UK News
View All 9Library books overdue by more than a century finally returned in 'pristine condition'
Library books which were overdue by more than a century have finally been returned - in "pristine condition".Peter O'Sullivan returned a copy of Milton's Paradise Lost and Shakespeare's King Lear to a library in Wales a mere 116 years after they were taken out.His grandfather, Walter Griffith Owen, originally checked out the books from the former Llanrwst Reading Room & Library in Conwy.Both were originally lent for just one week, according to a note inside the manuscripts. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say It continued that if the book "be required for a second week, application should be made to the caretaker".It said the late fee was one penny per week.The books have been on loan for over 6,000 weeks, and Mr O'Sullivan admitted to the BBC he feared a possible fine.Before decimalisation in 1971, there were 12 pennies in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound.Mr O'Sullivan - making sure he did not receive a fine - did bring some money with him as he returned the classics to Llanrwst Library.He said: "I had worked out how much I would have owed in old pennies as a couple of hundred pounds."But I had forgotten to add the compound interest, so it could have been thousands."I was just glad to return them because it was the right thing to do."LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:Archaeology breakthrough as back-to-back heatwaves expose breathtaking lost sites across WalesMedieval church dating back nearly 900 years appeals to council for solar panelsArchaeologists discover 'biggest ever' Roman wall mosaic in stunning 2,000-year-old findHe added that books had been hidden behind others on a shelf at his mother's home in Rhos on Sea, Conwy county. Medi Ashton, the manager of Llanrwst Library, thanked Mr O'Sullivan for returning the books all these years later and remarked that they were in "excellent condition".Mr O'Sullivan's grandfather worked as a shoe shop manager in Llandudno, north Wales, after World War One.During World War Two, he became a member of the Home Guard and patrolled Conwy Estuary to prepare for a possible enemy invasion.Library staff now plan to give the books to the archive department to "investigate further", according to Mr O'Sullivan.They may be displayed in the library in the near future as part of a cultural heritage exhibition.Both were originally donated to the old library in the 1890s by English industrialist and MP for Salford Benjamin Armitage.Copies of Paradise Lost from the period can fetch anywhere between £80 to over £2,750, while rare copies of King Lear have sold for as much as $50,000 (£37,000), but copies from the period tend to sell for £75 to £375. Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
Birmingham's first halal food hall burns down just six months after opening
Birmingham's first halal food hall has burned down just six months after it opened.Firefighters were called to Allison Street, in Digbeth, just after midnight in the early hours of Thursday morning.There, the blaze had spread throughout the two-storey building and caused extensive smoke damage.No injuries have been reported and West Midlands Fire Services are now investigating to establish the cause. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say The food hall was opened in March by Jordan Patel, 48, who hoped the venue would "bridge" communities and "break down those social barriers".The site also contains a female-only hair salon to allow women a "safe space" to remove their headscarves.Mr Patel said it was like "watching my life turn to ashes", adding that he fears arson may have been involved.He told BirminghamLive: "I am devastated, not just for me but for all the businesses and people who had found a safe, inclusive space to fulfil their dreams. It is so painful to see all that hard work and hope disappear."I hope my instinct this could have been arson is not right but that was my first thought."The business owner rushed to the Art Quarter building and stayed at the scene for several hours but has determined nothing can be recovered.He claimed to have been the "target of a lot of hate crime, from graffiti, to hate messages" and had "had things thrown at windows, abuse shouted by people walking by"."The space is used by people from all faiths and cultures, including women in hijab and niqab, and has a halal food hall, and some people just don't like that."LATEST IN BIRMINGHAM:Operation Raise the Colours one year on as councils splurge thousands of YOUR cash removing flagsStaggering scale of illegal 'family voting' in Birmingham revealed amid demands for formal probePolice launch investigation after supercars set alight in firebomb attack on Pakistani wedding venueMr Patel said his business had received "awful abuse online and in person" and claims the venue may have been targeted.He also claimed the fire started in an area of the building without any obvious fire hazards, cooking equipment or other potential fire starters.In April, the venue offered five small businesses in the halal food court free rent for 15 months with no small bills.He said: "It had a really happy, lovely vibe. But we definitely felt some people did not like that we were a welcoming space for people of all faiths and cultures."A fire service spokesman said: "The time of call was 12.30am and was a fire in a commercial building."Four crews attended and used eight breathing apparatus, two main jets and two hose reels. The stop came in at 4.10am. There were no casualties."We will revisit the scene to check for hotspots. The cause of the fire is under investigation."CCTV from the premise is now being reviewed and police was also in attendance. Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
Spies, strategies and missed opportunities: How the lessons of 9/11 are still being learnt
ByFrank GardnerSecurity correspondent The first duty of a government, countless leaders over the decades have said, is to safeguard its population. On the US manifestly failed to do that. The intelligence was there, yet tragically, nobody joined up the dots in time. 9/11, as the attacks on the US became known, came to define – along with the response – a generation of foreign, security and intelligence policy for the first two decades of this century. On , as al-Qaeda's suicide pilots flew those hijacked planes into the World Trade Centre, I was just finishing a deployment in our Middle East bureau. As a Palestinian taxi driver drove me through the pine-clad hills west of Jerusalem to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport he suddenly turned up the car's radio. "Something big has happened in America," he said. He wasn't exaggerating. 2,977 victims died that day. The attacks did not come out of nowhere. The CIA had been aware of the al-Qaeda network and its exiled Saudi leader, Osama Bin Laden, for years prior to 2001. It even had a taskforce dedicated to hunting him down. Nine days after the 11 September attacks, then US President George W Bush declared the "War on Terror". Image source, Image caption, George W Bush was in a school in Florida when the attacks happened In the ensuing 25 years there have been numerous intelligence successes as well as failures on both sides of the Atlantic. The successes include plots that have been foiled, suspects who have been arrested, brought to trial, convicted and jailed. But what of the bigger picture? How has intelligence-gathering, counter-terrorism and strategic planning changed in the 25 years since the worst terrorist attack in US history? A colossal intelligence failure No one can question that 9/11 was a colossal intelligence failure, or to be more specific, a failure of imagination in the US intelligence community. At the time both the CIA and the FBI were in possession of information which, if shared properly, could have prevented what happened. The 9/11 Commission Report that followed blamed "failures of imagination, policy, capabilities and management" on the US government. The CIA and FBI, the report concluded, failed to properly assess intelligence and share information with each other and take sufficient steps to disrupt the plot. This most basic of lessons has since been largely – although not completely – learnt, and sharing between Western intelligence agencies is infinitely better than it was in 2001. The old rivalries between say, MI5 and Police Counter Terrorism have dissolved, first with regional 'fusion centres' dotted around the UK and now, most recently, with the establishment of the high-security Counter Terrorism Operations Centre in London.
