David Davis, the former Brexit secretary, says Clarke is just being silly.

This is getting silly.

The Party and the country are sick and tired of MPs putting their own leadership ambitions ahead of the UK’s best interests.

It is really about time that these people realise they have a duty to the country that is greater than their personal leadership ambitions.

And Ben Wallace, the former defence secretary, said:

My colleague Sir Simon Clarke MP is wrong. The way to win the next election is to tackle inflation and grow the economy.

Rishi is doing just that. Division and another PM would lead to the certain loss of power. We need to focus on delivering for the public not divisive rowing.

And the opposition parties can’t believe their luck. This is from Pat McFadden, Labour’s national campaign coordinator.

Labour will focus on serving the British people whilst the Tories form another circular firing squad.

There are many good reasons for getting rid of this clapped out Conservative government and liberating the British people from endless bouts of Tory infighting is certainly one of them.

Here is the agenda for the day.

Noon: Rishi Sunak faces Keir Starmer at PMQs.

After 12.45pm: MPs debate all stages of the Northern Ireland (executive formation) bill, which gives more time for a power-sharing executive to be formed before elections have to be held because it has not happened.

Afternoon: MPs hold a general debate “on the situation in the Red Sea”.

If you want to contact me, do try the “send us a message” feature. You’ll see it just below the byline – on the left of the screen, if you are reading on a laptop or a desktop. This is for people who want to message me directly. I find it very useful when people message to point out errors (even typos – no mistake is too small to correct). Often I find your questions very interesting, too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either in the comments below the line; privately (if you leave an email address and that seems more appropriate); or in the main blog, if I think it is a topic of wide interest.

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2024-01-24 09:17:00Z
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UK weather: Storm Jocelyn arrives in UK with 97mph gusts - BBC

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By Simon King, BBC Weather & Oliver Slow
BBC

Storm Jocelyn has been moving across the UK - days after Storm Isha hit and left at least two people dead.

Tuesday was marked by heavy rain in parts, with strong gusts across much of the country on Wednesday morning.

The strongest gust so far, 97mph, was recorded in Capel Curig, north Wales, while in Scotland trains stopped running at 19:00 GMT on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, thousands of homes have been affected by power cuts, and parts of York have been flooded.

Also on Tuesday evening, eight flights were cancelled at Dublin Airport and four were also cancelled at Glasgow Airport.

Tuesday night saw gusts of 60-80mph in north Wales, northern England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, which may have led to some trees, branches or debris falling on roads, said BBC Weather.

While Storm Jocelyn will continue to move away from the UK during Wednesday, strong to gale force winds will still affect many northern areas, especially through the morning - winds will only gradually ease off through the day.

The Met Office has issued warnings for wind covering much of the country until Wednesday afternoon.

The strongest winds were expected in exposed parts of northern and western Scotland, and the area was covered by a Met Office amber wind warning until 08:00 on Wednesday.

The Met Office has issued the following weather warnings:

  • An amber warning for wind for the fringes of western and northern Scotland in place until 08:00 on Wednesday
  • A yellow warning for wind across the whole of Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern Wales and north-west England until 13:00 on Wednesday
  • A yellow warning for wind for south Wales, the Midlands and north-east England from 12:00 on Tuesday until 15:00 on Wednesday

Storm Jocelyn has arrived shortly after Storm Isha left two people dead and one seriously injured on Monday.

Elsewhere, a search involving coastguard crews, a helicopter and RNLI lifeboats, for a person reported to be in the sea at Porthcawl, south Wales, was suspended early on Wednesday.

The coastguard said a decision on further action would be made at first light.

Both Isha and Jocelyn have disrupted the journeys of many road, rail and air travellers.

Suspended ScotRail trains will not restart until later on Wednesday morning, or into the afternoon, the operator said.

Phil Campbell, ScotRail's customer operations director, said the company was aware of some damage overnight and that the picture would become clearer as inspections were carried out in daylight.

"When it's safe to do so routes will open and any remedial work that's required they will carry out this morning," he told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme, urging customers to check for updates before travelling.

The train company said each route would need to undergo a safety inspection before trains are able to run due to the risk of trees and other debris falling onto the track.

TransPennine Express, which runs services between northern England and Scotland, is advising customers not to travel until noon on Wednesday on its Preston to Glasgow and Preston to Edinburgh routes.

Avanti West Coast's last London to Glasgow service departed at 15:30 on Tuesday. The train company said its services to and from Scotland would be cancelled until at least midday on Wednesday.

Map of Scotland with north-western fringe highlighted in orange, representing amber warning from 18:00 GMT Tues - 08:00 Wed, wind gusts 55-65mph and risks of wind up to 80 mph

In Northern Ireland, power has been restored to 50,000 homes, impacted by Storm Isha, leaving 3,000 customers without electricity, according to NIE Networks.

