UK

The Royal Liverpool University Hospital has declared a critical incident due to an “exceptionally high” demand on A&E and patients being admitted to wards. The hospital said staff were “working incredibly hard” after a spike in people with flu and respiratory illnesses going to emergency departments. The number of people in England’s hospital with flu

England’s cricket bosses have rejected calls for the team to boycott an upcoming match against Afghanistan over the ruling Taliban regime’s assault on women’s rights. Urged to pull out of next month’s Champions Trophy match in Lahore by more than 160 politicians, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Monday it would prefer

A rugby league international has fled the UK after being charged with sexual offences including rape, a court has reportedly heard. Keven Appo, 25, who played for Bradford Bulls in the Betfred Championship before being sacked on Friday, has apparently travelled to his home country of Papua New Guinea. Appo was due to appear at

A police force has said it will reduce its presence on the social media platform X because of the “quality and quantity of interactions” on the site. Derbyshire Constabulary posted on Elon Musk’s platform to say it will only use its account to “provide critical updates as a single point of truth when necessary”. While

Energy groups have hit back at incoming US president Donald Trump after his attack on the UK’s wind turbines. On Friday, the president-elect told the UK to “get rid of windmills” and to re-open the North Sea to exploration for oil and gas. Image: Donald Trump told the UK to get rid of its wind

Police have confirmed they were called to a house near Chester after the death of former RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner James Lee Williams, known as The Vivienne. The 32-year-old’s death was announced on Sunday evening and has prompted an outpouring of tributes from celebrities and colleagues. The performer rose to prominence in 2015 after becoming

Millions of commuters returning to work and school this morning will face more snow, ice and rain, as several weather warnings remain in place across the UK. More travel disruption is likely due to flooding from heavy rain and thawing snow, the Met Office said, with 67 flood warnings and 262 flood alerts in place.

London’s roads are the most congested in Europe, with drivers spending around 101 hours in traffic last year, according to a new report. The total cost to London was estimated at £3.85bn – an average of £942 per driver. Paris had the second most congested roads in Europe in 2024 with 97 hours of delays

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. Edward Pettifer, from Chelsea, west London, was fatally injured in the tragedy, the Metropolitan Police confirmed. Sky News understands

Elon Musk has made “misinformed” and “misjudged” comments about the government’s response to grooming gangs in the UK, the health secretary has said. Wes Streeting also urged the tech billionaire and owner of X to “roll his sleeves up” and help the government tackle child sex abuse and exploitation online. Mr Streeting was asked about

Donald Trump has said the UK is making “a very big mistake” in its fossil fuel policy – and should “get rid of windmills”. In a post on Friday on his social media platform, Truth Social, Mr Trump shared news from November of a US oil producer pulling out of the North Sea, a major

King Charles has made a donation to help boost a charity’s humanitarian work in Syria following the fall of the country’s dictator Bashar al Assad. The King is a patron of the UK arm of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and has made an undisclosed contribution to help with its services – which includes distributing

West Ham forward Michail Antonio has said he has realised he “took life for granted” but is now thankful just for “being alive”, as he was discharged from hospital after a car crash in early December. In a heartfelt message on Tuesday evening, he thanked the NHS, the air ambulance, and “everyone from top to

A police officer has been dismissed without notice after he sent sexual messages to a vulnerable 14-year-old girl he met on the job. Northamptonshire Police constable Matthew Hunt acted with “predatory sexual intent” towards the girl, sending her messages that referenced sexual activity, according to a misconduct panel into his behaviour. The week of messaging

A new AI tool can identify people who have a heart condition before symptoms arise, reducing the risk of potentially deadly strokes. The ground-breaking tool scours GP records to look for “red flags” which could indicate whether a patient is at risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF). The algorithm was created using anonymised electronic health

The UK will see more heavy fog over the weekend following disruption which forced flight cancellations and delays at airports. Some areas could see thick patches of fog reduce visibility down to just 100 metres on Saturday, the Met Office said. Get the weather forecast where you are The worst of the fog is forecast

The King has praised the community response to the “anger and lawlessness” of this summer’s riots in towns and cities around the UK in his annual Christmas message. Charles, 76, also used the message, filmed by Sky News at the chapel of the former Middlesex Hospital in central London, to thank doctors and nurses who

The King has delivered his Christmas message, praising the community response to the UK summer riots and thanking medical staff who have cared for him and the Princess of Wales through their cancer treatment. The message was broadcast from the chapel of the former Middlesex Hospital in central London. This is what the King said

The Church of England needs to “kneel in penitence” and “be changed”, the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell is expected to say in his Christmas Day sermon. It comes at a challenging time for the Church which has faced criticism over how it handled a number of abuse scandals. Mr Cottrell will next month effectively

An 18-year-old man has died in a crash after a brief police chase which involved a suspected stolen car in South Yorkshire. The driver of a black Ford Fiesta was spotted by officers just before 1pm on Monday in the Hyde Park Walk area, south of Sheffield city centre. South Yorkshire Police said in a