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People in Scotland are bracing for more snow and ice-related disruption, while those in the south of England have been told homes and businesses could be flooded in the coming days.
The warnings come after dozens of schools in northern England and North Wales were closed and travel was disrupted on Thursday.
While amber weather warnings for Wales and the Pennines have passed, yellow warnings for snow and ice are in place for much of Scotland for Friday and Saturday.
Get the forecast where you are
The Met Office has said roads and railways are likely to be affected, and there is also a chance people will experience power cuts and disruption to mobile phone services.
Ferry operator Calmac, which operates services between the Scottish mainland and isles, has announced cancellations and delays due to adverse weather.
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Schools closed as snow hit the UK on Thursday
Two flood warnings have also been issued for Scotland – covering north and south Luce Bay in Dumfries and Galloway – while 81 flood warnings are in place in England, mostly in the South and the Midlands.
A total of 294 less severe flood alerts are in force in England while 19 are active in Wales.
Dozens of schools in northern England and North Wales closed due to snow on Thursday.
The Met Office measured 10cm of snow in Kirkwall, Orkney, while 9cm was recorded in Bingley, West Yorkshire.
In Harbertonford, south Devon, a total of 43.2mm of rainfall was measured – almost half the average for the area in February.
Trains between Bath and Swindon were also disrupted due to flooding.
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Temperatures across the UK have been fluctuating with a low of -13.8C (7.2F) being recorded in the Scottish Highlands in the early hours of Thursday, while a high of 13.6C (56.5) was recorded in Exeter later on the same day.
Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said: “We’ve still got rain and many have snow making its way northwards, we have got further weather warnings in force.
“Temperatures are recovering a little, across the far South it’s generally mild.
“We’ve got a second band of cloud and rain moving northwards, it makes for challenging driving conditions.
“We’ve had the worst of it but it’s still not completely clear. Where we have falling snow we see there is a risk of a few icy patches on roads.”
He added that as the focus “is probably starting to shift more towards ice, people should still be cautious”.
A man has been arrested after the letters “IRA” were graffitied onto a building where the Remembrance Day bombing took place in Northern Ireland.
Police received a report that the graffiti had appeared on a wall of the Clinton Centre, which was built on the site of the republican bomb attack in the town of Enniskillen, on Sunday.
A man in his 50s has been arrested on suspicion of four counts of criminal damage and other related offences.
Eleven people who had gathered for a Remembrance Day ceremony were killed in the IRA blast on Belmore Street in 1987 and dozens were injured.
A 12th victim died 13 years later, having never woken from a coma.
A Police Service of Northern Ireland spokesman from the Enniskillen Neighbourhood Team said the incident was being treated as a hate crime.
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“We are also investigating a potential link between this incident and similar incidents of criminal damage which occurred in the town recently,” he said.
“A man in his 50s was arrested on Friday December 1 on suspicion of four counts of criminal damage and other related offences.
“He is currently assisting police with their inquiries.”
“Jaden” was stabbed a couple of weeks ago while walking the streets of Croydon, south London.
Luckily for him, it wasn’t serious. But a week later, he was arrested for carrying a knife of his own.
When we meet him, he tells us he is appearing before the magistrates in the morning.
The thing is, Jaden – which is not his real name – is only 13 years-old.
He seems a quiet boy, dressed in black tracksuit bottoms and wearing a dark coat with the hood pulled up over his head.
A bag is slung over one shoulder and he is constantly looking down at his phone.
We ask about the stabbing. What happened?
He pauses for a moment, then says: “Wrong place, wrong time.”
Welcome to Croydon, one of the most dangerous boroughs in the capital for a child to grow up in. Where “wrong place, wrong time” can be a lethal combination.
It is where local services have been decimated. The local council has declared that it is effectively bankrupt.
And it is where children carry knifes.
There is another huge issue affecting Jaden’s life. He has not been to school at all this year, and that is putting him in huge danger, says James Watkins, a community worker.
“I think a lot of the older gang members target young people who have stopped going to school because they see them as vulnerable,” he explains.
“Sometimes young people just need to feel like they belong and because they’ve been kicked out of school they feel almost cast out of society and they can become easy targets.”
Nearly half of all children in Croydon who are excluded from school are black. And official figures show that excluded children rarely return to mainstream school. They are cast out to the fringes of an already overstretched education system.
