Raised Terror Threat Prompts Government Talks

Caution No Excuse For Chaotic Response To IS

Updated: 6:52pm UK, Friday 29 August 2014

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

This is a Corporal Jones moment: "Don't Panic!"

But it is one that, so far, has revealed that the British approach to the rapid emergence of Islamic State from almost nil to "a deeper and greater threat than we have ever seen before" has been as chaotic as the Dad's Army character.

David Cameron has now elevated IS above al Qaeda in terms of the danger it poses to the safety of British citizens.

And the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre has raised the immediate threat level for the UK from substantial to severe – which means it's likely.

The Prime Minister will announce new measures to restrict the ability of would-be terrorists to leave the UK to get training and to return to commit atrocities.

For now, though, he has continued to rule out the use of force to battle IS in its home territory.

Instead the UK will continue to offer logistical and intelligence support to the US which has been conducting very limited air strikes against the 'Caliphate'.

If, as the PM suggested, this is to be a conflict that could last years or decades, then there is clearly no rush.

But caution can no longer be an excuse for chaos in the response.

The world isn't the way that anyone would wish it. Not now and not for the foreseeable future.

The next generation of Britons will be facing a Malthusian struggle over resources with a hungry China, a Russia brimming with ambitious consumers, Africa's exploding population, India's intellectual empire, and global warming.

The mess that is the Middle East may have its roots in the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I and sectarian rivalry – but it will be further fuelled by the competition that is going to drive conflicts for years to come.

These may involve a long-term campaign against political Islamist terror.

But that won't be the only problem the UK and her allies will face.

For proof one only has to look at eastern Ukraine.

Nato's leaders are going to meet in Wales next week to thrash out priorities and strategy for the next few years.

Cameron's recent short speech and his appearance on Monday in the Commons, is a clear sign that he's steeling himself to grasp a handful of nettles.

He's bracing the British for a long haul conflict with the IS. He's fortifying the debate over what it is to be British by insisting that adopting "British values" are not an option or a choice but "a duty".

He will soon have to help drag more money for Nato out of its members.

And he'll be ordering his security services to come up with tactics and long-term strategies to deal with the uncomfortable realities of the modern world that politicians have been refusing to confront.

These are that it's going to get more dangerous, more expensive, harder work and just tougher all around. Few politicians will want to sell that less than 12 months from an election.

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Lib Dems Promise Six Weeks' Paternity Leave

The Liberal Democrats will promise fathers an extra four weeks' paternity leave under new manifesto plans due to be announced.

The policy would extend the total parental leave to 58 weeks by extending fathers' current entitlement of two weeks to six.

Under the plans, the law would be amended to provide parental rights to cover six weeks reserved for working fathers and six weeks for working mothers.

The remaining time would be available to share between partners.

For same-sex couples, each partner would be entitled to six weeks' reserved leave, with the rest available to share.

The policy goes further than the Coalition's introduction of shared parental leave from next April.

Business and Equalities Minister Jo Swinson said shared paternal leave plays an essential part in building a stronger economy and a fairer society.

"It allows couples to choose how to split time off work to look after their new baby," she said.

"Extending paternity leave is an important next step to encouraging new dads to spend more time with their child in those vital early weeks and months after birth.

"When parents share caring responsibilities, more equality in the workplace will follow.

"It is a nonsense to think it is only the mother's job to look after children. Parenting is a shared responsibility."

A Lib Dem spokeswoman said the policy would also encourage fathers to spend more time with their children.

"It's very important to us. We have done lots in government so far to make sure fathers get more rights," she said.

"This is just the extra step in encouraging them to spend more time with their children."

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Eurosceptics Pressure PM After UKIP Defection

Douglas Carswell is due to return to his Clacton constituency alongside UKIP leader Nigel Farage, as pressure mounted on the Prime Minister from Eurosceptic backbenchers.

Speaking in the wake of an announcement that took Tory leader David Cameron by surprise, Mr Farage told Sky News other MPs were "considering their options".

