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More snow and ice is on the way for many parts of the UK after the record for the coldest night of the year so far was broken for the second night in a row.

The Met Office has extended a yellow warning for snow and ice covering northern Scotland and North East England until midday on Friday.

It comes as the body of a woman in Shetland, Scotland, was found on Tuesday following severe snowfall in the region, though it is not yet known if her death was related to the weather.

The areas covered by the warning could get up to 10cms of fresh snow on higher ground, Met Office spokesperson Becky White said.

“We could see a good few new centimetres of snow accumulation,” she said.

“We could see around 1-4cms at lower levels and 5-10cm on higher ground across the Highlands.”

Snow and ice warnings are also in place in the South West from 6pm on Tuesday until 10am Wednesday, with Ms White saying there will be a “risk of ice across the country over the next few days, but particularly tonight”.

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“There is a band of rain moving in from the South West, but it may turn into snow as it reaches land,” she added.

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Forecasters predict the South West could be hit with 1-2cm of snow at lower levels, and 1-10cm of snow at higher ground such as Dartmoor and Exmoor.

An ice warning has been issued for eastern England from 3pm on Tuesday until midday on Wednesday.

The Met Office has also put a yellow ice warning in place for northern parts of Northern Ireland, including Belfast and Londonderry from midday on Tuesday until midday on Wednesday.

Braemer in Aberdeenshire was the coldest place in the whole of the UK on Tuesday night, with temperatures dipping to -17.3C, breaking Monday’s record of -15.7C.

A man walks with a baby in Braemar, Scotland
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A man walks with a baby in Braemar, Scotland

Dozens of schools were forced to close across the country for a second day due to the freezing weather as many reported heating failure, burst pipes and snow and ice.

In Shetland, power outages due to severe snowfall have been declared a major incident by the Scottish government.

Justice Secretary Keith Brown, lead minister for resilience, said that while the Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) is making every effort to restore supplies, “it is clear that many properties will face days without power”.

Late on Tuesday, Police Scotland issued a statement saying they had discovered the body of a woman “near to an outbuilding in the Ollaberry area of Shetland at around 1.30pm”.

The force added: “Enquiries into the death are ongoing but it is not believed to be suspicious. A report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”

Elsewhere, the RAC experienced its biggest day for breakdowns on record, with around 12,000 drivers needing assistance.

Drivers have been urged to use main roads “as much as possible” as icy roads are “the biggest problem for drivers”.

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said motorists are “slipping and sliding” as sub-zero temperatures have frozen snow and uncleared ice.

He advised drivers to use main roads “as much as possible” and added: “Slow and steady is the only option when driving on frozen roads.”

Travel disruption

Travel disruption also continued on Tuesday as icy roads made conditions difficult.

The Met Office warned motorists there would be icy stretches on untreated roads, pavements, and cycle paths due to the thawing of snow left over from Monday.

Cars negotiate Winnats Pass in the Peak District as snow and ice swept across parts of the UK, with cold wintry conditions set to continue for days. Picture date: Tuesday December 13, 2022.
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Cars negotiate Winnats Pass in the Peak District as snow and ice swept across parts of the UK

After drivers were left stranded on the M25, Transport Secretary Mark Harper defended the response of the highways authorities to the cold snap.

He said that National Highways staff had been working “incredibly hard” to keep the roads moving.

And the cold snap hasn’t just affected travel on the ground. A total of 233 departures from UK airports were cancelled amid wintry conditions on Monday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Stansted was the worst affected airport, with 78 flights cancelled.

Rail strikes

Weather-related travel disruption was also followed by the first of a wave of train strikes on Tuesday.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union are going ahead with two 48-hour strikes at Network Rail, and 14 train companies, from Tuesday and Friday.

Trains will only run from 7.30am to 6.30pm on this week’s strike days, while many parts of the country will have no services, including most of Scotland and Wales.

Read more:
Strikes every day before Christmas – which sectors are affected and why

A woman pulls a shopping trolley in a snow covered residential area in Leytonstone, London. Pic: AP
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A woman pulls a shopping trolley in a snow covered residential area in Leytonstone, London. Pic: AP

The strike has also caused disruption across the London Underground, with the Bakerloo line part suspended between Harrow & Wealdstone to Queens Park due to the rail strike.

Meanwhile, police confirmed on Monday that three boys aged eight, 10 and 11 died after falling through ice into Babbs Mill Lake in Solihull.

