Severe Weather Warnings As Cold Snap Strikes

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 27 Desember 2014 | 12.25

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Severe weather alerts have been issued across Britain with the Met Office warning of dangerous conditions caused by snowfall, heavy rain and extreme cold.

The Met Office says there is a 90% chance of severe cold, ice and snow in some areas of England between today and the New Year.

Yellow weather alerts are in place in the East Midlands, the West Midlands, London and the South East of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland's South West, Wales and across several other regions.

The cold weather alert issued by the Met Office warns conditions could "increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services".

The wild weather has already caused travel disruption on the roads and at UK airports.

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Gallery: Festive Feeling As Snow Falls Across The Midlands And Northwest England

Heavy snow at Liverpoolss John Lennon Airport Pic: @dazza1405

Maisy and Lulu Byrne, aged nine and seven, having fun in the snow in Gateacre, Liverpool

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Snow fell during the Premier League game between West Brom and Manchester City at the Hawthorns

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City's Argentine defender Martin Demichelis may not be used to the conditions, but his team won 3-1

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Motorists were forced to abandon their vehicles after becoming stuck in snow in Sheffield.

Traffic was backed up on the Prince of Wales Road in the early hours of the morning with some motorists reporting four-hour tailbacks.

Liverpool's John Lennon Airport and Leeds Bradford International Airport in Yorkshire were forced to close their runways while snow was cleared.

Four flights into Liverpool from Malta, Berlin and Bucharest had to be diverted to Manchester Airport on Boxing Day.

A fifth flight from the Isle of Man returned to the island's airport as the Merseyside hub was closed for more than an hour while its runway was cleared.

A spokesman for John Lennon Airport said the airport has re-opened, but warned there may be further disruption.

"We have had quite a deluge here," he said.

A notice on the Leeds Bradford International Airport website said: "As a result of adverse weather conditions, Leeds Bradford International Airport is presently closed.

"We recommend you contact your airline or tour operator and check the status of your flight before arriving at the airport."

East Midlands Airport is also advising passengers to contact their airlines after disruptions to services.

Christmas night was the coldest of the year so far, with -8.5C recorded at Braemar in Aberdeenshire.

Temperatures could also drop as low as -10C in some places at the start of next week.

Leek, near the Peak District in Staffordshire, has seen the worst of the snowfall with four inches falling, according to the Met Office.

Cranwell in Lincolnshire also saw almost three inches of snow.

Police warned of hazardous conditions last night, especially in Staffordshire and Cheshire, with several roads made impassable.

Staffordshire Police tweeted: "Reports of difficult road conditions across Staffordshire due to snow, Please only travel tonight if necessary."

Cheshire Police added: "Roads around Delamere/Frodsham looking quite treacherous due to weather, Please drive with care."

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "As winter weather grips some areas of the country we would advise people intending to travel to check weather and local conditions before they set out.

"The Highways Agency and local highway authorities across the country are working hard to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum."

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Written By Unknown on Jumat, 26 Desember 2014 | 12.25

Bargain hunters are expected to hit the High Street in their millions today to take advantage of the Boxing Day sales.

Retailers claim big discounts will be available for consumers prepared to brave the winter cold and join early morning queues to be first in line for the best deals when doors open at dawn.

Shoppers searching for discounts online are expected to spend £748m today, or £519,000 every minute, according to data firm Experian and online retailing trade association IMRG.

An estimated 142 million visits were made to retail websites on Christmas Day and an online survey found that more than a third of Britons buy Christmas presents in the post-Christmas sales.

Experian's Giles Longhurst, said: "This year has seen record breaking online shopping rates, particularly on Black Friday, which saw an astronomical £810m in estimated spend due to the massive resources put behind promotions by a wide range of retailers.

"Traditionally, the Boxing Day sales have been the busiest day for retailers in the UK, but this year we expect them to come second to Black Friday."

Myf Ryan, director of the Westfield shopping centres, said Boxing Day remained a "huge attraction" for shoppers.

"Last year we had queues out of the door on Boxing Day by 5am," he said.

"This year we expect an exceptionally busy day yet again, fuelled by excellent retail offers and special deals with over 50% off by many of our 600 retailers."

But retail staff will also spend much of their time sorting out disputes with consumers returning Christmas presents.

The new retail ombudsman, Dean Dunham, who takes up his new role on 2 January, said he expected thousands of complaints from shoppers who have been refused refunds.

He said: "If the goods are not faulty, the law places no obligations on the retailer so you have to examine their terms and conditions.

