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Schools, rail services, sporting fixtures and hospitals are all set to be affected on Friday when Storm Eowyn slams into the UK.

A string of public authorities have issued statements warning the public to only travel unless absolutely necessary, while around 4.5 million people in parts of Northern Ireland and Scotland were sent an emergency alert on their mobile phones on Thursday evening.

It was the largest real-life use of the emergency system to date and caused mobile phones to make a loud siren-like sound, even if they were on silent when the alert was issued.

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Phone alerts for Storm Eowyn

Speaking before it was sent out, a Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “The emergency alert system will send a message to every compatible mobile phone in the areas at most risk, containing information about the weather warnings and guidance on how to stay safe.”

Northern Ireland is braced for the strongest winds since 1998, police said, as they declared a major incident and described the storm as an “exceptional weather event”.

Power

At least 715,000 homes, farms and businesses have lost power in Ireland, according to Irish Electricity Supply Board (ESB), as there has already been “unprecedented, widespread and extensive damage to electricity infrastructure”.

ESB said it would take a “significant number of days” to restore power to all affected customers.

In Northern Ireland, some 93,000 homes and businesses were without electricity.

Schools, colleges and universities

• All schools in Northern Ireland have been advised to close on Friday

• Schools and nurseries across central and southern Scotland have also been urged to shut

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Storm Eowyn explained

• Edinburgh Napier University, Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University are among the sites closing their campuses to students and staff on Friday, with no access to any buildings

Health services

• NHS Lothian has cancelled all routine, non-urgent planned procedures on Friday and postponed the majority of hospital outpatient appointments to protect patients and staff

• NHS Lanarkshire has also postponed all non-urgent appointments in hospital and community settings

Rail services

• National Rail has said a “do not travel message has been issued from multiple train operators” as it advised passengers to check for travel advice before travelling

• It said the storm would affect Avanti West Coast services today

• CrossCountry services would also be affected, with a do not travel warning between York and Newcastle and Edinburgh

• LNER services will be affected until Saturday with a warning to not travel north of York

The Met Office has issued rare red weather warnings for Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland ahead of Storm Eowyn. Pic: Met Office
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The rare red weather warnings cover Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland. Pic: Met Office

• Lumo services are warning not to travel north of Newcastle

• All ScotRail services will be suspended on Friday

• Network Rail has said “other lines across northern England, Scotland and northern Wales may also be closed at short notice”

• Train services across Northern Ireland have also been suspended

• Transport for Wales has warned services may be subject to last-minute changes and cancellations on Friday

Roads

• The A66 between the A1M in North Yorkshire and M6 in Cumbria, as well as the A628 Woodhead Pass in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire, were both closed overnight due to strong winds, National Highways said

• The M48 Severn Bridge was closed, while the Tamar Bridge on the A38 between Devon and Cornwall was closed to high-sided vehicles until 5am

• Avon and Somerset reported a number of local roads had been blocked due to fallen trees, advising motorists to “take care when travelling”

• Police Scotland has urged drivers not to travel

• RAC Breakdown has also advised motorists in areas covered by red weather warnings not to drive “unless absolutely essential”

• Bus services in Northern Ireland will be suspended on Friday

Airports

• At least 334 flights have been cancelled across airports in Scotland and Northern Ireland, including Aberdeen, Belfast, Edinburgh and Glasgow, analysis of flight tracking website FlightRadar24 shows. The cancellations affect about 50,000 passengers

• Dublin Airport has announced the cancellation of about 230 flights to and from it

• Dozens of flights from Glasgow and Edinburgh airports were cancelled on Friday morning

• Multiple flights departing from London Heathrow Airport, Newcastle Airport and Liverpool Airport have been cancelled

• Some flights from Manchester Airport have also been cancelled, as well as to and from Dublin Airport

• Edinburgh Airport has said operations “will be limited” during Friday’s red weather warning, which is in place from 10am until 5pm. A spokesperson added: “Airlines will make decisions on the operations of their own flights”

• Glasgow Airport said it was “limiting operations” from 10am until 5pm on Friday, and warned passengers to “check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling

Belfast International warned of significant disruption to flights

Ferries

• All CalMac ferry services scheduled for Friday have been cancelled

• Northlink Ferries, serving the Northern Isles, has also amended its services for Friday and is keeping its sailings for Saturday under review, with “a high probability of cancellation” for morning services

Public services, spaces and other sites

• Edinburgh Council said all non-essential services in the region, including parks, museums and galleries, would be closed or suspended on Friday. All council buildings will also shut

• Glasgow Life, which runs libraries, museums and cultural venues in the Scottish city, said all its sites would be closed on Friday

• The V&A Dundee will be closed throughout Friday. It plans to reopen on Saturday

• All Scottish courts within or near to the red warning zone will be closed

• The Scottish Parliament will be closed all day on Friday

• Some children’s playgrounds in London parks, including Hyde Park, will be closed on Friday as a precaution

Sport fixtures

• The Scottish Women’s Premier League match between Celtic and Hearts, scheduled for 7.30pm on Friday, has been postponed

• Sheffield United’s home game against fellow Championship side Hull City at 8pm on Friday is still scheduled to go ahead

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Counter-terrorism police investigating after two women injured in Leeds

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Counter-terrorism police investigating after two women injured in Leeds

Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.

Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.

Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.

The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.

Officers guard one of the crime scenes in Leeds
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Officers guard one of the crime scenes

Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
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Officers inside the cordon in Leeds

Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.

“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.

“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

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Wrexham promoted for third season in a row under Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney

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Wrexham promoted for third season in a row under Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney

Wrexham AFC have been promoted for the third season in a row.

The North Wales-based side has gone from the National League to the Championship in just three seasons, under its Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

Wrexham were second in the table and had a run of eight games unbeaten ahead of their match against Charlton Athletic on Saturday, which they won 3-0.

Wrexham's James McClean lifts the trophy after the Sky Bet League One match at SToK Racecourse, Wrexham. Picture date: Saturday April 26, 2025.
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Wrexham’s James McClean lifts the League One trophy. Pic: PA

Wrexham's Dan Scarr celebrates with the fans on the pitch after Wrexham won promotion to the Sky Bet Championship after the Sky Bet League One match at SToK Racecourse, Wrexham. Picture date: Saturday April 26, 2025. PA Photo. See PA story SOCCER Wrexham. Photo credit should read: Martin Rickett/PA Wire...RESTRICTIONS: EDITORIAL USE ONLY No use with unauthorised audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications.
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Wrexham’s Dan Scarr celebrates with the fans on the pitch after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA

It is the first time any club has been promoted for three consecutive seasons within the top five tiers of English football.

The third oldest association football club in the world, Wrexham AFC was bought by Reynolds and McElhenney in 2020, and has since been the subject of a Disney+ documentary, Welcome To Wrexham.

Reynolds, wearing a Wrexham sweatshirt, and McElhenney were pictured celebrating each goal, and after the game, as the fans came onto the pitch at the SToK Cae Ras (Racecourse Ground) to celebrate the victory with the players.

Wrexham co-owners Rob McElhenney (left) and Ryan Reynolds (right) and Ryan's wife Blake Lively before the Sky Bet League One match at SToK Racecourse, Wrexham. Picture date: Saturday April 26, 2025.
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Wrexham co-owners Rob McElhenney (L) and Ryan Reynolds and Ryan’s wife Blake Lively, before the match. Pic: PA

Both stars came onto the pitch after the supporters returned to the stands.

More on Ryan Reynolds

Speaking to Sky Sports, McElhenney praised those behind the scenes, referring to “so many that don’t get the credit they deserve, people who aren’t talked about”.

Reynolds said bringing success back to the club “seemed like an impossible dream” when they arrived in North Wales in 2020.

Wrexham's Sam Smith celebrates in front of the fans on the pitch after Wrexham won promotion to the Sky Bet Championship after the Sky Bet League One match at SToK Racecourse, Wrexham. Picture date: Saturday April 26, 2025. PA Photo. See PA story SOCCER Wrexham. Photo credit should read: Martin Rickett/PA Wire...RESTRICTIONS: EDITORIAL USE ONLY No use with unauthorised audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications.
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Wrexham’s Sam Smith celebrates in front of the fans after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA

He put the three promotions down to “the coaching staff, the greatest dressing room” and an “all for one, one for all” attitude throughout the club, adding he was “speechless with their commitment and their emotion”.

