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A severe red wind weather warning has been issued for parts of the UK, with gusts of 90mph expected.

The Met Office has said “damaging winds” associated with Storm Darragh are expected to cause “significant disruption” as the weekend begins.

Flying debris and fallen trees could pose a “danger to life” while large waves and beach material could be thrown on to coastal roads and seafronts.

The warning covers coastal areas of Wales and the South West of England, including Cardiff, Bristol and Devon, and is in place from 3am-11am on Saturday.

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Forecasters predict the strongest winds will begin to ease from late morning.

The Met Office red warning
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The red warning comes into force at 3am on Saturday. Pic: Met Office

Red weather warnings are the most serious type, and are only issued by forecasters when “dangerous weather” is expected.

“It is very likely that there will be a risk to life, with substantial disruption to travel, energy supplies and possibly widespread damage to property and infrastructure,” the Met Office website states.

A separate red warning for wind has also been issued by the Irish meteorological service, Met Eireann.

Storm Darragh: How bad will it be and how long will it last?

Jo Robinson

Weather producer

@SkyJoRobinson

It’s been an unsettled few days, with spells of wind and rain, but stormy conditions are on the way, just two weeks since Storm Bert brought significant flooding.

A strong jet stream has helped develop Storm Darragh – the fourth named storm of the season – and direct it towards the UK and Ireland, with very strong winds the main concern.

Inland areas in the west will see gusts reaching 60 to 70mph over a long period of time, potentially more than 12 hours.

Coastal regions will see stronger gusts, in excess of 90mph for areas within the red wind warning.

But much of the UK and Ireland will see a prolonged spell of gales or severe gales, which will increase the risk of falling trees, damage to buildings and power cuts.

The direction will have an impact too, with the strongest winds coming from the north or north-west rather than from the prevailing south-west.

That means areas typically more sheltered will be exposed this time.

There’ll be some heavy rain with Storm Darragh too, but amounts will be less than what we saw with Storm Bert.

That said, 20 to 30mm of rain is expected quite widely in the west, locally up to 90mm, with localised flooding possible.

South Wales looks most at risk of the highest rainfall totals.

Sunday will see the wind easing as Storm Darragh clears away, but it will still be quite windy in the south and east.

Next week looks drier and calmer overall, but it’ll be on the cold side, with overnight frost and fog.

It covers coastal areas of Ireland including Mayo, Galway, Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo and comes into force from Friday evening until early Saturday morning.

“A period of extremely strong winds will develop during the early hours of Saturday morning as Storm Darragh moves across the Irish Sea,” the Met Office said.

Pic: Met Eireann
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The weather warnings across Ireland for Friday (L) and Saturday (R). Pics: Met Eireann

“Gusts of 90 mph or more are possible over coasts and hills of west and south Wales, as well as funnelling through the Bristol Channel with some very large waves on exposed beaches.

“The strongest winds will begin to ease from late morning, though it will remain very windy with Amber wind warnings still in force until the evening.”

Heavy rain, flooding and snow also expected

Two amber warnings for wind and a swathe of yellow warnings also remain in place covering Northern Ireland, the west coast of England, Wales and parts of Scotland on Saturday.

Amber weather warnings. Pic: Met Office
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Two amber warnings for wind and one for rain has also been issued. Pic: Met Office

Snow is expected in large parts of central Scotland, with a Met Office yellow weather warning in place from 8pm Friday evening until 9am on Saturday.

Parts of Wales and Northern Ireland are also covered by rain warnings. Similar areas were badly hit by Storm Bert late last month.

Pic: Met Office
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Snow is expected in Scotland on Friday night and into Saturday. Pic: Met Office

An amber warning is in place for southern parts of Wales from 3am to 6pm on Saturday, with 20-30mm expected to fall in a three-six hour window.

Up to 90mm of rain is expected overall, which may lead to some flooding and disruption, the Met Office said.