Like most excluded kids, Jaden ended up in a pupil referral unit (PRU) – a segregated school for youngsters for whom no mainstream school can be found. He has been excluded from two PRUs.
This group of children run the risk of disappearing from the system altogether, and are often called “ghost children”.
But demand for PRU is high and places are often hard to come by, according to Nicola Peters, from the Project for Youth Empowerment.
“The situation is just getting worse by the day and I don’t see it getting any better. Demand is skyrocketing and the numbers of children being excluded keeps going up and up.
“There are pupil referral units popping up all over the place and we cannot accommodate all of the children who are being excluded.
“The education system for these kids is collapsing. For a lot of them, school is old and out of date and no longer supports their needs.”
Read more:
Thousands are missing school
The ‘ghost children’ crisis explained
Absence in schools is now at crisis point
The number of children regularly absent from school is double what it was before the pandemic.
Reports of an increase in anxiety among youngsters is also putting pressure on schools.
But there is also some evidence to suggest that there has been a “seismic” shift in parental attitudes towards school attendance.
A report, compiled by the public policy research agency Public First, draws on focus group conversations with parents from different backgrounds across the country, which shed some light on why children are not always in lessons.
A mother of two primary school children from Manchester told the report’s authors: “Pre-COVID, I was very much about getting the kids into school, you know, attendance was a big thing. Education was a major thing.
“After COVID, I’m not gonna lie to you, my take on attendance and absence now is like I don’t really care anymore. Life’s too short.”
But the bigger picture shows a lack of progress by government to tackle the problem.
A recent report by the Education Select Committee, made up of cross-party MPs, was critical of the government’s response to this crisis – saying there had been “no significant improvement in the speed” of reducing the absence numbers to pre-pandemic levels.
Andy Cook, chief executive of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a centre-right think tank, says the crisis could have far reaching consequences for society.
“You go into any prison and you talk to the people there, 90% of them say they missed a lot of school on a regular basis. So we need to take this seriously.”
The CSJ says up to 9,000 more young offenders, including 2,000 violent criminals, could be on Britain’s streets by 2027 because of a rise in school absence, according to calculations based on official studies.
“We are storing up ourselves a load of problems,” Mr Cook warned.
“This issue is the whole ball game. It’s the ticking time bomb that’s already gone off. It is the most urgent thing facing us.”
Storm Babet is continuing to batter the UK – with another red “danger to life” warning in place for parts of eastern Scotland and four severe flood warnings across England and Wales.
England, Wales and Northern Ireland have had warnings in place since Babet first hit on Wednesday, but eastern Scotland has suffered the worst of the storm which has left three people dead.
Train operators around the UK have advised customers not to travel due to widespread disruption following the storm.
Meanwhile, thousands remain without power as the adverse conditions continue.
A rare red weather warning is in place for parts of eastern Scotland for a third day on Saturday, with the country’s First Minister Humza Yousaf to warn: “We have not seen the last of this.”
Mr Yousaf has also posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, to urge people to heed the red weather warning and evacuate if instructed.
It comes as an amber warning for rain, meaning “extensive flooding to homes and businesses is possible”, is in place for parts of northeast Scotland covering Aberdeen and Cromarty.
The red warning is in place until 6pm.
Read more: Full list of warnings – follow live storm updates
Meanwhile, the Environment Agency has issued three severe “risk to life” flood warnings around the River Derwent in Derbyshire.
They are the highest level of warning and are in place at Derby City Water Treatment Works, Little Chester, Eastgate and Cattle Market, as well as Racecourse Park at Chaddesden.
There were 282 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and 220 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, across England as of 12 noon on Saturday.
The fourth severe flood warning has been issued for the River Severn at the village of Llandrinio, nearly Welshpool, in northern wales.
It also covers isolated properties in the Severn-Vyrnwy confluence area including Hendre Lane, Haughton and Haimwood.
Wales had eight further flood warnings in place as well as 14 flood alerts as of 12 noon on Saturday.
In the northeast of England a yellow weather warning for wind, meaning there was a small chance of fast-flowing or deep floodwater, was in place until midday.
Train operators urge people not to travel
It comes as London North Eastern Railway (LNER), Avanti West Coast and Northern Rail have all warned against travelling as lines are widely flooded.