Elsewhere in the UK, Electricity North West said power has been restored to 96% of customers affected by Storm Isha.

"Fallen trees, branches and debris have caused widespread damage and 185 separate sites of damage have been reported," the firm said.

"There is risk that some customers may be impacted until Wednesday as the weather has continued to be a challenge."

As of 07:00 on Wednesday there are also 38 flood warnings in place across Scotland as well as 21 in England.

In York, parts of the city have flooded with water levels on the River Ouse already very high, and set to rise further.

Flooding in York
PA Media

Motorists are being urged to reconsider making journeys where the weather is expected to be the worst, including western and southern Scotland and north-west England.

"With so much heavy rainfall and debris on the roads, driving conditions will be very challenging," RAC spokeswoman Alice Simpson said.

"We also suggest drivers avoid parking underneath or near to trees," she added.

Workers remove a tree that fell on an electricity substation on the Kinnaird estate in Larbert
PA Media
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2024-01-24 08:07:31Z
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Simon Clarke challenges Rishi Sunak’s authority as former minister calls for new leader - The Independent

A former Tory cabinet minister has launched a blistering attack on Rishi Sunak calling him to stand down as prime minister.

Sir Simon Clarke warned “extinction is a very real possibility” for his party if Mr Sunak remains the leader when voters next go to the polls.

Sir Simon, who was Liz Truss’s levelling up secretary, said: “Rishi Sunak has sadly gone from asset to anchor.”

He added: “It is time to strip away illusion, and stop tolerating any indulgence of it… [and] his uninspiring leadership is the main obstacle to our recovery.”

Sir Simon Clarke has called for a change in leadership (UK Parliament)

(PA Media)

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, the senior Tory said Mr Sunak was not solely to blame for the party flagging in the polls during an election year, but insisted “his uninspiring leadership is the main obstacle to our recovery”.

“The unvarnished truth is that Rishi Sunak is leading the Conservatives into an election where we will be massacred,” he wrote.

However, he came under fire from other senior Tories. In a withering assessment, one former cabinet minister: “Simon Clarke kicking off is not anything”.

However, the intervention does suggest no let up in the attacks Mr Sunak will face from within his own party in the run up to the election.

Sir Simon was among 11 Conservative MPs who voted against the prime minister’s Rwanda Bill at its third reading earlier this month, despite Mr Sunak seeing off a wider Tory rebellion.

The legislation survived the Commons hurdle after dozens of backbenchers demanding amendments to toughen the draft law largely backed down.

Following the news former Brexit secretary Sir David Davis told Sky News: “This is getting silly.

“The party and the country are sick and tired of MPs putting their own leadership ambitions ahead of the UK’s best interests.

“It is really about time that these people realise they have a duty to the country that is greater than their personal leadership ambitions.”

Tory grandee David Davis reminded colleagues that their “duty to the country is greater than their personal leadership ambitions”

Senior Tory and former Secretary of State, Liam Fox, also warned colleagues: “This is not the time for self indulgence and tribalism in the party.

Those who have an agenda to destabilise the government in an election year should understand the consequences. Having been on the front bench for all 13 years in opposition, it is a miserable place. Be warned.

Former home secretary Dame Priti Patel added: “At this critical time for our country, with challenges at home and abroad, our party must focus on the people we serve and deliver for the country. Engaging in facile and divisive self-indulgence only serves our opponents, it’s time to unite and get on with the job.”

This morning, Conservative backbencher Tobias Ellwood MP called Mr Clarke’s comments “dangerous, wreckless and selfless” and said “more and more colleagues are openly distancing themselves from Simon Clarke”.

Labour’s national campaign coordinator has said the Tories are forming “another circular firing sqad”.

Pat McFadden MP, Labour’s national campaign coordinator, responding to Sir Simon Clarke calling on Rishi Sunak to resign, said:

“Labour will focus on serving the British people whilst the Tories form another circular firing squad.

“There are many good reasons for getting rid of this clapped out Conservative government and liberating the British people from endless bouts of Tory infighting is certainly one of them.

“Whilst the Conservatives fight among themselves, Labour will fight for a better future for the country, where economic growth is felt in every part of Britain, where we generate the wealth we need for the NHS, good schools and safety on our streets and where we renew the country after 14 years of Tory failure.”

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper MP said: “It is utterly ludicrous that the Conservative Party is even discussing installing a fourth Prime Minister without giving voters a say.

“The Conservatives are once again fighting like rats in a sack while families face soaring bills and an NHS crisis.

“People are sick and tired of this never-ending Conservative Party soap opera. It’s time for Rishi Sunak to give voters the chance to put an end to this farce and call a general election.”

Downing Street has been contacted for comment.

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2024-01-24 09:15:28Z
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