Reports suggest no further imminent Conservative defections to UKIP following Mr Carswell's departure and resignation from the House of Commons - prompting a by-election.

But while Eurosceptic Tory backbencher Bernard Jenkin has distanced himself from Mr Carswell, whose constituency his borders, he issued a warning to Mr Cameron.

Mr Cameron labelled Mr Carswell's decision 'self-defeating'

"I think the Prime Minister has got to spell out in far more detail what he means when he says we want to be an independent nation state,"  the Harwich and North Essex MP told the Daily Telegraph.

"We're going to have to change our relationship fundamentally with the EU, it's not about ameliorating the existing treaties."

Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg also ruled out defecting to UKIP, but suggested his party should reach an agreement whereby the two parties put up candidates on a joint ticket.

Mr Farage previously insisted Mr Carswell, 43, was not the only sitting MP who backed his policies.

He told Sky News: "I've spoken to people in the Conservative Party and the Labour Party who do not want Britain to be borderless, who think this is doing great damage to the working opportunities of people in Britain.

"I don't think Douglas Carswell is going to be considered an isolated eccentric - there are other MPs out there considering their options."

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Hospital Food Shake-Up Announced By NHS Chiefs

By Siobhan Robbins, Sky News Reporter

The days of lumpy mash and watery gravy should become a thing of the past for hospital patients and staff as new mandatory food standards are introduced.

The rules will be legally binding and are aimed at putting an end to unhealthy and inedible meals on the NHS.

Under the changes, all patients will be checked for malnutrition, given an individual food plan and get help eating and drinking.

Canteen food must also be healthy, meet guidelines on salt, sugar and fat and be sustainably sourced.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said most people enjoyed the meals they currently received.

But he added: "Patients say the quality of food at their hospital is one of the most important things in their stay, on top of which we know that if you give people healthy, nutritious food it means they recover more quickly, they stay in hospital for a shorter amount of time and it costs the NHS less, so there are lots of reasons why this is very important."

The plans come from a report by the Hospital Food Standards Panel, which also recommended hospitals develop food and drink policies that encourage healthy eating, high-quality food production, sustainability and excellent nutritional care.

The changes will be included in NHS contracts

Hospitals will also be scored on the standard of their food, with results to be posted online.

It is a move being welcomed by 22-year-old Craig Benwell, who said the meals he received during a recent stay in hospital were often inedible or served in tiny portions.

The hospital says thin, plain food was appropriate for his condition because he was being treated for Crohn's Disease.

But Mr Benwell told Sky News: "I can understand why I was on the special diet because I can only eat certain foods.

"But the amount of food that was coming out and the look of it just wasn't very appetising at all.

"The main problem was portion size ... I had to really gain weight and the portions they were giving me just really weren't enough."

The new changes will be included in NHS contracts but will not be written into law, leading to criticism from campaigners that they could be easily ignored.

Alex Jackson, coordinator of the Campaign for Better Hospital Food, added: "We're also alarmed that the Government's food standards are weak and only reflect basic catering and care standards, which are already commonly implemented in the NHS, including that 'tap water is available' to patients.

"Good things in themselves, but nowhere near ambitious enough to have a transformative effect on patient meals."

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Rotherham Victim 'Verbally Abused By Police'

A victim of the Rotherham child sex abuse scandal has told Sky News she was verbally abused when she sought help from police.

She said the violence she suffered was ignored by authorities because her attacker was Asian and they were worried about causing racial unrest in the South Yorkshire town.

The woman gave a disturbing account of how she was treated by some police officers - claiming they called her a string of derogatory names.

One even said her attacker had every right to abuse her, she said.

Her grooming began when she turned 14 and was introduced to the man through friends in Rotherham.

She said he treated her well to start with and she fell in love with him, but after a few months he became violent.

"The more time we spent together the more he started to change," she said. "He became controlling, violent ... a relationship that was domestic violence."

She said she felt so scared at times she thought about killing herself.