LNER has said there is “an extremely limited service” in place due to flooding between Doncaster and Wakefield.
The service has also been impacted by speed restrictions in Scotland and trains and crews being out of position after extensive disruption on Friday.
There are no LNER services north of Edinburgh on Saturday and rail replacement services are not available because of road closures.
The train operator said remaining services may be subject to short-notice cancellations.
Northern Rail said all lines between Cheadle Hulme and Wilmslow are blocked due to damage to the overhead electric wires.
Services are also not able to run from Sheffield to Nottingham or Lincoln due to flooding.
Trains are also unable to travel between Leeds and Doncaster, Harrogate and Bradford.
The line between Newcastle and Morpeth is also closed due to viaduct damage, Northern Rail added.
Avanti West Coast has said its services are also severely disrupted and it has asked customers to not travel between Crewe and North Wales and that people should only travel between Preston and Glasgow or Edinburgh if absolutely necessary.
Thousands still without power
The Energy Networks Association said around 100,000 customers had been affected by power cuts due to Storm Babet but as of Saturday morning 96% had been reconnected, leaving 4,000 still without power.
Around 55,000 people were left without power on Friday as a result of the storm.
Some 45,000 people were reconnected to the grid as of the evening, the Energy Networks Association said.
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River turns into raging torrent as Storm Babet hits.
Babet leaves three people dead
A man in his 60s died after getting caught in fast-flowing flood water in the town of Cleobury Mortimer in Shropshire on Friday.
Police Scotland previously said a falling tree hit a van near Forfar in Angus on Thursday evening, killing the 56-year-old driver.
A 57-year-old woman also died on Thursday after being swept into a river in Angus.
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Residents in tears as severe floods hit Brechin
The council in Angus said it was in uncharted territory dealing with “extreme and really challenging conditions” on Friday – with people rescued from 60 homes in and around Brechin.
The village of Edzell was completely cut off with no emergency access except via helicopter, the council said.
Meanwhile, a major search was under way following reports of a man trapped in a vehicle in floodwater in Aberdeenshire.
Police Scotland said the alarm was raised at 3am on Friday near the village of Marykirk.
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Plane skids off runway at Leeds Bradford Airport
It comes as the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) warned a second major river could breach in the country on Saturday.
Aberdeenshire Council has said the latest SEPA modelling indicates a considerable risk of flooding on the River Don at Inverurie, Kemnay and Kintore between 10am and 2pm.
Hundreds of homes in Scotland have already been flooded after the River South Esk breached its banks
Leeds Bradford Airport has said it is “working hard to reopen” at 2pm today and has urged people not to travel to the terminal before that point. The airport closed on Friday after high winds forced a passenger plane to skid off a runway.
Tui customers who were due to travel from Leeds Bradford on Saturday are being directed to Manchester Airport, the airline has said.
The heatwave will reach a dramatic climax on Sunday – with a yellow warning for thunderstorms in place across large parts of the UK.
Temperatures are set to head above 30C (86F) once again in parts of southern England – with much cooler conditions expected as a new week begins.
But further north, the Met Office is warning that thunderstorms could bring disruption, and a risk of sudden flooding in some areas.
Find out the weather forecast where you are
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UK heatwave soon to end?
A yellow warning is in force from 2pm to 11.59pm – covering much of northern England and Northern Ireland, alongside parts of Scotland and Wales.
“Unlucky locations” could see up to 70mm of intense rainfall in the space of a few hours – with “additional hazards” of frequent lightning and large hail.
Saturday was provisionally the hottest day of the year so far – with highs of 33.2C (92F) recorded at London’s Kew Bridge.
And Sunday is set to prolong the record for the longest consecutive stretch of September days above 30C, with temperatures above this threshold for the seventh day in a row.
Britons are being urged to make the most of the warmer weather, as conditions are set to become more typical for this time of year.
Read more:
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Showers and longer spells of rain will begin to sweep in on Monday – and it’s shaping up to be rather unsettled in the South on Tuesday.
Sky’s weather producer Chris England said: “It will be cooler and fresher for many, still quite muggy in the South East, although not as hot as recently.”
Very strong winds and heavy rain are expected across the UK, as Storm Betty’s arrival causes multiple weather warnings for the start of the weekend.