'We cannot show our grandson photos of his dad after wildfire destroyed our house'
Sandy and Uttam Shiralkar face a two-year wait to rebuild their home Treasured photos of family members, destroyed forever - those are among the key possessions which Sandy and Uttam Shiralkar say they will never hold again. They were among the 19 families who lost their homes when two fires started accidentally and tore through dry grass and into their estate in Stourbridge, in the West Midlands, on the hottest day of the year. "We have lost 20, 30 years of memories. They may be there in the mind but you can't share them with others," Uttam admitted. He was working from home on 13 August when he first noticed the smell of smoke, at first thinking someone was having a barbecue. How did some houses survive the Stourbridge fire while neighbours lost everything? Within minutes he was forced to flee from the house with only the clothes he was wearing along with his car keys. The next time the couple were allowed to return to the home, which they had lived in for 19 years, was four days later, to bad the damage was. "It was a shock, it is true, we have lost our house," Uttam remembered "Our photographs, we had everything in the house, gone," Sandy added. This video can not be played Aerial footage shows their house being engulfed in flames They have been told it would take up to two years for their house to be rebuilt. "My reaction was, 'I built it from scratch and now it is all gone and I don't want to go there again, at our stage of life, and maybe just go somewhere else'," Sandy admitted. But they now say they will rebuild, although getting over the fire will take them a lot longer than two years. Sandy described it as the "biggest event of my life so far... after my father's death." For the past month, the couple have been living out of their car boot with what little possessions they have. It has felt like being a "nomadic tribe moving from one place to another", Uttam added, as they stayed with friends at first then relocated to a local hotel. They will move into a temporary home this weekend. The Shiralkar's home was completely destroyed , Uttam remembered that he decided to go outside, after smelling smoke, to check what was happening. Returning, a police officer stopped him and told him there was a fire evacuation taking place and he needed to leave. "At that time I must admit I didn't grasp the severity of the situation.
World News
View All 10Is the US more anti-Muslim now than after 9/11?
Twenty-five years after 9/11, negative perceptions of Islam persist even as Muslim political representation grows. Al Jazeera’s Noor Wazwaz looks at what has and hasn’t changed for Muslims in the US.
Iran strikes U.S. jets after Trump promises war to end after midterms
New Updates PM At U. N. meeting, Yemen seeks international support in its conflict with Houthis Yemen's special envoy to the United Nations called on support from the international community after the Iran-backed Houthi militant group seized control of the Red Sea port city of Mokha. "This renewed war should alarm us all," Hans Grundberg, the U. N. special envoy for Yemen, warned at an emergency meeting of the U. Security Council on Thursday. "It effectively marks the end of the relative calm that Yemen has experienced for over four years since the U. N.-brokered truce," Grundberg said. He called on the international community to address this "new and more dangerous phase – one whose consequences, if left unchecked, will not stay within Yemen's borders." Yemen's U. Ambassador Abdullah Al-Saadi said a single Yemen state with a monopoly on weapons that has sovereignty throughout the country, which the government is seeking, is "a fundamental guarantee" for security for Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the region. He called on the Security Council to condemn the Houthis' military escalation and to implement measures "prohibiting the supply of arms, components, technology, and military expertise to the militia" which are fueling the conflict. Ambassador Abdulaziz Alwasil said that the kingdom remains supportive of peace in Yemen but that it would "take all measures necessary to deter Houthi attacks." Alwasil warned that "the kingdom's commitment to de-escalation and to supporting a political solution must not be allowed to become an opportunity that this militia exploits to continue its attacks and to threaten the security of the kingdom and the region." At the U. Minister Counselor Jenifer Neidhart warned that those who enable the escalation of Houthi attacks "bear responsibility for its consequences." Neidhart called for stronger implementation of U. N. sanctions against the militants to cut off "the resources that sustain their acts of terrorism." PM / September 10, 2026 Diesel prices nearing $6 a gallon for the first time ever Diesel prices in the U. S. are barreling toward a painful new milestone for the transportation industry: $6 a gallon, a surge experts said is likely to have ripple effects for consumers as businesses pass on their higher energy costs. The national average for a gallon of diesel on Thursday rose to almost $5.98, up 61% from $3.71 a year ago, according to data from AAA. Diesel is widely used in trucking and rail, affecting the cost of transporting goods around the U.