"I had a fear of heights and he did a lot of things to try to scare me through that," she said.

The victim claims her abuse was ignored by Rotherham officers

"He once drove us to the edge of a cliff and said he was going to kill us both. He then dragged me out of the car and said he was going to throw me off."

She added: "He once tried to throw me over a balcony, luckily two people kind of stopped him from doing that.

"I had a child with me at the time, that were only a few months, in a pushchair, and he even kicked the pushchair over."

She said during her two years of abuse, the attacks went from once a week to two or three times a week.

His brothers were grooming other young girls, she said, but unlike many child victims in Rotherham she was sexually exploited by one man.

She was 16 when she went to police, but said her complaint was ignored.

Her abuser was even granted immunity from prosecution, she claimed.

"I explained to him (the police officer) what relationship we had and he said: 'Well, what do you expect? I think he's got every right to.'

"My Dad went absolutely mental and told him to get out of the house. The police officer then apologised, and we put a formal complaint into the police about him.

Rotherham Council leader Roger Stone stood down in the wake of the report

"But just his manner of how he dealt with it - he didn't seem to care about it, he was so unprofessional."

When asked why her abuse was ignored by social workers, police and council bosses, she said: "I think it was because of the fact he was Asian.

"I don't think they wanted to start communities colliding together, and starting confrontation between communities."

She said Rotherham Council chiefs should face action for ignoring the plight of the 1,400 child victims targeted in the town.

"The people that were involved back then ... I think they need hanging," she said.

"I don't know what legal stuff can be done, but I think they all need to be in a courtroom and tell people exactly what they knew.

"I think it should be some kind of criminal offence that 1,400 girls have been allowed to be abused by professionals."

South Yorkshire Police say they have no knowledge of allegations concerning derogatory remarks made against the victim.

A spokesman said the suggestion a deal was struck with her abuser has been fully investigated and no evidence was found to support the claim.

"This case forms a part of Operation Clover looking into a series of child sexual exploitation investigations in Rotherham," he added.

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Parents 'Cut Back On Food To Pay For Homes'

By Rachel Younger, Sky News Correspondent

Three million working parents in England are being forced to cut back on food so they can afford to pay for their homes.

A YouGov poll of working families has found that rising housing costs mean more and more of our wages are needed to keep a roof over our heads.

The problem has got so bad that more than one in 10 parents - over 750,000 people - admit to skipping meals rather than risk losing their home.

Recent figures from the government's English Housing Survey show households are spending 28% of their weekly income on housing costs alone - and that rises to 40% for private renters.

With rent or the mortgage swallowing so much of the monthly budget, many ordinary families are finding that regardless of how hard they work, any sudden drop in income from an unexpected job loss or illness can quickly put their homes at serious risk.

The poll found parents are facing tough choices. Some 13% say they have put off buying their children new shoes, with one in 10 delaying buying new school uniforms over the past year.

Now charities like Shelter are calling on the Government to provide a safety net strong enough to catch families who fall on hard times.

"This is a really terrible situation for many, many parents across the country," said the CEO of Shelter, Campbell Robb.

"What we're seeing is that people are just struggling to keep up their costs. Housing has gone up ... but other costs have gone up too.

"Generally speaking it's not about people being in places they can't afford. It's the places they're in becoming unaffordable."

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Tax Fugitives Brought To Justice By HMRC

Five of the UK's top tax fugitives have been brought back to the UK to face justice following a global HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) initiative, the organisation has said.

HMRC said it is "excellent news for all honest taxpayers" and released images of a further five people it wants to track down.

These are: Ahmed Salim Khezri, Norbert Dombo, Mohammed Kasim Farook (aka Mohammed Kasim), Paul Edwards and Murugasan Natarajan (aka Murucasan Natarajan and Raj Natarajan).

