UK

COVID infections are at their highest ever recorded levels according to new research, which has been tracking cases since May 2020. The findings from the REACT-1 study show the increase is driven by high rates among school-aged children, with 1 in 17 children infected between 19 October and 29 October. Researchers warn the next ten

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam has warned of a “potentially problematic” Christmas due to COVID-19 and said he thinks there will be “hard months to come”. England’s deputy chief medical officer said the UK is at “half-time in extra time” in tackling coronavirus. “I think the final whistle in terms of – I can’t predict it –

Free blood pressure monitors are to be given to more than 200,000 people in a bid to prevent heart attacks and strokes. The NHS will make 220,000 devices available to people who have been diagnosed with uncontrolled high blood pressure to enable them to carry out checks at home. More than 65,000 people have already

Two Metropolitan Police officers have pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office after sharing photos of the bodies of two murdered sisters on WhatsApp. PC Deniz Jaffer 47, and PC Jamie Lewis, 33, appeared before Judge Mark Lucraft at the Old Bailey on Tuesday morning charged with committing misconduct in a public office between

The rollout of smart motorways should be suspended amid safety concerns, MPs and campaigners have said. Government plans to remove the hard shoulder from all future smart motorways and use the lane for live traffic are “premature”, a report from Commons Transport Select Committee (TSC) has said. Demonstrators carried 38 cardboard coffins to the Houses

An electrician accused of murdering two women more than 30 years ago sexually assaulted dead bodies in the mortuaries of hospitals he worked at, a court has heard. David Fuller is standing trial at Maidstone Crown Court in Kent accused of the murders of Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce in 1987. Both women were found

Two trains have crashed near Salisbury station and emergency services are at the scene, Wiltshire Police have said. No one has died, but a number of people have been injured, British Transport Police said. Its officers were called to Fisherton Tunnel at 6.46pm on Sunday. There are unconfirmed reports that one of the train drivers

A man and two women have died and another woman is fighting for her life after a group of paddleboarders got into difficulties on a river in Wales, police have confirmed. Emergency services first received reports of people in distress in the River Cleddau in Haverfordwest shortly after 9am on Saturday. A huge search and

Thousands of under-15s will be offered the COVID-19 jab at school, with NHS teams visiting more than 800 schools. Health teams are set to visit schools across England in the next week, with pupils returning to school from half-term. Jabs will be offered to unvaccinated 12-15-year-olds and students will be able to get the coronavirus

Boris Johnson has warned that success in the fight to tackle global warming “is going to very difficult” but “the whole of humanity is in the ring.” Imploring world leaders to act as the G20 summit begins in Rome on Saturday, the prime minister told Sky News’ Beth Rigby there is “a chance, if everybody

Prince Andrew’s lawyers in the US have asked a judge to dismiss his accuser Virginia Giuffre’s civil lawsuit. Ms Giuffre has accused the Duke of York of sexually abusing her when she was 17, more than 20 years ago. In court filings, the duke said he “unequivocally denies” sexually abusing or assaulting her. His request

The government is accelerating contingency plans for the collapse of Bulb, Britain’s seventh-biggest domestic energy supplier – a demise that would mark by far the biggest insolvency of the crisis engulfing the sector. Sky News has learnt that ministers and officials, along with the industry regulator Ofgem, believe that Bulb – which has around 1.7

The UK has summoned the French ambassador after a British scallop trawler was detained – as a row over fishing rights continues to escalate. A government spokesman condemned “unjustified” threats from France over further action amid the ongoing dispute. Brexit minister Lord Frost chaired a meeting on Thursday to consider London’s response. “The proposed French

The remaining seven countries on the government’s travel red list are set to be removed meaning there will no longer be a requirement for hotel quarantine for arrivals to the UK, Sky News understands. Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Peru and Venezuela are being taken off the list, which will leave no countries

Glasgow has been hit by flooding just days before the city hosts the crucial climate change summit COP26. Footage and pictures on social media shows cars driving through flood water in some streets as heavy rain lashes the city and causes disruption to transport. Some Glasgow residents have tweeted that several roads including Maryhill Road,

A serving Metropolitan Police officer has been charged with rape, the force has said. PC Adam Zaman, who is based on the East Area Command Unit, was charged by the City of London Police today. The 28-year-old has been remanded in custody to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court this afternoon. The charge relates to an

NHS Test and Trace has failed to achieve its “main objective” of helping break chains of COVID transmission and allowing people to return to normality despite being given an “eye-watering” amount of money, a highly-critical report from MPs has said. According to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the programme’s outcomes have been “muddled” and a

A former Conservative minister should be suspended from the Commons for lobbying on behalf of two companies, a standards body has ruled. Owen Paterson was found to have “repeatedly used his privileged position” to benefit Randox, a clinical diagnostics company, and Lynn’s Country Foods, a meat processor and distributor and has been recommended for suspension

The number of police officers being reported for abusing their role for sexual gain has soared in the past year following changes to strengthen how the issue is investigated. Two thirds of the cases investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) between 2018 and 2021 happened in the past year. The IOPC’s Deputy

Coronavirus cases could fall significantly in November without any restrictions being reintroduced, modelling seen by the government suggests. Experts at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) have predicted that – even without the government’s ‘Plan B’ – COVID cases, hospital admissions and deaths in England will peak in November and start to