Hundreds flee as fire destroys migrant shelters in Ceuta
Hundreds of people fled a massive fire that destroyed dozens of migrant shelters in Ceuta, Spain. Authorities reported no casualties and are investigating whether the blaze was deliberately set.
Vance, Eying 2028, Relishes the Spotlight at Trump’s Convention
The vice president, widely seen as a potential White House candidate, sought to use his speech in Dallas to show a more personal side to the MAGA faithful.
Politics
View All 10Trump’s Grand Midterm Convention Finale: ‘I’m a Little Bit Tired of Politics’
The president made clear as his midterm convention wrapped up that he wants to carry his party through a tough midterms. He just won’t go too far out of his way to do it.
Rayner defends pause to local council overhaul
Angela Rayner has defended her decision to pause plans to redraw local council boundaries, saying she wanted to ensure they would survive legal challenge. The local government secretary also told the BBC she wanted to be "clear-eyed" about what the planned shake-up in 16 areas of England was likely to achieve. It comes after earlier this week she abandoned proposals in four other areas, in the face of legal threats from Reform and Conservative-led authorities. The surprise announcement on Monday has thrown the reorganisation plans into doubt, and drawn criticism from local leaders preparing for the changes. Councils in affected areas have been drawing up proposals and consulting with residents since the reorganisation was announced in late 2024, in a process that is already thought to have cost millions of pounds. Speaking to the BBC's Political Thinking with Nick Robinson podcast, Rayner conceded the decision to press pause had been "difficult" and she understood local authorities had put a "lot of time and effort" into their plans. But she added she wanted to have "all the information" about the proposals before going ahead with them, after her reappointment to her cabinet role under Andy Burnham, ten months after her resignation last year. "I got the legal advice and I hadn't had the time to review and to go through all of that, and court cases were looming," she told the podcast. "If I'm making a decision that is highly likely to be in legal challenge, I want to make sure I've dotted my i's and crossed my t's," she added. Rayner also said she wanted was "really clear-eyed on where we were going" with the plans, after Burnham had asked her to look again at the blueprints, which were announced . Plans for major overhaul of councils halted Council to take government to court over reforms In her announcement on Monday, Rayner said she was withdrawing plans to reorganise councils in Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Those proposals, announced in March, were already subject to legal challenges from Reform-led councils in Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk, and the Conservative-led administration in Hampshire, which were lodged over the summer. She also said she wanted to review plans for 16 other areas, including 14 announced . Some councils affected , including Kent and Leicestershire, had threatened similar bids to challenge the lawfulness of the decision-making process. The government has argued that the plans, which will abolish remaining two-tier areas in England where county and district councils share responsibility for services, would make local government more effective and cost efficient.
RNC finale ‘all about Vance’ as GOP base looks to 2028
Vice President Vance roused the closing night crowd at the Republican National Committee’s Dallas convention amid growing chatter about his 2028 prospects. The Thursday night keynote — interrupted at one point with chants of “48” — offered the vice president a chance to charm the base that will be critical if he decides to run…
Drei Szenarien für einen Kanzlertausch
Listen on Spotify Apple Music Amazon Music Neun Tage vor den Wahlen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern und Berlin schrillen im Konrad-Adenauer-Haus die Alarmglocken. Angesichts historisch schlechter Umfragewerte analysieren Rixa Fürsen und Hans von der Burchard die politische Zukunft von Friedrich Merz. Im Raum stehen drei konkrete Szenarien für eine mögliche Machtablösung. Vom freiwilligen Rücktritt bis zum konstruktiven Misstrauensvotum. Im 200-Sekunden-Interview stellt sich der CDU-Spitzenkandidat in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Daniel Peters, der drängenden Vertrauensfrage. Er erklärt, warum die Partei trotz drohender Einstelligkeit an ihrem Kurs festhalten will und welche Rolle die Polarisierung durch SPD-Ministerpräsidentin Manuela Schwesig im aktuellen Wahlkampf spielt. Zudem richtet sich der Blick auf den 25. Jahrestag der Terroranschläge vom 11. Aus Washington ordnet Jonathan Martin ein, wie das historische Trauma die amerikanische Gesellschaft bis heute prägt und welche tiefgreifenden Auswirkungen dieses Erbe auf die aktuelle Politik von Donald Trump hat. Das Berlin Playbook als Podcast gibt es jeden Morgen ab 5 Uhr. Rixa Fürsen, Maximilian Stascheit und das POLITICO-Team liefern Politik zum Hören – kompakt, international, hintergründig. Für alle Hauptstadt-Profis: Der Berlin Playbook- bietet jeden Morgen die wichtigsten Themen und Einordnungen. POLITICO Deutschland – ein Angebot der Axel Springer Deutschland GmbH Axel-Springer-Straße 65, 10888 Berlin Tel: +49 (30) 2591 0 [email protected] Sitz: Amtsgericht Berlin-Charlottenburg, HRB 196159 B USt-IdNr: DE 214 852 390 Geschäftsführer: Christoph Eck-Schmidt, Carolin Hulshoff Pol, Mathias Sanchez Luna
Business