"If their terms say the retailer will not accept returns where packaging is damaged or missing, and most terms do, the retailer will be perfectly within their rights to enforce this."

12.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Britain Braced For Post-Christmas Cold Snap

Forecasters have issued a cold weather alert for parts of Britain as millions are expected to hit the roads to visit relatives or take advantage of the Boxing Day sales.

Snow is likely in some northern and central areas and regions that do experience snow could see in excess of 10cm on higher ground.

Rain and sleet are also expected to fall across parts of Northern Ireland, England and Wales before conditions settle through the weekend.

But temperatures are expected to dip below freezing across much of Britain next week.

The Met Office cold weather alert for parts of England warns there is an 80% probability of conditions that could "increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services".

A Met Office spokesperson said: "The public should be aware of the potential for disruption from snow. Please watch for updates to this warning, especially if travelling."

Met Office meteorologist Krista Mitchell said: "This year as a whole has been very mild, so this could be the coldest spell that we've had.

"As we go towards Monday and Tuesday, we will see overnight temperatures really drop, with widespread frost and most places dropping below freezing."

A spokesman for Transport Scotland said it was monitoring the conditions.

"As ever, the public have a vital role to play in terms of helping to minimise disruption," he said.

"We would advise people to prepare for some travel disruption as bridges could be affected by high winds and driving conditions could be challenging in some areas, so please allow extra time for your journeys.

"They should also check the relevant websites, such as Traffic Scotland, for up-to-date travel information before they set off."

12.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Christmas Lights Tribute To Glasgow Victims

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 25 Desember 2014 | 12.25

Christmas Lights Tribute To Glasgow Victims

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Thousands of people have turned off their Christmas lights as an act of remembrance for the victims of the Glasgow bin lorry crash.

Some 72,000 people signed up to a Facebook event page asking people to turn off their decorations for two minutes at 9pm on Christmas Eve.

The event was created for people to reflect on the tragedy, which saw six people killed and 10 others injured on Monday.

The tribute came after the Archbishop of Glasgow Philip Tartaglia led a memorial mass at St Andrew's Cathedral to remember the victims.

He told mourners he had spent time with those who lost loved ones in the crash, including a mother who saw her daughter and parents killed.

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Gallery: Victims Of Glasgow Bin Lorry Crash

Jacqueline Morton, 51, who had left work early to collect her granddaughters

Stephenie Tait, 29, was a teacher at St Philomena's Primary school

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Gillian Ewing, 52, was also killed in the accident

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Jack Sweeney, 68, from Dumbarton, was killed along with his wife and granddaughter

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Erin McQuade, 18, with her grandmother Lorraine Sweeney, aged 69

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Jacqueline McQuade was on a Christmas shopping trip when her 18-year-old daughter Erin McQuade and parents Jack and Lorraine Sweeney, all from Dumbarton, were fatally injured.

Primary school teacher Stephenie Tait, 29, and Jacqueline Morton, 51, both from Glasgow, and Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh, were also killed.

Another 10 people, including the driver, were injured.

Archbishop Tartaglia said: "On the evening of the tragedy, I was privileged to be permitted to spend some time with one of the families who had been cruelly devastated by the incident.

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Gallery: Tributes For Lorry Crash Victims

A service to remember the victims of the disaster will be held at Glasgow's St Andrew's Cathedral at 1pm

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"I was able to witness and share the grief and sadness of a mother and of a father for their daughter, and of two daughters for their mother and father.

"The distressed woman to whom I was speaking had seen her daughter and her own parents killed almost right in front of her. Can you imagine the horror?

"I tried to console them and comfort them. We spoke and we cried and we were silent before the abyss of their loss and the random meaninglessness of what had happened.

"They openly spoke of their faith, but their faith was sorely tried, and I commended them silently to God that the Lord would find the way to bring them comfort."

It is not yet clear what caused the driver, who has not been named, to lose control of the vehicle.

Witnesses reported seeing him slumped at the wheel as the lorry collided with pedestrians on Queen Street, before crashing into the side of the Millennium Hotel at George Square.

The driver and five other people remain in hospital, with one patient said to be in a critical condition.

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Written By Unknown on Rabu, 24 Desember 2014 | 12.25

Northern Ireland's political parties have reached agreement on a range of issues that had threatened the devolved government's future.

The "Stormont House Agreement", which has been forged after weeks of talks, has resolved wrangles over the budget and welfare reforms and established new structures to deal with the legacy of unsolved killings during the Troubles.

An Independent Commission on Information Retrieval will help the bereaved and injured obtain information about events during the conflict.