A fourth boy, aged six, remains in a critical condition after the incident on Sunday afternoon.

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UK on ‘slippery slope’ to ‘death on demand’, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood warns ahead of assisted dying vote

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UK on 'slippery slope' to 'death on demand', Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood warns ahead of assisted dying vote

The UK is on a “slippery slope towards death on demand”, according to the justice secretary ahead of a historic Commons vote on assisted dying.

In a letter to her constituents, Shabana Mahmood said she was “profoundly concerned” about the legislation.

“Sadly, recent scandals – such as Hillsborough, infected blood and the Post Office Horizon – have reminded us that the state and those acting on its behalf are not always benign,” she wrote.

“I have always held the view that, for this reason, the state should serve a clear role. It should protect and preserve life, not take it away.

“The state should never offer death as a service.”

Analysis: Justice secretary’s intervention is potentially embarrassing for the PM

On 29 November, MPs will be asked to consider whether to legalise assisted dying, through Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.

Details of the legislation were published last week, including confirmation the medicine that will end a patient’s life will need to be self-administered and people must be terminally ill and expected to die within six months.

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Minister ‘leans’ to assisted dying bill

Ms Mahmood, however, said “predictions about life expectancy are often inaccurate”.

“Doctors can only predict a date of death, with any real certainty, in the final days of life,” she said. “The judgment as to who can and cannot be considered for assisted suicide will therefore be subjective and imprecise.”

Read more: Gordon Brown says assisted dying should not be legalised

Under the Labour MP’s proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.

The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.

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Details of end of life bill released

Read more: Where does the cabinet stand on assisted dying?

However, Ms Mahmood said she was concerned the legislation could “pressure” some into ending their lives.

“It cannot be overstated what a profound shift in our culture assisted suicide will herald,” she wrote.

“In my view, the greatest risk of all is the pressure the elderly, vulnerable, sick or disabled may place upon themselves.”

Kim Leadbeater waits to present the Assisted Dying Bill. File pic: House of Commons/Reuters
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Kim Leadbeater waits to present the Assisted Dying Bill. File pic: House of Commons/Reuters

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who put forward the bill, said some of the points Ms Mahmood raised have been answered “in the the thorough drafting and presentation of the bill”.

“The strict eligibility criteria make it very clear that we are only talking about people who are already dying,” she said.

“That is why the bill is called the ‘Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill’; its scope cannot be changed and clearly does not include any other group of people.

“The bill would give dying people the autonomy, dignity and choice to shorten their death if they wish.”

In response to concerns Ms Mahmood raised about patients being coerced into choosing assisted death, Ms Leadbeater said she has consulted widely with doctors and judges.

“Those I have spoken to tell me that they are well equipped to ask the right questions to detect coercion and to ascertain a person’s genuine wishes. It is an integral part of their work,” she said.

In an increasingly fractious debate around the topic, multiple Labour MPs have voiced their concerns.

In a letter to ministers on 3 October, the Cabinet Secretary Simon Case confirmed “the prime minister has decided to set aside collective responsibility on the merits of this bill” and that the government would “therefore remain neutral on the passage of the bill and on the matter of assisted dying”.

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Justice secretary’s assisted dying intervention is explosive – and potentially embarrassing for PM

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Justice secretary's assisted dying intervention is explosive - and potentially embarrassing for PM

With six days to go before Friday’s historic Commons showdown on assisted dying, it’s the opponents who are turning up the heat.

The explosive attack on the bill by Shabana Mahmood follows the poignant and personal plea from Gordon Brown to MPs to reject the bill.

We knew the justice secretary is opposed to the bill. She has already made that clear. But her attack on it, in a letter to constituents, is brutal.

Read more: UK on ‘slippery slope’ to ‘death on demand’, warns justice secretary

She talks about a “slippery slope towards death on demand”. Savage. The state should “never offer death as a service”, she says. Chilling.

So much for Sir Keir Starmer attempting to cool the temperature in the row by urging cabinet ministers, whatever their view, to stop inflaming or attempting to influence the debate.

Ms Mahmood talks, as other opponents have, about pressure on the elderly, sick or disabled who feel they have “become too much of a burden to their family”.

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Details of end of life bill released

She hits out at a “lack of legal safeguards” in the bill and pressure on someone into ending their life “by those acting with malign intent”.