View All 10Bessent’s intervention risks damaging BoJ’s credibility, bankers warn
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Bathla Crisis Prompts Australia Regulator to Ask Banks on Credit
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FirstFT: Bessent fails to break bond market ‘fever’
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Private equity’s ‘Waiting for Godot’ era continues
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Technology
View All 10Ulta Promo Codes: Up to 20% Off in September 2026
Save StorySave this story Save StorySave this story 50% off Daily & Weekly Beauty Steals One of the best ways to save regularly on both small, everyday purchases and bigger beauty tech and tools is ’s weekly and daily sales. With Ulta’s Daily & Weekly Beauty Steals, you’ll find up to 50% off everything from perfume to facial cleansers to makeup essentials. You can save major coin on brands like Ralph Lauren, Murad, Bumble & Bumble, and more. All you need to do is download the Ulta app (fo’ free), by texting "Beauty" to 95637. From there, you’ll get an Ulta promo code APP15 sent to you to use for 15% off your next purchase. Plus, with the Ulta app, you’ll be able to virtually try on thousands of beauty products with GLAMlab, use the Ulta Foundation Matcher to virtually match your skin tone to find your best shade match, and an AI-powered analysis of your skin to get customized skin care recommendations. Plus, Ulta app members get exclusive in-app features, offers, and deals. You’ll also be able to monitor your membership rewards status and points, and get notified of app-exclusive deals, discounts, brand offers and more. And with the handy bar code scanner, shopping has never been easier—you can scan any product’s bar code to see information on ingredients and product reviews. When you’re an Ulta member, you’ll get 1 point for every $1 spent and birthday perks. Courtesy of Amazon Save to wishlistSave to wishlist Conair InfinitiPRO r Hair Dryer Ulta Promo Code: Get 10% Off When You You can instantly score 10% off your order when you text alerts. Text “ULTA” to 95637, and you should receive a one-time use discount code for online purchases only. There are a couple of brand exclusions, like Chanel, and you can’t use the discount on Black Friday deals, so make sure to read the fine print. Photograph: Verity Burns Photograph: Verity Burns Photograph: Verity Burns Chevron Chevron Save to wishlistSave to wishlist Shark CryoGlow LED Face Mask Courtesy of Sephora Save to wishlistSave to wishlist Shark SpeedStyle Pro Flex Hair Dryer System Use Ulta Beauty Rewards for Ulta Discounts The Ulta Beauty Rewards program is free to join and offers many perks with minimal effort required from you. First, you earn points for every dollar you spend. The program has multiple tiers: as a standard member, you earn 1 point per dollar; platinum members earn 1.25 points, and diamond members earn 1.5 points.
Home Depot Promo Codes: 30% Off in September 2026
Save up to 50% today with the latest Home Depot promo codes for appliances, power tools, and more this September.
Say Hello To $6 Diesel
Tech News Say Hello To $6 Diesel Diesel is reaching latte prices. Chat is this okay? 10, 2026, pm ET Reading time 2 minutes President Donald Trump mimics firing a gun as he speaks about the conflict in Iran in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on April 6, 2026, in Washington, DC. © Photo / AFP via Read Later Read Later Comments (10) Cue another milestone in your favorite president’s forever war-you’re-not-allowed-to-call-a-war in Iran! The average price of diesel across the country is now $6 a gallon, with no end to the trend in sight. This is the third time this week diesel has set a record. At least five gas stations in California surpassed $9.999 a gallon for diesel on Thursday, GasBuddy analyst Patrick de Haan tweeted. That’s the maximum price their signs can display. Crude oil futures are now in the $102.48 a barrel to $107.63 a barrel range, according to Reuters. Nearly everything gets more expensive when diesel does—food, consumer goods, cars, electronics, you name it. According to a Brown University tracker, increased diesel prices alone have cost U. S. households a cumulative $46.61 billion, or around $355. That’s not much less than gasoline, which is $56.42 billion. “In a span of five months, we’ve seen diesel prices more than double. It has rocked our cash flows,” Oasis Energy’s Alex Ryan told Reuters. “There’s gotta be a tipping point, I just don’t know when or where it’s going to be.” The ongoing war with Iran and U. S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz that Donald Trump kicked off in late February 2026 has put a stranglehold on oil prices. Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group, recently offered the plausible theory that it’s taken so long for oil prices to rise in part because markets adopted an “optimism bias” that Trump would reach a deal sooner rather than later. If so, this week’s developments show little reason for continued optimism. Trump promised the war would end immediately following a Republican victory in the November midterm elections, thus acknowledging the Strait won’t be opening up for at least two more months. According to The Atlantic, actual U. S. military posture in the region is far more suggestive of a “sustained presence” with the “option of escalation.” Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported this week that Vice President J. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and other top advisors have repeatedly warned Trump behind the scenes that the war may continue through his last day in office.