The five fugitives HMRC wants to apprehend

Those who have been apprehended in the last year are:

:: John Sabin, who fled to Spain after being convicted for his role in smuggling more than 150 million illicit cigarettes into the UK

:: Malcolm McGowan, who also fled to Spain before he could be sentenced for smuggling more than 28 million cigarettes

:: Magdalena Ferkova, returned from the Czech Republic after being found guilty of tax credit and child benefit fraud

:: Michael Voudouri, who fled to northern Cyprus prior to sentencing after being found guilty of an £11.6m money laundering scam

:: Michael Fearon, who fled to the Republic of Ireland while on trial for his part in smuggling more than 8 million cigarettes

Malcolm McGowan, one of those who has been caught in the last year

Jennie Granger, HMRC's Director General of Enforcement and Compliance, said: "This is down to the determination of our people with the help and support of the general public.

"We would like to thank the public for that help, and ask them to look at the 2014 list and help us to bring back the rest.

"These fugitives were involved in frauds that have collectively cost the UK more than  £844 million but the success of our campaign means those on the run should know that HMRC will relentlessly pursue them."

HMRC said it had also received "important information" on the location of five other people on its "most wanted" list.

It is two years since HMRC first published images of its top tax fraud absconders, and since then the pictures have been viewed three million times, leading to the capture of some of the fugitives.

There is also a map showing where HMRC believes the remaining people on the list to be.

HMRC says that, where legally possible, it will seek extraditions with the help of the Crown Prosecution Service and other partners in the UK and abroad to ensure they are brought back to the UK. 

:: Anyone with information should contact the Tax Evasion Hotline on 0800 788 887 or email via the HMRC website. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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Schools Divert Cash To Cover £1bn Funding Gap

A £1bn shortfall in funding for places is forcing many schools to borrow money as well as cut back on repairs and building projects, according to a new poll.

More than three quarters of authorities in England claim they have not received enough cash from the Government to create the extra school places needed by 2017.

The research by the Local Government Association (LGA) is released as concern grows about a squeeze on school places fuelled in part by a rising birth rate and changes in local populations.

Councillor David Simmonds, chairman of the LGA's children and young people's board, said: "The scale of this black hole is such that the cost of the creation of new school places cannot be met by council taxpayers.

"The lack of school places is no longer confined to primary schools but is spreading to secondary schools, and across the country we estimate more than 200,000 places will be needed.

"Councils face a challenge to create places on time and in the right areas, in a climate where they are also short of money to do so."

Local councils were asked by the LGA if money provided by the Department for Education (DfE) had fully met the cost of providing school places between 2011/12 and 2016/17.

Of those that responded - around 79 councils - a total of 77% said the funding had not been enough.

More than a third (38%) of the councils who said they did not receive enough funding said they had borrowed money, two thirds (67%) used money from developers, over a fifth (22%) took funds from other building programmes and half (50%) used cash from other school projects, such as school building maintenance, the LGA said.

The LGA claims 130,000 new places will be needed by 2017/18, along with 80,716 new secondary places by 2019/2020.

A DfE spokeswoman said: "We are making every effort to stop an unprecedented increase in pupil numbers affecting class sizes, and councils have a legal duty to provide school places for children in their area.

"We have also confirmed a further £2.35bn to support councils to create the places needed by September 2017.

"In addition we are allowing good schools to expand without the restrictions and bureaucracy they faced in the past.

"And there are now more than 320 free schools open or in the pipeline which will provide a further 175,000 places - the vast majority of which are in areas of need."

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UK Ebola Case: Family Praise 'Excellent Care'

The family of a British nurse airlifted from Africa to London to be treated for ebola has thanked the medical team looking after him.

Volunteer nurse William Pooley is in the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead after contracting the virus in Sierra Leone.

He is the first confirmed British ebola case. There is no cure and outbreaks have a fatality rate as high as 90%.

A statement from his family said: "We would like to express our thanks to all involved in bringing our son back to the UK.

Mr Pooley is brought to the Royal Free with a police escort

"We have been astounded by the speed and way which the various international and UK government agencies have worked together to get Will home.

"Will is receiving excellent care at the Royal Free Hospital and we could not ask for him to be in a better place.

