Plus, 100 years of Labour's ups and downs
| | | | Storm Ciara caused damage and disruption across a swathe of the UK on Sunday. Gusts of wind reached more than 90mph and heavy rain brought widespread flooding. The storm itself may now have moved on, but Monday will still be a difficult day for many. A month and a half's worth of rain fell within 24 hours in some places and hundreds of properties have been left under water. Power cuts affected some 675,000 households during the storm and thousands are yet to be reconnected. See the storm in pictures here. Transport, too, has been hit hard. Flights are cancelled or delayed at a number of airports and train services severely affected. Network Rail is currently assessing the damage done, but the advice for all would-be travellers is to check your journey before you set out. One trip was made easier by Storm Ciara, however: a British Airways flight made the fastest subsonic New York to London flight as it rode a jet stream accelerated by the storm. Coastal areas of Wales were hit by some of the strongest winds, but meteorologists said high wind speeds inland, in places like Manchester, were also an unusual feature of the storm. A number of sporting events were cancelled due to the weather, including the women's Six Nations match between Scotland and England. The next few days will continue to be windy and the temperatures are set to drop, so expect ice and snow in northern areas . | |
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| | | | | HS2 is set to be the "biggest infrastructure decision since World War Two", according to one government official. Whether to go ahead with building the high-speed rail line has become a dilemma for Boris Johnson because the estimated price tag shot up back in the summer. The government's official review of the scheme, which has been seen by the BBC, puts the potential cost at as much as £106bn. Why is the project so expensive and why has its budget risen so much? | |
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| | Tom Burridge | BBC transport correspondent | |
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| | | | There are dramatic pictures of the impact of Ciara, with some papers calling it the "storm of the century". The Daily Express says "every part of Britain" was hit. Even the Queen was affected, the Daily Mail reports, missing her Sunday church service at Sandringham. Elsewhere, there's much interest in the businessman thought to be at the centre of a series of coronavirus cases stretching across the UK, France and Spain. The Times says the man had travelled to China for a sales conference, before visiting a ski resort in the Alps. The Daily Telegraph says health officials are under pressure to release details of the movements of the so-called "super-spreader". The Sun, finally, has what it says is an exclusive from the wife of TV presenter Phillip Schofield. She has told the paper she will "stand by him" after he revealed last week he is gay . | |
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| If you listen to one thing today |
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| | | Today: Planners decide whether to allow expansion of Bristol Airport - supporters say it will stop millions of people from the region driving to London airports. |
| | | | Today: First Minister Nicola Sturgeon visits Brussels to discuss the future of the Scotland-EU relationship. |
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