Rain in parts of Scotland, including Glasgow and Edinburgh, and some of the North East of England may also cause disruption on Saturday.

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Bus and train services are likely to be affected and spray on the roads may make journey times longer.

At the time of writing, seven flood warnings and 98 flood alerts had been issued by the Environment Agency for England, while six flood alerts were in place across Wales and 11 in Scotland.

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Russell Brand charged with rape and sexual assault

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Russell Brand charged with rape and sexual assault

Russell Brand has been charged with rape and two counts of sexual assault between 1999 and 2005.

The Metropolitan Police say the 50-year-old comedian, actor and author has also been charged with one count of oral rape and one count of indecent assault.

The charges relate to four women.

He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday 2 May.

Police have said Brand is accused of raping a woman in the Bournemouth area in 1999 and indecently assaulting a woman in the Westminster area of London in 2001.

He is also accused of orally raping and sexually assaulting a woman in Westminster in 2004.

The fourth charge alleges that a woman was sexually assaulted in Westminster between 2004 and 2005.

Police began investigating Brand, from Oxfordshire, in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations.

Read more from Sky News:
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The comedian has previously denied the accusations, and said all his sexual relationships were “absolutely always consensual”.

Met Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.

“The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.”

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Last UK blast furnaces days from closure as Chinese owners cut off crucial supplies

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Last UK blast furnaces days from closure as Chinese owners cut off crucial supplies

​​​​​​​The last blast furnaces left operating in Britain could see their fate sealed within days, after their Chinese owners took the decision to cut off the crucial supply of ingredients keeping them running. 

Jingye, the owner of British Steel in Scunthorpe, has, according to union representatives, cancelled future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.

The upshot is that they may have to close next month – even sooner than the earliest date suggested for its closure.

Read more: Thousands of jobs at risk as British Steel consults unions over closure

The fate of the blast furnaces – the last two domestic sources of virgin steel, made from iron ore rather than recycled – is likely to be determined in a matter of days, with the Department for Business and Trade now actively pondering nationalisation.

The upshot is that even as Britain contends with a trade war across the Atlantic, it is now working against the clock to secure the future of steelmaking at Scunthorpe.

British Steel proceesing

The talks between the government and Jingye broke down last week after the Chinese company, which bought British Steel out of receivership in 2020, rejected a £500m offer of public money to replace the existing furnaces with electric arc furnaces.

More on China

The sum is the same one it offered to Tata Steel, which has shut down the other remaining UK blast furnaces in Port Talbot and is planning to build electric furnaces – which have far lower carbon emissions.

These steel workers could soon be out of work
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These steel workers could soon be out of work

However, the owners argue that the amount is too little to justify extra investment at Scunthorpe, and said last week they were now consulting on the date of shutting both the blast furnaces and the attached steelworks.

Since British Steel is the main provider of steel rails to Network Rail – as well as other construction steels available from only a few sites in the world – the closure would leave the UK more reliant on imports for critical infrastructure sites.

British Steel in action

However, since the site belongs to its Chinese owners, a decision to nationalise the site would involve radical steps government officials are wary of taking.

They also fear leaving taxpayers exposed to a potentially loss-making business for the long run.

British Steel

The dilemma has been heightened by the sharp turn in geopolitical sentiment following Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

The incipient trade war and threatened cut in American support to Europe have sparked fresh calls for countries to act urgently to secure their own supplies of critical materials, especially those used for defence and infrastructure.

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Gareth Stace, head of UK Steel, the industry lobby group, said: “Talks seem to have broken down between government and British Steel.

“My advice to government is: please, Jonathan Reynolds, Business Secretary, get back round that negotiating table, thrash out a deal, and if a deal can’t be found in the next few days, then I fear for the very future of the sector, but also here for Scunthorpe steelworks.”

British Steel declined to comment.