"We ... ask everyone to remember those in other parts of the world suffering with ebola who do not have access to the same healthcare facilities as Will."

Mr Pooley, 29, was flown back to the UK on Sunday night for emergency treatment.

The victim is being treated at the Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead, London

Days before he contracted the disease, he spoke about the joy of seeing ebola victims make a full recovery.

He told The Guardian: "It's great seeing them walk away after some of them have been in a terrible state. Seeing them on the wards and then seeing them recover and walk out the door is great."

Mr Pooley is being treated in Hampstead because it has the only isolation ward in the country.

His bed will be surrounded by a tent with its own controlled ventilation system and the only people allowed inside are specially-trained medical staff.

Liberia has been receiving shipments of USAid as it struggles to cope

A Liberian doctor who was one of three Africans to receive the experimental Ebola drug ZMapp is among the latest to have died, the country's information minister said on Monday.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday that protective equipment had been sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where two cases of ebola have been confirmed.

Japan said it had developed an anti-influenza drug which may be able to treat the virus.

It is not known if favipiravir, which trades under the name Avigan, can treat the disease, but it was designed to treat new and re-emerging influenza viruses, which have similarities to ebola.

Residents have been quarantined in several parts of Liberia

Mr Pooley was working at a hospice in Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, but moved to a government hospital in Kenema when he found out workers at the hospital had died.

In an interview with a blogger for freetownfashpack.com published earlier this month, he is reported to have said: "It's the easiest situation in the world to make a difference."

His friend Dr Oliver Johnson, who has been working in Freetown, said Mr Pooley was an "extraordinary guy" who knew the risks involved but was prepared to take them in order to help.

The Department of Health said he was not "seriously unwell", and health chiefs have insisted that the risk to the public from ebola is "very low".

There have so far been 2,615 confirmed cases and 1,427 deaths in the outbreak in Africa.

Ebola is contracted through contact with an infected person's bodily fluids and there is currently no cure or vaccine.

Symptoms of the virus appear as a sudden onset of fever, headache, sore throat, intense weakness and muscle pain.

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Two Officers Assaulted At Notting Hill Carnival

One police officer was hurt while trying to make an arrest at the Notting Hill Carnival - and a second was injured while going to his aid.

A male PC, 33, was taken to hospital after being attacked while trying to arrest a suspected drug dealer during the event in West London.

He was found in Lancaster Road at the junction with St Luke's Road at around 3.15pm on Sunday with injuries to the head and torso.

The officer has since been discharged from hospital.

Colleagues also came under attack when they came to help him, and a 35-year-old female officer suffered injuries to her torso. She was taken to hospital but also released on Sunday.

Meanwhile to Metropolitan police activated special stop and search powers across the Carnival between 7pm on Monday and 2am on Tuesday following a spate of violent incidents.

It was decided to impose Section 60 and Section 60AA orders in the area.

Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 allows senior police officers to authorise constables to stop and search people in a specific area, either where a serious public order problem is likely to arise or has taken place, or for offensive weapons or dangerous instruments.

Officers can conduct searches under the powers whether or not they suspect the subject to have been involved in wrongdoing.

Section 60AA gives police powers to order the removal of disguises where section 60 has been invoked.

The decision was taken "in response to incidents of violence, and intelligence received, which have taken place within a short period of time in the last few hours".

Six men have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a man suffered "a serious stab wound".

In another incident shortly before 4pm on Monday several men were injured - one 29-year-old man sustained a serious stab wound and is in a stable condition.

Eight others also received knife wounds.

Eight people were arrested in connection with the disorder.

By 9pm on Monday there had been 123 arrests over the course of the day taking the total for the two-day event to 227.

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Richard Attenborough: Director Dies Aged 90

Tributes have poured in for Oscar-winning director Richard Attenborough, who dominated the British film business for more than half a century.

Lord Attenborough, who won two Academy Awards for directing and producing Gandhi in 1983, died at lunchtime on Sunday.