Malign intent? Hey! That’s quite an assertion from a secretary of state for justice and lord chancellor who’s been urged by the PM to tone down her language.

It’s claimed that Sir Keir ticked off Wes Streeting, the health secretary, after he publicly opposed the bill and launched an analysis of the costs of implementing it.

Read more: Where does the cabinet stand on assisted dying?

Will the justice secretary now receive a reprimand from the boss? It’s a bit late for that. Critics will also claim Sir Keir’s dithering over the bill is to blame for cabinet ministers freelancing.

Shabana Mahmood is the first elected Muslim woman to hold a cabinet post. Elected to the Commons in 2010, she was also one of the first Muslim women MPs.

She told her constituents in her letter that it’s not only for religious reasons that she’s “profoundly concerned” about the legislation, but also because of what it would mean for the role of the state.

But of course, she’s not the only senior politician with religious convictions to speak out strongly against Kim Leadbeater’s bill this weekend.

Gordon Brown. File pic: PA
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Gordon Brown. File pic: PA

Gordon Brown, son of the manse, who was strongly influenced by his father, a Church of Scotland minister, wrote about his opposition in a highly emotional article in The Guardian.

He spoke about the pain of losing his 10-day-old baby daughter Jennifer, born seven weeks prematurely and weighing just 2lb 4oz, in January 2002, after she suffered a brain haemorrhage on day four of her short life.

Read more: Gordon Brown says assisted dying should not be legalised

Mr Brown said that tragedy convinced him of the value and imperative of good end-of-life care, not the case for assisted dying. His powerful voice will strongly influence many Labour MPs.

And what of Kim Leadbeater? It’s looking increasingly as though she’s now being hung out to dry by the government, after initially being urged by the government to choose assisted dying after topping the private members bill ballot.

All of which will encourage Sir Keir’s critics to claim he looks weak. It is, or course, a private members bill and a free vote, which makes the outcome on Friday unpredictable.

But the dramatic interventions of the current lord chancellor and the former Labour prime minister are hugely significant, potentially decisive – and potentially embarrassing for a prime minister who appears to be losing control of the assisted dying debate.

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Max Verstappen wins Formula One world title for a fourth straight year

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Max Verstappen wins Formula One world title for a fourth straight year

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has won the Formula One world title for a fourth straight year.

His victory was confirmed after finishing fifth at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Mercedes’ George Russell won the race.

Max Verstappen celebrates his win. Pic: Reuters
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Pic: Reuters

The 27-year-old Dutchman becomes just the sixth driver in Formula One history to win four titles or more, after outscoring Lando Norris who took the chequered flag in only sixth.

Verstappen is now guaranteed the world crown with two races still remaining, with his domination cementing his name among Formula One’s greats.

“Oh my God man,” said an emotional Verstappen after securing the world title. “What a season. Four times. It was a little bit more difficult than last year.”

Lewis Hamilton raced back from 10th to second place to complete an impressive one-two finish for Mercedes. Carlos Sainz finished third for Ferrari, one place ahead of his team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Russell’s third victory was the most dominant of his career so far, crossing the line 7.3 seconds clear of Hamilton.

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Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton have each won a record seven, with 1950s Argentine legend Juan-Manuel Fangio on five ahead of Alain Prost, Sebastian Vettel and now Verstappen on four.

Having won every Drivers’ Championship since claiming his first in the controversial end to the 2021 season when he beat Hamilton in deeply contentious circumstances, Verstappen now joins Hamilton, Fangio and Vettel in winning four titles consecutively.

Only Schumacher has achieved a run of five.

Red Bull's principal sponsor Christian Horner on the Las Vegas Strip Circuit. Pic: Reuters
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Red Bull’s principal sponsor Christian Horner on the Las Vegas Strip Circuit. Pic: Reuters

The team were hit by controversy earlier this season, with Red Bull’s principal sponsor, Christian Horner, facing allegations of controlling behaviour by a female staff member. Horner, who denied the accusations, was cleared, and a subsequent appeal was thrown out.

Horner congratulated Verstappen on the radio, telling him: “Max Verstappen you are a four-time world champion. That is a phenomenal, phenomenal achievement. You can be incredibly proud of yourself.”

Red Bull is on course to finish third in the constructors’ championship this year. This century only Hamilton in 2008 with McLaren, and Verstappen in 2021, have won the drivers’ title when their team did not win the constructors’ championship.

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