The First and Deputy First Ministers will also bring forward proposals to deal with parades after the General Election, while a commission will be set up to address the issue of flags.

The agreement paves the way for corporation tax powers to be devolved to Belfast as well, after Chancellor George Osborne said he would do so, provided there was progress at the talks.

Prime Minister David Cameron has also agreed to lend the devolved government £2bn to address a shortfall, after Stormont agreed to cushion welfare reform from its own budget.

Mr Cameron said: "I am delighted that a workable agreement has been reached that can allow Northern Ireland to enjoy a brighter, more prosperous future, while at the same time finally being able to deal with its past.

"This historic agreement has been long in the making and I would also like to pay tribute to all those involved - the Northern Ireland parties, the UK and Irish governments and Senator Hart - for getting us to this position.

"We will now all work collaboratively to see this through. The people of Northern Ireland deserve nothing less."

First Minister and DUP leader Peter Robinson said the deal acknowledged that further work was needed.

"Of course every one of us would have liked to have had a more comprehensive and complete agreement but this is as much and more than we have ever been able to do on these issues in the past," he said.

"So it is a very significant agreement."

Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said the "remarkable agreement" had the potential to give the Executive a "fresh start".

"And it is a fresh start we need to seize with both hands," he said, flanked by party leader Gerry Adams.

Irish foreign affairs minister Charlie Flanagan, who was involved in negotiations, said: "Today we are building on the hard-won peace on this island with a new agreement which aims to further reconciliation and foster economic growth."

12.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tycoon's Fall On To Railings 'Not Suspicious'

A bankrupt property tycoon whose body was found impaled on railings did not die in suspicious circumstances, a coroner has said.

Scot Young was discovered in what was described as a "grisly" and "brutal" scene following his death in Marylebone, central London, on December 8.

The 52-year-old had been jailed during a public divorce row over a multimillion-pound settlement because he would not reveal financial records.

After his fatal fall, friends of Mr Young came forward with concerns about a potential "ring of death" in his inner circle - saying four of his reported close friends had died in a similar way.

They pointed out Johnny Elichaoff, Boris Berezovsky, Robert Curtis and Paul Castle all appear to have killed themselves after suffering financial setbacks over the past four years.

But opening the inquest into Mr Young's death, Westminster assistant coroner Angela Hodes said there were no suspicious circumstances.

She said his body was identified by brother-in-law Guy van Ristell, with details supplied to the police by his daughter Sasha.

No members of Mr Young's family or friends were present at the hearing, which was adjourned until January 12.

Speaking after his death, his 30-year-old American model girlfriend, Noelle Reno one of the stars of the Ladies Of London reality TV show, said she was "distraught by the sudden loss of my best friend" and wanted to "grieve in peace".

Mr Young had been locked in a long-running legal battle with his ex-wife Michelle, 50, with whom he had two daughters.

12.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bin Lorry Crashes Into Shoppers: Six Dead

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 23 Desember 2014 | 12.26

Bin Lorry Crashes Into Shoppers: Six Dead

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A council refuse lorry has crashed into a crowd of Christmas shoppers in Glasgow city centre, killing six people and injuring eight.

The crowd were waiting to cross the road outside Queen Street station by the Millennium Hotel on George Square and some people are thought to have been thrown up to 15 metres from the site of impact.

Pictures published on social media showed people being treated along the length of the street - one police officer said the lorry had careered up to 300 metres along the road before slamming into the hotel.

Witnesses described seeing the driver of the lorry, who is among those being treated in hospital slumped over the wheel.

Reporting from the scene, Sky's Scotland correspondent James Matthews said: "It is an absolutely horrendous spectacle and one of extreme carnage in Glasgow today."

He asked witness Melanie Greig to tell him about the people on the pavement who had been hit, to which she responded: "I can't; honestly I just can't do that."

She continued: "When something is coming up behind them like that, how can they run out of the way? It's such a horrific thing. There was noise and bangs and screams.

"There was a baby in a buggy. There were actually two little kids. It was just horrific."

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Gallery: Pictures From The Crash Scene

Emergency services at the scene of the crash

The rubbish lorry crashed through shoppers in Glasgow before hitting the Millennium Hotel in St George Square. Pic: Radio Clyde

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Witnesses described the lorry mounting the pavement and driving for several hundred yards

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A member of the public is comforted by emergency services personnel at the scene

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Several people are also believed to have been injured in the crash. Pic: Stephen Gibson

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Witness Anjan Luthra, who works opposite the crash site, told Sky News: "There were two people getting mouth to mouth. There were some bodies that were just untouchable and people were covering them because they were in such a state."