Sam Altman: Please Let OpenAI Into the Energy Grid
Artificial Intelligence Sam Altman: Please Let OpenAI Into the Energy Grid Altman pitches OpenAI as solution to malicious AI, just weeks after the company's AI agents hacked Hugging Face. 10, 2026, pm ET Reading time 2 minutes OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. © BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI via Getty Read Later Read Later Comments (7) OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has held meetings with officials from major power companies about electrical grid security—and surprise, surprise, his proposed solution to AI-powered hackers is more AI, Politico reported. The meetings between Altman and industry execs began in late July 2026 and are ongoing, according to Politico, including a discussion at an Edison Electric Institute meetup in Colorado Springs, Colorado this week. The list of companies present to hear Altman pitch OpenAI’s Daybreak security model included Duke Energy, Exelon, Southern Co. and NextEra Energy. Many critical infrastructure entities across the country rely on operational technology that is decades old, and was never designed with cybersecurity in mind. Modern systems often don’t fare much better. If those systems are reachable via the internet, whether via modernization or accident, they can become juicy targets for hackers. A recent report from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers and General Dynamics Information Technology emphasized that many state and local utilities lack the scale to have dedicated security staff. Ninety percent of state government CIOs said cyberattacks on critical services are one of their top concerns. OpenAI official John McCarrick, head of global energy policy, told Politico the company realizes infrastructure entities are “different from the big banks,” because regulations limit rate increases. Utilities are generally mandated to sell electricity at fixed rates with no markup for profit, meaning they can’t jack up the price to pay for arbitrary tech expenditures. On the flip side, whenever demand outstrips supply, they can punt the increased cost directly to customers. OpenAI’s own industry is a key driver of this. Electricity prices managed to rise 267% in areas near AI data center hubs over the years 2020 to 2025, according to a Bloomberg/DC Byte analysis. AI-powered cybersecurity products often market themselves as the only solution to AI-powered threat actors (note the circular relationship). Altman is perhaps not the wisest pick of vendors, given just weeks ago a swarm of OpenAI bots escaped a sandbox and hacked competitor Hugging Face. Frontier models like Anthropic’s access-limited Mythos have allegedly demonstrated abilities stretching beyond vulnerability detection into uncanny territory like chaining exploits in novel ways, so AI boosters might have a point in this instance.
Science
View All 10Species 'at risk of vanishing' from area of Wales' largest national park
Nant Ffrancon is one of the most special and unique landscapes in Wales but experts say its habitats have deteriorated Some of Wales' most endangered species are "at risk of vanishing" from an area of the country's largest national park, experts have warned. The National Trust said Nant Ffrancon, a valley in Eryri National Park, was facing "serious ecological decline" with some species in danger of disappearing altogether, including the mountain blackbird and the mountain finch. Now, a new £1m scheme is aiming to restore and conserve more than 4,000 acres of habitats at Eryri, also known as Snowdonia. "We're in a very serious situation - we're in a nature emergency. There are so many species in this valley which are on the brink of extinction," said Simon Rogers from the National Trust. From the high peaks of Cwm Idwal to the deep valleys of Dyffryn Ogwen, Nant Ffrancon is one of the most special and unique landscapes in Wales. But experts say its habitat has deteriorated and some of Wales' most threatened species, including the ring ouzel bird, are in danger of disappearing altogether. Now, a project led , tenant farmers and volunteers to restore and protect 4,040 acres of habitats. Rogers said there was a "unique variety of habitats" in the area and warned many species "really are on the brink". That's three through the whole of Wales, so they're at a very real risk of extinction if we don't do something about it." Tufted Saxifrage is an alpine flower which has suffered due to the summer's drought Another project which will benefit is Tlysau Mynydd Eryri (Mountain Jewels of Eryri), part of a conservation partnership led . Ecological surveys and regular monitoring will map the impact of the restoration work, using species such as the woodcock and otter, and plants including aspen and juniper to give an idea of the health of the valley. The work will also build on innovative use of GPS livestock collars to manage grazing more precisely. Cwm Idwal Partnership Officer Rhys Wheldon-Roberts said monitoring was "really important because it allows us to graze in the right areas at the right densities and at the right time".
New hurricane season record as 'historic' El Niño leaves Atlantic eerily quiet
The shoreline in Galveston, Texas during a tropical storm warning on June 17, 2026 in Galveston, Texas A new hurricane season record is likely to be set this week as a historic and still strengthening El Niño stifles tropical development in the Atlantic. To date, no hurricanes have formed in the basin, despite this week marking the peak of the season on average - and there's no sign of development in the near future. It means a new record is likely to be set for the latest date in the satellite era (1960s onward) without an Atlantic hurricane forming. Currently, the record is 11 September, set in 2002 and 2013. In an average season, there would have been eight named tropical storms and three hurricanes . This year, however, there have only been five tropical storms: Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly and Edouard. With few indications that there will be any development in the next week, this will mean the longest stretch into in a season where no hurricane has formed in the modern satellite era. Graph shows how active hurricanes and tropical storms are through the year with the climatological peak in activity occuring on 10 September In the eastern Pacific, where El Nino tends to strengthen hurricane activity, it has been fairly active season so far. There have been 13 named storms including five hurricanes, three of which were major. This is close to the number that would typically develop in the whole of an average season. The latest, major hurricane Lowell, hit Hawaii this week with damaging winds, flooding rain and high waves. Forecasters predicted the Atlantic hurricane season would be quieter than average. In May, the National Hurricane Center forecast a total of eight to 14 named storms, three to six of which would become hurricanes, including one to three major hurricanes. The reason for this below-average forecast is El Niño. While El Niño is the natural warming of the tropical Pacific, it can disrupt weather patterns around the globe. In a typical hurricane season, upper winds over the Atlantic increase and this leads to more wind shear, where wind changes rapidly with height. Increased wind shear rips apart thunderstorms, preventing them from growing into tropical storms or hurricanes. El Niño is already on track to be one of the strongest on record, expected to peak in November or December. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration has said this El Niño will most likely be 'historic', exceeding the strength of previous El Niño events dating back to 1950.
