UK

Droughts have been declared in parts of southwest, southern and central England and all of eastern England, as Britons continue to bake in the high temperatures. The affected areas are: • Devon and Cornwall• Solent and South Downs• Kent and South London• Herts and North London• East Anglia• Thames• Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire• East Midlands Wiggonholt,

Droughts could be declared in “quite a few regions” of the country tomorrow, a source from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has told Sky News. The news contradicts earlier suggestions that a drought would only be declared in the South West. The drought declaration is not expected to cover the whole country,

A drought is expected to be declared tomorrow in the South West, Sky News understands. It follows the start of a four-day amber heat warning, below normal levels in waterways, and England’s driest July since 1935 during which the temperature rose above 40C for the first time. The declaration means people living across the South

The risk of fires from tinderbox dry conditions across parts of England and Wales has been raised to “exceptional” – the highest it can be – as a four-day amber weather warning comes into force. The top level on the Fire Severity Index applies to much of southern England, and reaches as far west as

All children aged one to nine in London are to be offered a dose of the polio vaccine, after more of the virus was found in the city’s sewers. Vaccine-derived poliovirus has been detected in sewage in Barnet, Brent, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington, and Waltham Forest. The virus has also been found in lower

Millions of UK homes are already in debt over their energy bills – with £1.3 billion owed, even before bills are set to soar by more than 80%. The overall debt bill is already three times higher than it was a year ago, according to analysts at Uswitch, and it seems likely it will grow

Energy bills are expected to rise even further this winter than previously forecast, according to the latest from energy consultancy Cornwall Insight. Bills are now expected to reach approximately £3,582 a year for the average household from October – up from the £3,359 predicted earlier this month. From January, the amount is expected to rise

A health alert lasting until Saturday has been issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) with the country braced for another heatwave. A level 3 alert is in place for southern and central England, and a level 2 for the North. Level 4 is the most serious designation. The Met Office said temperatures are

Two people have been rescued as a house collapsed after a fire and explosion in Croydon, south London. Six fire engines and around 40 firefighters were sent to the blaze in Galpin’s Road, Thornton Heath, shortly after 7am on Monday. One local resident told Sky News they heard a loud boom from several streets away

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak are coming under growing pressure to explain how they would help British families with the cost of living crisis this autumn. With inflation set to spike above 13% in October, the energy price cap expected to surge and a recession forecast by the year’s end, economic policy has become the

Some families are up to £1,600 a year worse off because of the cost of living crisis – even after government help is taken into account. The poorest in society are suffering three major blows to their income in the year to October 2022, according to a report commissioned by former prime minister Gordon Brown.

The next prime minister is facing calls to immediately increase Universal Credit payments to stop vulnerable people spiralling further into poverty when fuel bills increase again this winter. The poorest in society are suffering three major blows to their income in the year to October 2022, according to a report commissioned by former prime minister

Rail passengers are facing a fresh wave of disruption as train drivers from several companies have announced another strike over a long-running dispute about pay and working conditions. The 24-hour walkout on Saturday 13 August will coincide with a busy weekend of football, with Premier League games in Manchester, London, Birmingham and Brighton likely to

Archie Battersbee’s parents have been refused permission to appeal against the High Court’s decision which denied them the right to have their son moved from hospital to a hospice to die. The family had applied to the Court of Appeal on Friday, challenging a ruling that blocked their plans to move him to a hospice

Archie Battersbee cannot be moved from hospital to a hospice, the High Court has ruled, denying an application from his family. His mother, Hollie Dance, said she wanted her brain-damaged son to “spend his last moments” together with family privately, but the High Court ruled this was not in Archie’s best interests. The judge has

Liz Truss has refused a Conservative Party member’s request for her to apologise for proposing to link public sector pay to local living costs – reiterating that the policy was “misrepresented”. On Monday night, the foreign secretary and Tory leadership frontrunner said she would save £8.8bn by introducing regional pay boards instead of national ones

The Bank of England has hiked interest rates by half a percentage point – the sixth rise since December and the biggest rise since 1995. This means the bank rate now stands at 1.75% – its highest level since late 2008 at the beginning of the global financial crisis. It will increase borrowing costs for

Archie Battersbee’s life support will be withdrawn at 11am, unless his family launch a High Court bid by 9am to move him to a hospice. His parents plan to file the application by the deadline. They lost their latest legal appeal to stop doctors ending life-sustaining hospital treatment for their brain-damaged son after a European

If you drive in London, chances are a camera will see you. The city uses a network of Automated Number-Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras to scan the roads for vehicles entering and leaving its road-charging zones. The UK road system is carpeted with these cameras. Every day, around 13,000 capture 55 million “reads”, as number plate

Archie Battersbee’s life support is set to be switched off at 11am today, pending another last-ditch attempt by his family to postpone the move. The parents of the brain-damaged 12-year-old had said his treatment would be brought to an end on Wednesday morning after they lost a Supreme Court bid to keep it going. But