Another witness told Sky News: "People were just in shock, just standing about screaming. A mother with her baby in the pram fainted. Apparently the lorry had just missed her and her child."

Police have declared the scene a major incident and confirmed there have been six fatalities, but they say they do not believe the incident is terrorism related.

A statement released by Police Scotland said: "About 2.30pm today, a Glasgow City Council bin lorry was travelling north on Queen Street when it appeared to strike pedestrians outside the Gallery of Modern Art.

"It continued to travel towards George Square, where it crashed at the Millennium Hotel on Queen Street."

All casualties, including the driver of the lorry, who is said to have been lucid following the crash, have been taken to the Southern General Hospital, Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the Western Infirmary.

Lauren Gilmore, a shopper in George Square, said: "Just over a year ago, we had another tragedy in Glasgow – it was the helicopter crash. And now this has happened again just before Christmas."

Witness Janey Godley tweeted: "Utter horrific carnage people on ground getting triage street poles smashed into pavement emergency services all over it."

In a statement, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said : "My thoughts are with everyone involved in this tragic incident, and especially with the friends and families of the six people who lost their lives in what is another sad day for Glasgow and Scotland.

She has requested that flags at Scottish government buildings be flown at half-mast.

Glasgow City Council has also ordered that the Christmas lights at George Square be switched off as a mark of respect.

:: For those people who are concerned, Police Scotland have set up an emergency hotline on: 01786 289 070.

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Written By Unknown on Senin, 22 Desember 2014 | 12.25

Billie Whitelaw, famous for roles in films such as The Omen, has died aged 82, her son has confirmed.

Matthew Muller told the Guardian his mother passed away peacefully at Denville Hall, a retirement home for actors in north London.

He said she had not been well for about a year, but had deteriorated rapidly over the last few months.

Billie Whitelaw famously played the demonic nannie in the film series The Omen and the mother of English gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray in the 1990 film The Krays.

She was also known for her collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, who once famously referred to her as "a perfect actress."

Her later film roles included a cameo in the 2007 police comedy Hot Fuzz.

Billie Whitelaw was awarded a CBE in 1991.

Paying tribute in the Guardian, Mr Muller said she was "an incredibly loving mother".

"I am going to miss her deeply," he said.

12.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

DNA Study To Put UK At 'Forefront Of Science'

By Emma Birchley, East of England Correspondent

The diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases and cancer could be transformed by an ambitious project that will see 100,000 complete sets of people's genes decoded.

Eleven Genomic Medicine Centres (GMCs) across England will begin work in February to collect and map the samples over a three-year period.

The initiative, known as the 100,000 Genomes Project, will help scientists and doctors understand more about specific conditions such as the rare genetic illness cystinosis, which left 24-year-old Christopher Melville needing a kidney transplant when he was just 10.

"I'm excited," he said. "Obviously the more knowledge we have, the more understanding we have of how to treat people. It leads to better development, better research and better treatment."

Samples will be taken from people like Christopher and also their parents, while cancer patients will provide both blood and tumour tissue as part of the research.

Professor Dion Morton, who will run the West Midlands GMC, based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, described the work as "transformational", adding that not long ago it took eight years to decode a single person's genome.

"It's going to change the way we practice medicine (and) it's going to give us opportunities to bring new medicines to our patients.

"Historically medicine's been delivered to groups of patients with similar conditions and now we can start subdividing those groups into the exact genetic code that is really causing that condition, so target the treatment of that code and hopefully make treatment safer, more effective."

NHS England's medical director, Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, said the project was an achievable ambition "which positions Britain to unlock long-standing mysteries of disease on behalf of mankind".

"Embracing genomics will position us at the forefront of science and make the NHS the most scientifically-advanced healthcare system in the world," he added.

A total of 75,000 people will take part in the project.

Christopher's mother, Julie Melville, is delighted the project is about to begin.

"It feels like finally somebody is sitting up and taking note that this rare disease exists," she said.

Her hope is that gene therapy could eventually mean a cure for cystinosis sufferers like her son - one of 150 people in the UK with the disease.

It is estimated new diagnostic tests and drugs could be available as a result of the work within 15 years.

12.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tsunami Survivor: 'I Felt Guilty I'd Lived'

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 21 Desember 2014 | 12.25

When Amanda Rabbow describes the hours she fought for her life in the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004, it is as if she is back in the wave again.