BAFTA described its former president as a "titan of British cinema" who set an example of "industry, skill and compassion" that business would do well to live up to.

2005: Lord Attenborough with his wife Sheila whom he married when he was 21

He was President of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and championed the British film business for more than 60 years as an actor, director and prolific movie-maker.

Gandhi was the highlight of his career, clinching eight Oscars, including best film. He also directed Young Winston, A Bridge Too Far and Cry Freedom.

As an actor he won acclaim for starring roles in films such as Brighton Rock and 10 Rillington Place, 

Lord 'Dickie' Attenborough was born in Cambridgeshire in 1923 and educated at Wyggeston Grammar School and Emmanuel College Cambridge.

Richard Attenborough was a 'titan' of cinema for decades, says BAFTA

He was the older brother of naturalist Sir David Attenborough.

He married the actress Sheila Sim when he was 21. His son Michael was born in 1949, followed by two daughters, Jane and Charlotte.

Tragedy struck on Boxing Day 2004 when his elder daughter Jane Holland, and her daughter, Lucy, and her mother-in-law, also Jane, died in the south-Asian tsunami.

Director Steven Spielberg said: "Dickie Attenborough was passionate about everything in his life -  family, friends, country and career. 

With his brother, naturalist David

"He made a gift to the world with his emotional epic Ghandi and he was the perfect ringmaster to bring the dinosaurs back to life as John Hammond in Jurassic Park.

"He was a dear friend and I am standing in an endless line of those who completely adored him."

David Cameron said: "His acting in Brighton Rock was brilliant, his directing of Gandhi was stunning - Richard Attenborough was one of the greats of cinema."

Baroness Royal of Blaisdon, Labour's leader in the House of Lords, said she was "proud" that the actor was a Labour peer.

"Very sad to learn of death of Richard Attenborough, a fine man in every way. Proud that he was a Labour peer," she said.

Former Cabinet minister Peter Hain also paid tribute to the "brilliant actor and film director" who he also hailed as an "anti-Apartheid, Labour and Chelsea Football Club stalwart".

In a statement on their website, Chelsea said: "Chelsea Football Club is tonight deeply saddened to learn of the passing of our Life President Lord Attenborough.

"His personality was woven into the tapestry of the club over seven decades. He will be greatly missed."

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First Briton With Ebola Virus Begins Treatment

A Briton who contracted the deadly ebola virus in Sierra Leone is being treated at a specialist hospital after being evacuated to the UK.

The volunteer nurse, who is understood to be called William, tested positive after treating patients suffering from the disease at Kenema Government Hospital (KGH) in the south-east of the country.

It is the first confirmed case of a Briton contracting ebola during the outbreak. There is no cure and outbreaks have a fatality rate as high as 90%.

The man, who is understood to be in his late 20s or early 30s, was transported to the UK on specially-equipped C17 Royal Air Force jet, which landed at RAF Northolt in west London on Sunday evening.

He was then taken to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, north London, which has the UK's only high level isolation unit.

The nurse is taken off the plane and into a waiting ambulance

His bed will be surrounded by a specially-designed tent with its own controlled ventilation system.

The only people allowed inside are specially-trained medical staff.

Dr Robert Garry, from Tulane University in New Orleans, has worked at KGH for around a decade on a virus research project.

He said he was told by a university colleague that the test results for William were received on Saturday.

"They worked as hard as they could, as fast as humanly possible to make these arrangements," he said.

William was treating ebola patients in Sierra Leone

"Of course they were wanting to make sure that he got the best care possible.

"It was kind of a remarkable turnaround, barely over 24 hours (later) he was heading towards that plane."

William was working at a hospice in the capital, Freetown, but moved to Kenema when he found out other workers at the hospital had died from ebola.

In an interview with a blogger for freetownfashpack.com published earlier this month, he is reported to have said: "It's the easiest situation in the world to make a difference.

"I'm not particularly experienced or skilled, but I can do the job and I am actually helping."