As for the mouth-watering prospect of another promotion to the promised land of the Premier League, the pair agreed it was “for tomorrow”, before ending the interview with a joint mic-drop.

Veteran striker Steven Fletcher said, “as soon as I came to this club, I knew it was something special. We want to go again. We’ll reset in the summer, take a break and go again”.

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Direct action group Just Stop Oil holds final protest, claiming it has been ‘successful’

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Direct action group Just Stop Oil holds final protest, claiming it has been 'successful'

“It has been a success.”

Just Stop Oil (JSO) insists it’s been “successful” – as its members ceremoniously hang up their orange high-vis vests during a march in central London.

Since the group formed three years ago, it’s drawn attention and criticism for its colourful, controversial protests, which ranged from disrupting sporting events to throwing soup on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers, and climbing on gantries over the M25. It sprayed orange paint over Stonehenge, and cost police forces tens of millions of pounds.

Those days are now behind it; to the relief of many.

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As a few hundred activists marched through London on Saturday, blocking roads as they went; taxi drivers blared their horns and football fans shouted abuse from the pavement.

The PA News Agency filmed the moment a white minivan seemed to drive towards a group of protesters blocking the road.

Protesters shouted “I’m being pushed back!” to police, while the driver could be heard shouting “What about my right to get home?” to the officers gathered.

But JSO never set out to be popular. And it believes its tactics – though hated – have been successful; thanks to the new Labour government’s commitment to not issue new oil or gas exploration licences.

That’s why, it says, its ceasing direct action.

JSO hangs up its high vis jackets in central London on Saturday
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JSO hangs up its high-vis jackets in central London on Saturday

A washing line of high-vis jackets signifies JSO's disbanding
Image:
A washing line of high-vis jackets signifies JSO’s disbanding

“This moment marks the success of the JSO campaign – our demand was to end new oil and gas licences and that is now government policy.

“As a result of which four billion barrels of oil are being kept under the North Sea. The campaign has reached a natural end.”

Dr Oscar Berglund, senior lecturer in international public and social policy, disagrees that JSO is disappearing because it’s been “successful”.

He told Sky News policing strength and public perception might have more to do with it.

“They have very low levels of popularity. About 17% of the British population are kind of broadly supportive of what Just Stop Oil do. And that’s too low to recruit.

“It’s difficult to recruit members to something that is that unpopular, and then that a lot of people for good reason I think have kind of stopped believing in that kind of disruption as a means to achieve meaningful change.”

Group triggers specific new protest laws

One thing it did change is the law.

Policing commentator Graham Wettone tells us: “Obstruction of the highway, obstruction of rail networks for example, these are specific offences now.

“It’s given the police more tactics, more methods, more offences they can consider, even stopping and searching somebody who may have something to either lock themselves on or glue themselves to something.”

A JSO activist holds a picture of an imprisoned colleague
Image:
A JSO activist holds a picture of an imprisoned colleague

Emma Smart was held in prison for her activism with both Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil.

“The high-vis might be going away,” she tells me, “but we aren’t.”

“These people aren’t going anywhere, we are still committed, dedicated, terrified by the failings of this government and governments around the world.”

JSO activists throw orange paint at van Gogh's sunflowers
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JSO activists throw orange paint at van Gogh’s sunflowers

Orange smoke set off by JSO protesters at Stonehenge
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Orange smoke set off by JSO protesters at Stonehenge

She hopes for a time of reflection before it returns in a new form but says the need for climate activism is stronger than ever.

She also believes that while most people dislike JSO tactics, it still raises awareness of the cause and might even push people to more moderate campaign groups.

Just Stop Oil came behind other, similarly controversial climate campaign groups like Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion, and as it says goodbye, its disruptive methods have been seized upon by other organisations like the Pro-Palestinian Youth Justice.

The infamous Just Stop Oil orange vests might be going away, but the individual activists, their cause and campaign tactics feel here to stay.

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