The storm – which arrived in the UK on Friday – is the second named storm this month, following Storm Antoni.
The warnings follow a wet and windy night, particularly around the Irish Sea, with overnight gusts of 66 miles per hour (mph) recorded in Capel Curig, Gwynedd, in Wales.
A warning for strong winds remains in force until around noon on Saturday for western parts of England and Wales as well as the eastern area of Northern Ireland.
The Met Office says there is a risk of injuries and danger to life from large waves and beach material being thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties.
Gusts of wind may also cause damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs.
There is also potential for power cuts and mobile phone coverage could be affected.
Those making journeys are being advised to take care, with spray and flooding on roads adding to travel time, while those on public transport could be hit by cancellations and delays.
Flooding of homes and businesses could also be possible in some areas.
A weather warning for rain is also in place for Central Scotland, Tayside and Fife, Grampian, southwest Scotland, Lothian Borders and Strathclyde.
The highest rainfall totals are expected over east-facing high ground in the Angus Hills and the Grampian Mountains where between 40-60mm could accumulate.
Strong and gusty southeasterly winds will accompany the rain, with gusts perhaps as high as 40mph around some exposed coasts and hills in the east.
Read more:
UK weather: The latest Sky News forecast
Warnings are in force until midday on Saturday.
Betty is the second storm named in August.
She marks the second time since storm naming was introduced in 2015 that two storms have been named in August, following Ellen and Francis in August 2020.
National exemptions are in place to provide critical care during strike action by nurses, a union leader has insisted, telling Sky News staff would never leave patients unsafe or create more risk.
Royal College of Nursing (RCN) general secretary Pat Cullen was speaking to Sophy Ridge On Sunday ahead of a 28-hour walkout by members over pay.
The government has warned strike action without mitigations “clearly does put patients at risk”.
The industrial action will run from 8pm on Sunday until 11.59pm on Monday night after voting to reject the latest government offer.
Politics latest: Union leader says nurses are pushed to the brink
The union initially said it would not agree to derogations – broad areas of care where staffing is guaranteed despite industrial action – fuelling concerns about patients being put at risk.
It led Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) among other organisations to declare a “business continuity incident” until it was confident it could staff its services over the strike.
The RCN subsequently offered assurances after the hospital raised “serious concerns”.
But Ms Cullen told Ridge wider, national exemptions were in place.
According to the RCN website, limited safety critical mitigations would include allowing some staff “to preserve life-and-limb” care in emergency departments and intensive care units.
Ms Cullen said: “Our nurses, as I’ve said time and time again, will never leave their patients unsafe or create more risk that’s already in the system at this point in time.”
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Ms Cullen added: “There are national exemptions in place for a range of services, for emergency departments, for intensive care units, for neonatal units, paediatric intensive care units, those really acute services.
“In fact, it was the Royal College of Nursing contacted NHS England to ask for a process to be put in place so that we could make sure that the strike was safe for our patients.”
‘Lives are being put at risk every single day’
Defending the latest walkout she added: “They’re going on strike because patients’ lives are being put at risk every single day, and why? Because we have tens of thousands of vacant nursing posts.”
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NHS executive: ‘Strikes are disruptive’
Health workers across the NHS have gone on strike several times in past months in disputes over pay and conditions.
Unions including Unison and the GMB have voted in favour of a government pay offer to end the strikes, while Unite and the RCN have voted against.
Nurses make up a quarter of NHS staff and are the biggest proportion of the health service workforce.
NHS England warned staffing levels for some areas of the country will be “exceptionally low, lower than on previous strike days”.
Pay offer ‘fair and reasonable’
Warning of the danger of strike action without exemptions for emergency care, cabinet minister Mark Harper told Ridge: “It clearly does put patients at risk, which is why we urge the unions not to go ahead and do the strike.”
Appealing to the RCN, the transport secretary added: “I would urge them to think again and to do what the other trade unions in the health service have done, which is to accept what I think is fair and reasonable pay offer, reflecting the value that we do place on hardworking NHS staff.”
‘I don’t want to see strikes go ahead’
Speaking on the same programme, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer refused to say whether he supported nurses going on strike without exemptions.
He said: “I don’t want to see strikes go ahead.
“The way to avoid strikes is to get in the room with the nurses and resolve these issues.”