This summer was hot. August shattered global heat records
August marks the hottest month globally Scientists say that August was the hottest month ever recorded globally. S., summer temperatures also shattered heat records. Climate This summer was hot. August shattered global heat records September 10, 20265:30 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered By Ava Berger Hot Summer Days Listen · Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www. npr. org/player/embed/nx-s1-5963899/nx-s1-9921526" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript People cool themselves with an ice-cold water bottle from a water station during the Great American State Fair on the National Mall on July 2, 2026 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/ North America hide caption toggle caption Alex Wong/ North America If you thought this summer felt hotter than normal, you were right. Temperatures around the world were unusually warm, surpassing several heat records, including in the U. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration this week announced that for the Lower 48 states, this summer– from June to August– was the warmest in 132 years of record-keeping. Globally, August ties with July 2023 as the hottest month on record, according to the European climate service, Copernicus Climate Change Service. Climate Did climate change cause this heat wave? Most likely, and here's why In August, global temperatures exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, according to Copernicus. That's a key climate threshold agreed to 2015. Record high sea surface temperatures were also seen across the Pacific Ocean as the climate pattern El Niño began to develop. Francesca Guglielmo, a senior scientist at the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said while "every record is always shocking in a way," the numbers are not a surprise. It's a trend scientists have been observing for years. "Measures need to be undertaken to try to mitigate as much as possible," Guglielmo said. Global temperatures in August averaged 62.53 degrees Fahrenheit, Copernicus data shows. "What we're feeling is not some regional heat anomaly, but a hotter climate all over the globe," said Alexander Gershunov, a research meteorologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. "We're not the only ones who are feeling it: ask the Europeans, the Japanese, everybody is feeling the heat this summer." August averaged 75.6 degrees Fahrenheit in the Lower 48 states, making it the warmest August on record. Daytime maximum temperatures also reached 88.6 degrees Fahrenheit on average, another record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Drought also covered almost 60% of the U.
The Summer Triangle — 3 stars, 1 seasonal mystery
Yet there, still commanding the overhead darkness, are Vega, Altair, and Deneb — the three brilliant stars of the famous Summer Triangle. Their familiar pattern can make the season feel as though it is lingering above us, even as cooler nights and earlier sunsets suggest otherwise. In fact, even as late as mid-November, the Triangle is still nearly overhead soon after sunset at dusk. That contrast raises a simple but intriguing question: if this bright celestial landmark remains so prominent well into autumn, why do we still call it the Summer Triangle? Why not simply call it the Autumn Triangle? Why it belongs to summer The answer lies not in the calendar, but in how the Triangle moves across the sky over the course of a summer night. The chief reason is that, at this time of year, the Triangle does not remain visible all night. By dawn, it has begun to drop beyond the west-northwest horizon. During summer, by contrast, it remains with us from dusk until dawn: already evident in the east-northeast at nightfall, near overhead around the middle of the night, and descending in the west-northwest as daybreak approaches. A matter of distance and brightness The stars that compose the Triangle — Vega, Altair, and Deneb — lie at very unequal distances from us, so their apparent brightness can give a misleading impression of their true luminosity. The closest of the three is Altair, 16.7 light-years away, followed 25 light-years. Deneb, however, is vastly farther off, at roughly 1,600 light-years, though various sources place it between 1,400 and 2,600 light-years. Even though we see Deneb , it still shines at first magnitude (+1.3, to be exact) because it is a brilliant blue supergiant, at least 55,000 times brighter than the sun. But their apparent superiority is largely a consequence of distance: Vega and Altair are only a few dozen light-years away, while Deneb lies well over a thousand light-years from Earth. Compared with the stellar lighthouse of Deneb, Vega and Altair are, comparatively speaking, penlight flashlights. How to say "Vega" Before continuing with this discussion about the Summer Triangle, it is worth pausing briefly on the pronunciation of Vega, a point that became especially noticeable after the 1997 science fiction drama Contact. Based on Carl Sagan's 1985 novel, the film follows astronomer Dr. Ellie Arroway, played , as she discovers a radio signal from Vega containing a sequence of prime numbers. Throughout the film, the star is pronounced "Vey-gah," perhaps echoing Chevrolet's Vega, the subcompact automobile sold in the 1970s.
Environment
View All 10Florida Proposes Stronger Protections for Sloths After Dozens Died at a Tourism Attraction
Florida’s wildlife agency has proposed new rules to strengthen protections for sloths imported into the state, four months after an Inside Climate News investigation revealed dozens of wild sloths from South America died at a planned Orlando tourism attraction. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission already requires individuals and businesses in Florida to obtain […]
Chemours to Pay $455 Million for Fayetteville Works Contamination
This story is a collaboration between Inside Climate News and CityView NC, part of The Assembly Local Network. North Carolina and a handful of local governments agreed to settle with Chemours over its pollution in the eastern part of the state, the parties announced on Thursday. The company will pay the state and 11 entities […]
NHS reports busiest ever summer as heatwaves drive up hospital admissions
A&E attendances in June, July and August reached nearly 7.3m, the highest ever over a summer period, NHS England said. Photograph: Jeff Moore/PA View image in fullscreen A&E attendances in June, July and August reached nearly 7.3m, the highest ever over a summer period, NHS England said. Photograph: Jeff Moore/PA NHS reports busiest ever summer as heatwaves drive up hospital admissions Record demand for A&E units, ambulance services and NHS 111 shows extreme heat having unprecedented impact on health, experts say The NHS came under its most intense strain ever as a result of the summer’s five heatwaves, amid warnings that extreme heat is having an unprecedented impact on human health. A&E units, ambulance services and the NHS 111 telephone advice line all experienced record demand for their services in England in June, July and August as Britain experienced record temperatures. NHS England’s latest performance statistics, published on Thursday, prompted claims that the growing climate emergency has left the NHS with a “twin crisis” as it struggles to meet patients’ need for care in the summer as well as winter. “Extreme heat is now an NHS pressure point, not just a weather story,” said Sarah Woolnough, the chief executive of the King’s Fund health thinktank. “The NHS is now facing a twin crisis, with summer joining winter as a major pressure on services and leaving little room for staff and the system to recover between peak periods. Almost 75% of A&E staff in UK face violence or aggression daily or weekly “One major factor is climate change. As its effects become more pronounced and record-breaking heatwaves become more frequent, the impacts on people’s health and our health system are becoming more obvious,” she added. Almost 7.3 million people attended A&E units in England in June, July and August – the highest number ever seen in the summer. The total of 7,268,445 attendances was 240,000 more than the 7,027,384 who attended in the same months in 2025, NHS England said. Almost a million more people sought help at A&E this summer than in the same period in 2022. It was a similar picture with other key NHS services. There was also a record number of ambulance callouts this summer – 2.46m, up from 2.32m in the same period last year. And NHS 111 answered just over 3m calls over the summer months – more than 100,000 up year-on-year. “Despite a scorching summer which has tested the NHS like never before and seen demand rocket to record levels, staff have risen magnificently to the challenge to deliver for patients”, said Prof Frankie Swords, NHS England’s national medical director.
