Hundreds of people are being recognised for their services to the country in this year’s New Year Honours.
Here are just some of the people who earned a gong this year.
Sir Gareth Southgateis knighted for services to association football after leading England to the finals of the Euros in 2020 and 2024.
Sir Stephen Fry also receives a knighthood in recognition for his services to mental health awareness, the environment and charity.
London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has been honoured by being knighted for political and public service, having held his role since 2016.
Beloved author Jacqueline Wilson, who created the Tracy Beaker series, has been made a Dame Grand Cross (GBE) for services to literature.
Television presenter Alan Titchmarsh becomes a CBE while Scottish journalist Jackie Bird is made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
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Nobel Prize-winning novelist Sir Kazuo Ishiguro is made a Companion of Honour for services to literature while author Robert Harris becomes a CBE.
Lee Castleton, Josephine Hamilton, Christopher David Head, Dr Kay Catherine Sheila Hilary Linnell, Seema Misra, Richard Gresham Haley all receive honours for their work on behalf of wrongfully convicted subpostmasters following the Horizon scandal.
In sport, twenty-two-year-old Keely Hodgkinson earns an MBE after claiming gold in the 800m at the Olympics and becoming the sixth fastest woman in history at the distance.
Swimmers Duncan Scott (OBE) and William Ellard (MBE), sailor Ellie Aldridge (MBE) and rowers Lola Anderson, Hannah Scott, Lauren Henry, Emily Craig, Dr Imogen Grant and Georgie Brayshaw, Gregg Stevenson (all MBE), fencer Dimitri Coutya (MBE) are all honoured after their gold medals at the Games.
Paratriathlete David Ellis (MBE), shotputter Sabrina Fortune, athlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson, archer Nathan MacQueen, gymnast Bryony Page and cyclists Sophie Capewell, Sophie Unwin, Finley Graham, Dannielle Khan and Elizabeth Jordan are all made MBEs.
Olympic and Paralympic champions Helen Glover, Samantha Kinghorn, Lauren Rowles, Alice Tai, Dina Asher-Smith and Jaco van Gass are also all made OBEs, while Stephen Clegg is made an MBE.
The former captain of the Northern Ireland women’s football team, Marissa Callaghan, has been made an MBE.
Former Masterchef and Through The Keyhole presenter Loyd Grossman is awarded a knighthood.
Actresses Carey Mulligan, Sarah Lancashire and Coronation Street star Anne Reid become Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to drama, while Desmond’s star Carmen Munroe is made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE).
Actor Eddie Marsan, Inspector Morse and Lewis actor Kevin Whately and Bafta-winning actress Anne-Marie Duff are made OBEs.
Radio and TV presenter and former Popstars winner Myleene Klass, Radio presenter and DJ Steve Lamacq and former Doctor Who star Tom Baker are made MBEs.
Costume designer Sandy Powell, meanwhile, is made a CBE.
Former F1 driver and broadcaster Martin Brundle has become an OBE and former Scotland and Liverpool footballer Alan Hansen is made an MBE.
Labour MP Emily Thornberry becomes a dame and former West Midlands mayor Andy Street is knighted.
Carole Gould and Julie Devey, co-founders of Killed Women, are made OBEs for their campaigning work for women murdered in their homes.
Cancer fundraiser Ivan Black is made an MBE after raising more than £700,000 over his lifetime.
18-year-old cancer survivor Mikayla Beames, the joint youngest on the list, is awarded a British Empire Medal after founding her cancer charity.
Shipwreck hunter David Mearns, who has discovered 29 shipwrecks over his career, is made an OBE.
Joeli Brearley, founder of parents’ rights group Pregnant Then Screwed, is made an MBE.
Nathaniel Dye, a music teacher who was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2023, has said he hopes being made an MBE will be a “springboard” for his campaigning work.
Eric Brown, 78, is made an MBE for his campaigning work for victims of terrorism after founding the South East Fermanagh Foundation.
Also awarded an MBE is retired solicitor Gordon Hay, who was given the honour for services to the promotion of the Doric language, which is spoken in northeast Scotland.
He spent 17 years translating the New Testament and then the Old Testament into Doric, the first time the whole text has ever been changed into any variant of the Scots language.
The oldest person on the list is 103-year-old World War Two Mosquito pilot Colin Bell, who is given a British Empire Medal (BEM) for charitable fundraising and public speaking.
The King’s GP Dr Douglas Glass and his physician Professor Richard Leach have also been recognised for their service to the Royal Family, with Dr Glass being appointed a Commander and Prof Leach being made a Lieutenant of the RVO.
Another to be knighted is head of MI5 Ken McCallum.
More than 1,200 people from across the UK received honours in the latest list.
Women make up 49% of those honoured, with 12% of recipients from ethnic minority backgrounds.
3% of people on the list identify as LGBT, 15% have disabilities or long-term health conditions and 33% are from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
An amber warning for snow and ice, with the risk of freezing rain, covers most of Wales and central England until midday on Sunday.
Freezing rain, which makes up what are commonly known as ice storms in North America, is a rarity in the UK because the conditions for it are quite specific, according to the Met Office.
But what is it and how is it different to snow?