A High Court judge ruled on Thursday it would be unlawful for the RCN strike to continue into Tuesday as originally planned, meaning it will now end just before midnight on Monday.
Olympic bosses have told Sky News they have received assurances that recommendations from a new report will be implemented at venues ahead of next year’s Paris Games.
The UEFA-commissioned review into the poor treatment of Liverpool fans outside the Champions League final in the French capital last May found the failings “almost led to a disaster” after faults by European football’s governing body and the lack of a venue risk assessment by French authorities.
In response, a spokesperson for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said: “We are in constant contact with the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games Paris 2024, as security for the Games is the responsibility of the host nation.
“French authorities have already conducted a review of events during the UEFA Champions League final, which was led by Michel Cadot, the French government’s inter-ministerial delegate for major sports events.
“We understand that the recent report from the UEFA-commissioned investigation incorporates findings from the review conducted by Mr Cadot, and that the recommendations of his review will already be applied across the stadiums at the upcoming Rugby World Cup in France this year.”
The independent report criticised French police for firing tear gas and pepper spray indiscriminately on concourses near turnstiles being used by Liverpool fans, leading to crushing around security barriers at the Stade de France before the game against Real Madrid.
Read more:
What actually happened at the Stade de France?
Videos from the incident showed Liverpool fans reacting in dismay, with some desperately trying to climb the railings.
UEFA bosses ordered the review to uncover what went wrong, even within their organisation, and its conclusions were discovered by Sky News before the report was then published in full on Monday evening.
There were significant issues accessing the venue and French authorities are criticised for deflecting responsibility, particularly after false claims about a mass of fans without tickets or fake ones.
Police were blamed for not being proactive enough in intervening when locals attacked fans, and for being over-reliant on the use of tear gas and pepper spray on blameless fans.
As an event owner, UEFA is assigned “primary responsibility”, but it’s understood some commission members disagreed with the conclusion.
The match was delayed for 37 minutes as a combination of operational problems outside the venue created access issues for distressed fans – particularly those who are disabled and asthmatics who had to contend with the tear gas and pepper spray.
The report also said the police and the French Football Federation (FFF) “bear responsibility” because of their roles ensuring public safety.
It was described as a near-miss event in the review, referencing an event that almost turns into a “mass fatality catastrophe”.
Rishi Sunak has refused to place his full confidence behind Nadhim Zahawi as the Tory party chairman faces an investigation into whether he breached the ministerial code over an HMRC tax settlement.
The prime minister, speaking from Chequers during an awayday with his cabinet, said he believes “in due process” when asked if he has confidence in Mr Zahawi.
He said that is why he appointed an independent adviser to investigate what happened with the Tory party chairman’s tax affairs.
The PM is under increasing pressure to sack his party chairman over the ordeal.
But he again insisted he will wait for the results of an investigation to decide Mr Zahawi’s fate, despite HMRC’s boss saying there are “no penalties for innocent errors”.
Mr Zahawi is being investigated over whether he breached the ministerial code with the estimated £4.8m HMRC settlement he made while he was chancellor, but it could extend to his previous tax arrangement and whether he lied to the media.
The PM added: “When I appointed Nadhim Zahawi to his current job, no issues were raised with me.
“But because Nadhim Zahawi himself put a statement into the public domain and there was other reporting, there are questions to answer.
“And that’s why I asked the independent adviser to conduct an investigation to fully establish the facts and provide advice to me about Nadhim Zahawi’s compliance with the ministerial code.
“I believe we should have integrity in politics, and we should do that in a professional way where we have an independent person look at all the facts and provide advice.
“That’s the long-established process that we have and that’s the process that I’m following.”
Read more: What did Nadhim Zahawi do?
Mr Zahawi has given HMRC approval to speak to the investigation, a source close to the Tory chairman said.
Earlier on Thursday, Jim Harra, head of HMRC, told MPs: “There are no penalties for innocent errors in your tax affairs.
“So if you take reasonable care, but nevertheless make a mistake, whilst you will be liable for the tax and for interest if it’s paid late, you would not be liable for a penalty.
“But if your error was as a result of carelessness, then legislation says that a penalty could apply in those circumstances.”
Reacting to Mr Harra’s comments, the PM said he did not want to “prejudge the outcome of the investigation” and will “await the findings”.