English winemakers expect ‘vintage year’ after record-breaking summer heat
Nyetimber vineyard in West Chiltington. Photograph: Bloomberg/ View image in fullscreen Nyetimber vineyard in West Chiltington. Photograph: Bloomberg/ English winemakers expect ‘vintage year’ after record-breaking summer heat Hot weather means sweeter grapes, but outlook gloomier for beermakers, as drought diminishes barley harvest English sparkling winemakers expect their earliest grape harvest and a “vintage year” after a scorching summer quickly ripened grapes. However, beer sellers have warned of a potential shortage after record-breaking temperatures and a drought hitting much of England has caused poor yields of barley. Nyetimber, which was the first producer in England to grow pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier exclusively for sparkling wine, has 11 vineyards in West Sussex, Kent and Hampshire. It has announced it will begin picking grapes on 14 September for this year’s harvest, the earliest since the company planted its first vines in 1988. The winemaker’s next earliest harvest was in 2018, when the first grape was picked on 19 September. Nyetimber said this harvest, for which it has recruited 500 pickers, will yield almost 2,500 tonnes of grapes, which could result in more than 1.5 million bottles of sparkling wine being produced from the 2026 vintage. ‘It’s a sun trap’: climate crisis brings boomtime for British wine Because of the late spring frosts, it is expected the harvest will be slightly smaller than usual, but that the large number of sunny days this year will have concentrated the sugar in the grapes, meaning 2026 could be a vintage year. The company’s first vintage was Blanc de Blancs 1992, which won numerous wine prizes. Nyetimber’s head winemaker, Cherie Spriggs, said: “This year brings another unprecedented vintage as we begin harvesting earlier than ever. We are excited to taste the fruits of our labour, which as always has come with certain challenges: late spring frosts that affected almost 30% and the summer drought, which has decreased the size of certain berries. However, the hot and sunny weather has helped to balance out these factors, giving us strong potential for fantastic wine quality.” Though winemakers are celebrating, the outlook is gloomier for beer aficionados. Lisa Hogan, who runs the Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire with her partner, the TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson, has said there may be “less beer all around” after extreme weather led to a poor barley harvest. View image in fullscreen Diddly Squat Farm in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire is run . Photograph: Stephen Dorey/AlamyThis summer was the UK’s hottest on record, according to provisional Met Office data.
Weather
View All 5Today: Sunny Intervals, Minimum Temperature: 9°C (48°F) Maximum Temperature: 18°C (65°F)
Search for a location Search Manchester - Weather warnings issued 14-day forecast Red Met Office Weather WarningsAmber Met Office Weather WarningsYellow Met Office Weather Warnings Forecast - Manchester Day Today , Sunny intervals and light winds Sunny Intervals Sunny Intervals , High18° 65° Low9° 48° , Wind speed7 mph12 km/h W7 mph12 km/hwesterly Sunny intervals and light winds Saturday 12th SeptemberSat 12th , Heavy rain and a gentle breeze Heavy Rain Heavy Rain , High20° 68° Low15° 59° , Wind speed9 mph14 km/h SW9 mph14 km/hsouth-westerly Heavy rain and a gentle breeze Sunday 13th SeptemberSun 13th , Light cloud and light winds Light Cloud Light Cloud , High20° 68° Low13° 55° , Wind speed5 mph8 km/h W5 mph8 km/hwesterly Light cloud and light winds Monday 14th SeptemberMon 14th , Light rain and a gentle breeze Light Rain Light Rain , High22° 71° Low14° 58° , Wind speed9 mph14 km/h SW9 mph14 km/hsouth-westerly Light rain and a gentle breeze Tuesday 15th SeptemberTue 15th , Light rain showers and a gentle breeze Light Rain Showers Light Rain Showers , High18° 64° Low11° 52° , Wind speed11 mph18 km/h W11 mph18 km/hwesterly Light rain showers and a gentle breeze Wednesday 16th SeptemberWed 16th , Light rain showers and a gentle breeze Light Rain Showers Light Rain Showers , High17° 63° Low12° 54° , Wind speed9 mph15 km/h W9 mph15 km/hwesterly Light rain showers and a gentle breeze Thursday 17th SeptemberThu 17th , Light rain and a gentle breeze Light Rain Light Rain , High17° 63° Low11° 52° , Wind speed11 mph18 km/h W11 mph18 km/hwesterly Light rain and a gentle breeze Friday 18th SeptemberFri 18th , Light rain and a gentle