"I just got carried off in the water until I backed into a brick wall - and everything carried in the water piled up against me so I got crushed backwards against this wall - and it started stacking up and rising up above my head and started to push me under," she said.

"Then I remember taking my last breath before I went under - and I just remember thinking - I hope it's quick - because I couldn't breathe.'

Amanda was on holiday in the beach resort of Khao Lak in Southern Thailand with her boyfriend - they were in bed when the wave struck their beachside bungalow.

Miraculously, just as she thought she was going to die, she was pulled out of the water by a local Thai man, who she is convinced saved her life.

She was then washed into the water again and spent three hours battling struggling to survive.

"It took me in it like a washing machine, that's all I can describe it as, and I remember doing massive somersaults and then coming back up to the surface and taking a massive breath and then being taken under again - more somersaults, come up for air, more somersaults," she said.

Amanda was finally able to pull herself up into a tree. When the water receded she climbed down, surrounded by bodies - including the body of the man who saved her.

"I know that he didn't survive and I have a lot of questions in my head in life - if you do the right thing by someone - he should have survived because he saved my life without a doubt."

Amanda managed to find her boyfriend up on the hillside and they stayed in a temple with other survivors until rescue teams finally managed to clear the roads to Khao Lak.

She faced an horrific journey to Bangkok.

"People paid for us to get on this bus but I couldn't sit upright on a chair and so I had to be laid flat in the luggage hold of this bus - and I was sick for 14-and-a-half hours solidly, brown water and I don't know what was coming out of my body - I thought I was going to die."

At last she was back in London, but she faced months of healing both her physical and psychological scars.

"I felt like I should have died, so I felt guilty, felt guilty for surviving and someone else not having the chance to survive," she said.

"I couldn't ever sleep - I didn't want to do anything and ... I was scared to do anything."

As the weeks passed, Amanda became determined to return to Thailand:

'I wanted to go back to Khao Lak and thank the people and to see if I could find the family of the man who I still think saved my life.'

She and a group of friends raised more than £50,000, and went back to Khao Lak to help the rebuilding effort:

"There was just a massive community of people that were there - there were survivors that were in back braces still, so injured, but they had stayed on to help.

"We could see where to use our money - there were Thai man mixing cement by hand, so we said - 'Here's some money, let's buy a cement mixer'."

Amanda remembers Boxing Day 2004 as the day her life changed forever.

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Gallery: Archive CCTV Stills Of Tsunami

Aceh province in Indonesia was the hardest hit by the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004. CCTV stills from the capital Banda Aceh show how the tsunami destroyed everything in its path. Here, people walk away from the approaching water - unaware of what is to come

People still on the street see the debris that is being swept along in the water and begin to run

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Booze Bus Aims To Ease Pressure On A&E

By Rhiannon Mills, Sky News Correspondent

A mobile treatment centre costing nearly half a million pounds has been opened to keep drunk people out of A&E.

During one of the busiest weekends of the year as many celebrate Christmas parties, Sky News was invited to see the facility in Bristol which has been paid for by pubs and clubs through the National Licensed Trade Association.

The Alcohol Recovery Centre comes in a 65-foot-long truck trailer and is equipped with several beds, a waiting area and showers.

By 11pm on Saturday night the centre had already welcomed its first visitors, all of different ages and from a variety of backgrounds.

We saw patients being assessed by a paramedic to make sure they didn't have any other symptoms or injuries that needed treatment, before being left to rest and sober up.

Chris Hewett from South Western Ambulance Service told Sky News: "We're trying to achieve two things.

"The first thing is take the pressure off our colleagues in the hospitals, and the other thing is to try and keep the 999 ambulances free to go out and answer life-threatening emergencies."

It's hoped the centre will reduce the number of visits to hospital A&E departments, giving paramedics a dedicated space to help people who may be vulnerable because they've drunk too much.

A trial of the scheme, which ran in Bristol during December 2013, was praised for saving hundreds of hospital hours.

There are plans to open more centres like it across the UK in the next 18 months.

Andy Bishop, from the NLTA, said: "I am delighted to be involved with this pioneering national scheme that will have a profound effect on the licensed trade and in turn reduce the pressure of anti-social drinking on the emergency services, maintain ongoing health education and fund increased community support.

"Although we look forward to seeing the success of the project across the UK, our aim is that, through education, there will be no need for such assistance in our society in the future."

Almost 10 million hospital admissions in England last year were related to alcohol, and the cost to the NHS was up to £1.3bn.

Alcohol Concern believes this will contribute to an NHS deficit of £30bn by 2020.

12.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

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