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Prince Andrew’s Pitch@Palace branded ‘crude attempt to enrich himself’ as Chinese spy documents set to be released

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Prince Andrew's Pitch@Palace branded 'crude attempt to enrich himself' as Chinese spy documents set to be released

Prince Andrew’s efforts to make money from his Pitch@Palace project have been branded as a “crude attempt to enrich himself” at the expense of “unsuspecting tech founders”, as new documents may shed more light on what he and his team have been attempting to sell.

Today is the deadline for documents to be released relating to Prince Andrew‘s former senior adviser Dominic Hampshire and his interactions with the alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo.

In February, an immigration tribunal heard how the intelligence services had contacted Mr Hampshire about Mr Yang back in 2022. Mr Yang helped set up Pitch@Palace China, a branch of the duke’s scheme to help young entrepreneurs.

The alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, has links with Prince Andrew
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The alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, has links with Prince Andrew

Pic: Pitch@Palace
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Yang Tengbo. Pic: Pitch@Palace

Judges banned Mr Yang from the UK, saying his association with a senior royal had made Prince Andrew “vulnerable” and posed a threat to national security. Mr Yang challenged that decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).

Since that hearing, media organisations have applied for certain documents relating to the case and Mr Hampshire’s support for Mr Yang to be made public. SIAC agreed to release some information of public interest. It is hoped they may include more details on deals that he was trying to do on behalf of Prince Andrew.

So what do we know about potential deals for Pitch@Palace so far?

In February, Sky News confirmed that palace officials had a meeting last summer with tech funding company StartupBootcamp to discuss a potential tie-up between them and Prince Andrew relating to his Pitch@Palace project.

More on Prince Andrew

The palace wasn’t involved in the fine details of a deal but wanted guarantees to make sure it wouldn’t impact the Royal Family in the future. Sky News understands from one source that the price being discussed for Pitch was around £750,000 – there are, however, reports that a deal may have stalled.

Photos we found on the Chinese Chamber of Commerce website show an event held in Asia between StartupBootcamp and Innovate Global, believed to be an offshoot of Pitch.

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Who is alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo?

Documents, released in relation to the investigations into Mr Tengbo, have also shown how much the duke has always seen Pitch as a way of potentially making money. One document from 21 August 2021 clearly states “the duke needed money at the time, and saw the relationships with China through Pitch as one possible source of funding”.

But Prince Andrew’s apparent intention to use Pitch to make money has led to concerns about whether he is unfairly using the contacts and information he gained when he was a working royal.

Norman Baker, former MP and author of books on royal finances, believes it is “a crude attempt to enrich himself” and goes against what the tech entrepreneurs thought they were signing up for.

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He told Sky News: “The data given by these business people was given on the basis it was an official operation and not something for Prince Andrew, and so in my view, Prince Andrew had no right legally or morally to take the data which has been collected, a huge amount of data, and sell it…

“And quite clearly if you’re going to sell it off to StartupBootcamp, that is not what people had in mind. The entrepreneurs who joined Pitch@Palace did not do so to enrich Prince Andrew,” he said.

Rich Wilson was one tech entrepreneur who was approached at the start of Pitch@Palace to sign up, but he stepped away when he spotted a clause in the contract saying they’d be entitled to 2% equity in any funding he secured.

He feels Prince Andrew is continuing to use those he made a show of supporting.

He said: “It makes me feel sick. I think it’s terrible – that he is continuing to exploit unsuspecting tech founders in this way. A lot of them, I’m quite grey and old in the tooth now, I saw it coming, but clearly most didn’t. And a lot of them were quite young.

“It’ll be their first venture and you’re learning on the trot, so to speak. So to take advantage of people in such a major way – that’s an awful, sickening thing to do.”

We approached StartupBootcamp who said they had no comment to make, and the Duke of York’s office did not respond.

With reports that a deal may have stalled, it could be a big setback for the duke – especially with questions still about how he’ll continue to pay for his home on the Windsor estate now that the King no longer gives him financial support.

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