Freezing rain is rainfall that has become “supercooled” as it falls from the sky.
It starts when snow, ice, sleet or hail high up in the atmosphere melts into rain when it falls through the layers of warmer air below.
If the rain then passes through a sub-zero layer of air just above the ground, it can remain liquid and instead become “supercooled”. This is the key to freezing rain.
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Supercooled water will freeze on impact – forming a clear layer of ice on cold surfaces such as trees, roads and power lines.
Why is it dangerous?
It’s once it hits the surface and turns to ice that it canpose a real threat.
The ice is very clear, often referred to as black ice, because it is so difficult to see, making it treacherous for pedestrians and drivers.
Sky News meteorologist Kirsty McCabe explains: “The supercooled rain hits the ground and freezes instantly on impact, and that creates a thin layer of ice, also known as glaze, and it’s clear, so you can’t see the ice, which makes it really treacherous.”
If it hits power lines or tree branches, depending on how much rain there has been, the weight of the ice can cause them to break off because they can’t support the weight.
It can also make it difficult to open your car door if there is enough of it.
From 6pm on Saturday to midday on Sunday an amber warning for snow and ice, with the risk of freezing rain, covers most of Wales and central England, including the Midlands and Liverpool and Manchester in the North West.
But McCabe says it’s Wales where people should be particularly wary of freezing rain.
What precautions should people take?
The best thing people can do is take extra care when travelling. As it is so hard to see, it’s difficult to judge just how icy road surfaces are.
The RAC says freezing rain is arguably the most treacherous of all conditions for motorists.
They urge people not to drive unless necessary, but say those who do need to should check they have plenty of fuel and oil and check their tyre treads.
They also encourage drivers to make sure their lights are working and check they have screenwash.
The King is deeply saddened by the death of a British man who was killed in the attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day – amid reports he was the stepson of an ex-royal nanny.
Sky News understands the King was made aware of Mr Pettifer’s death through official channels, was deeply saddened, and has been in touch with the family to share personal condolences.
The 31-year-old’s family said they were “devastated” by his death.
“He was a wonderful son, brother, grandson, nephew and a friend to so many,” the family said in a statement.
“We will all miss him terribly. Our thoughts are with the other families who have lost their family members due to this terrible attack. We request that we can grieve the loss of Ed as a family in private.”
New Orleans’ coroner said the preliminary cause of death for Mr Pettifer was blunt force injuries.
Fourteen people were killed and dozens injured when 42-year-old army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s rented truck rammed into people in New Orleans’ famous Bourbon Street in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
Jabbar was killed in a shootout with police.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said the attack was “premeditated” and an “evil” act of terrorism, and added Jabbar was “100% inspired by ISIS”, also known as Islamic State.
The preliminary cause of death for all the victims was blunt force injuries, according to the New Orleans coroner.
The coroner has identified most of those killed in the attack, with efforts continuing to identify the final female victim.
• Edward Pettifer, 31, from Chelsea, west London • Andrew Dauphin, 26, from Montgomery, Alabama • Kareem Badawi, 23, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana • Brandon Taylor, 43, from Harvey, Louisiana • Hubert Gauthreaux, 21, from Gretna, Louisiana • Matthew Tenedorio, 25, from Picayune, Mississippi • Ni’Kyra Dedeaux, 18, from Gulfport, Mississippi • Nicole Perez, 27, from Metairie, Louisiana • Reggie Hunter, 37, from Prairieville, Louisiana • Martin Bech, 27, from New York City, New York • Terrence Kennedy, 63, from New Orleans, Louisiana • Elliot Wilkinson, 40, from Slidell, Louisiana • William DiMaio, 25, from Holmdel, New Jersey
An Islamic State (IS) flag, weapons, and what appeared to be an improvised explosive device (IED) were found in the vehicle used in the attack, the FBI said.
The suspect posted five videos on social media before the rampage in support of IS, the agency added.
In his first clip, Jabbar said he was planning to harm his own family and friends, but was concerned headlines would not focus on the “war between the believers and disbelievers”, said Christopher Raia, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counter-terrorism division.
Jabbar also joined IS “before this summer”, and provided a will, the FBI chief said.
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The half-brother of the attack suspect said ‘this wasn’t the man I knew’
In an interview with a Texas-based TV station, owned by Sky News’ partner network NBC News, Jabbar’s younger half-brother said he was thinking about all those impacted by the attack.
Abdur-Rahim Jabbar said: “This is a tragedy. We’re all grieving about this.”
The suspect was a Muslim, with his sibling adding: “This wasn’t the man I knew. This wasn’t the father, the son that I knew.
“And that also, this isn’t any representation of Islam or Muslims or the Muslim community.”
On 16 January, there’s a strong chance you’ll be able to see Mars as the red planet will be in “opposition”, meaning Earth will be directly between it and the sun.
Just under a week later, on 21 January, you could see five planets – Saturn, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter and Mars – in the night sky after 9pm, according to the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
Four of the planets should be visible to the naked eye, but seeing Uranus will require a telescope or very dark skies.
Anyone hoping to spot celestial phenomena is advised to find a stargazing spot away from light pollution and to allow at least 15 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the darkness.