The C17 plane lands at RAF Northolt on Sunday evening

Dr Garry praised William's decision to help. He said: "It's a very honourable thing. He saw the need.

"He read about our nurses who were unfortunately dying there and took it on himself to come over and volunteer and learned how to be as safe as he could.

"But when you work hard like that, when you put in so many hours, you're going to make a mistake and unfortunately that seems to have happened in this case.

"I just hope the best for him, that he can get the best treatment he can get."

The Royal Free Hospital in north London

The Department of Health said he was not "seriously unwell", while health chiefs have insisted that the risk to the public from ebola is "very low".

There have so far been 2,615 confirmed cases and 1,427 deaths in the outbreak in Africa.

Ebola is contracted through contact with an infected person's bodily fluids and there is currently no cure or vaccine.

Symptoms of the virus appear as a sudden onset of fever, headache, sore throat, intense weakness and muscle pain.

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Bank Holiday Weather Alert Over Rain And Wind

A weather alert has been issued as heavy rain and wind threaten travel problems for millions of Britons returning home from a weekend break.

The Met Office has issued a sweeping yellow weather alert for Bank Holiday Monday, predicting significant surface water on roads and gusts of up to 40mph. 

Meanwhile, overnight temperatures will plummet to freezing point in some areas, with the first frost of the summer arriving in the north this morning.

Tomorrow's weather warning relates to parts of Wales, as well as London, the South East, East and South West of England, although most of the UK will see some rain.

Winds of up to 40mph are expected in some areas

Temperatures will struggle to get above 17C (62.6F) - well below average for August.

Scotland, where it is not a bank holiday, will enjoy the best of the weather tomorrow.

The Met Office said: "Heavy rain is expected to affect many southern areas of Britain at times during Bank Holiday Monday, with strong winds a possible additional factor close to southern coasts.

"The public should be aware that there may be some impacts to holiday traffic and other outdoor activities.

The first frost of the summer is expected to arrive in the north on Sunday

"A complex area of low pressure looks like bringing an unpleasant day's weather to much of the south on Monday.

"Rainfall amounts look like exceeding 20mm quite widely, while a few places might see around 40mm, so there will be a lot of surface water and spray on roads.

"The spray will probably be made worse by strong winds across some southern areas; gusts to around 40mph may occur at some coastal locations although this will depend on the exact track of the low pressure."

More than five million people in the UK are planning an overnight holiday trip this weekend, VisitEngland said.

Around one million people are expected to be drawn to Notting Hill Carnival, one of Europe's biggest street carnival events, today and tomorrow.

Despite a cold start, Sunday's weather will be largely fine across the UK with spells of sunshine and highs of 18C (64.4F).

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British Ebola Patient 'May Be Flown To UK'

A British ebola patient may be flown from Sierra Leone to the UK for treatment, it has been reported.

Government sources say the patient could be flown back to RAF Northolt near Heathrow before being taken to the Royal Free Hospital, in north London.

The hospital is the only hospital in Britain equipped to treat an ebola patient and contain the virus, it has been reported.

The Royal Free Hospital is the only British hospital ready to treat ebola

A source told the Sunday Telegraph that no final decision had been taken on whether to fly the patient home.

But a medical assessment would take place on Sunday to see whether a flight home would be suitable.

It is the first confirmed case of a British person catching the tropical infection, which kills up to 90% of people who contract it.

Earlier this month British Airways suspended flights to Sierra Leone, along with Liberia, for weeks over fears about the outbreak.

The Foreign Office has advised Britons to "carefully assess" whether they really need to travel to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

Since the current outbreak began earlier this year, there have been 2,615 confirmed cases and 1,427 deaths.

Medical charity Medicine Sans Frontieres has warned infections are spreading faster than authorities could handle.

The charity added that it could take six months to bring the crisis under control.

Ebola is spread by contact with an infected person's bodily fluids, such as sweat and blood, and no cure or vaccine is currently available.

Professor John Watson, Britain's deputy chief medical officer for England, insisted the risk to the public remained "very low".

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