breeze Light Rain Light Rain , High18° 64° Low11° 53° , Wind speed9 mph14 km/h SW9 mph14 km/hsouth-westerly Light rain and a gentle breeze Saturday 19th SeptemberSat 19th , Light rain showers and a gentle breeze Light Rain Showers Light Rain Showers , High17° 63° Low10° 50° , Wind speed9 mph15 km/h SW9 mph15 km/hsouth-westerly Light rain showers and a gentle breeze Sunday 20th SeptemberSun 20th , Light rain and a gentle breeze Light Rain Light Rain , High18° 64° Low11° 51° , Wind speed9 mph14 km/h W9 mph14 km/hwesterly Light rain and a gentle breeze Monday 21st SeptemberMon 21st , Sunny intervals and a gentle breeze Sunny Intervals Sunny Intervals , High18° 64° Low10° 50° , Wind speed8 mph13 km/h W8 mph13 km/hwesterly Sunny intervals and a gentle breeze Tuesday 22nd SeptemberTue 22nd , Sunny and a gentle breeze Sunny Sunny , High18° 64° Low9° 48° , Wind speed8 mph13 km/h NW8 mph13 km/hnorth-westerly
Saturday: Heavy Rain, Minimum Temperature: 15°C (59°F) Maximum Temperature: 20°C (68°F)
Search for a location Search Manchester - Weather warnings issued 14-day forecast Red Met Office Weather WarningsAmber Met Office Weather WarningsYellow Met Office Weather Warnings Forecast - Manchester Day Today , Sunny intervals and light winds Sunny Intervals Sunny Intervals , High18° 65° Low9° 48° , Wind speed7 mph12 km/h W7 mph12 km/hwesterly Sunny intervals and light winds Saturday 12th SeptemberSat 12th , Heavy rain and a gentle breeze Heavy Rain Heavy Rain , High20° 68° Low15° 59° , Wind speed9 mph14 km/h SW9 mph14 km/hsouth-westerly Heavy rain and a gentle breeze Sunday 13th SeptemberSun 13th , Light cloud and light winds Light Cloud Light Cloud , High20° 68° Low13° 55° , Wind speed5 mph8 km/h W5 mph8 km/hwesterly Light cloud and light winds Monday 14th SeptemberMon 14th , Light rain and a gentle breeze Light Rain Light Rain , High22° 71° Low14° 58° , Wind speed9 mph14 km/h SW9 mph14 km/hsouth-westerly Light rain and a gentle breeze Tuesday 15th SeptemberTue 15th , Light rain showers and a gentle breeze Light Rain Showers Light Rain Showers , High18° 64° Low11° 52° , Wind speed11 mph18 km/h W11 mph18 km/hwesterly Light rain showers and a gentle breeze Wednesday 16th SeptemberWed 16th , Light rain showers and a gentle breeze Light Rain Showers Light Rain Showers , High17° 63° Low12° 54° , Wind speed9 mph15 km/h W9 mph15 km/hwesterly Light rain showers and a gentle breeze Thursday 17th SeptemberThu 17th , Light rain and a gentle breeze Light Rain Light Rain , High17° 63° Low11° 52° , Wind speed11 mph18 km/h W11 mph18 km/hwesterly Light rain and a gentle breeze Friday 18th SeptemberFri 18th , Light rain and a gentle breeze Light Rain Light Rain , High18° 64° Low11° 53° , Wind speed9 mph14 km/h SW9 mph14 km/hsouth-westerly Light rain and a gentle breeze Saturday 19th SeptemberSat 19th , Light rain showers and a gentle breeze Light Rain Showers Light Rain Showers , High17° 63° Low10° 50° , Wind speed9 mph15 km/h SW9 mph15 km/hsouth-westerly Light rain showers and a gentle breeze Sunday 20th SeptemberSun 20th , Light rain and a gentle breeze Light Rain Light Rain , High18° 64° Low11° 51° , Wind speed9 mph14 km/h W9 mph14 km/hwesterly Light rain and a gentle breeze Monday 21st SeptemberMon 21st , Sunny intervals and a gentle breeze Sunny Intervals Sunny Intervals , High18° 64° Low10° 50° , Wind speed8 mph13 km/h W8 mph13 km/hwesterly Sunny intervals and a gentle breeze Tuesday 22nd SeptemberTue 22nd , Sunny and a gentle breeze Sunny Sunny , High18° 64° Low9° 48° , Wind speed8 mph13 km/h NW8 mph13 km/hnorth-westerly
Super El Niño Builds a Strong Hurricane Shield for the United States, Lasting Into October
A powerful Super El Niño continues to build in the Pacific. This creates what I call an atmospheric hurricane shield for the United States, lowering the overall risk of Atlantic hurricane development and U. This comes from the latest analysis and forecast data, which show a hostile setup for Atlantic hurricane development: sinking air, record-strong wind shear, and lack of moisture, all keeping the 2026 season exceptionally quiet near its seasonal peak. In this article, I will look at the latest Atlantic and Pacific signals, how they are changing the global atmosphere, and what the forecasts show for the rest of hurricane season and the United States landfall risk. I will also look at why a quieter hurricane season can offer early clues about Winter 2026/2027 patterns, and even a Polar Vortex connection. Super El Niño 2026: From the Pacific Into the Atmosphere Ocean anomalies play a very important role in the global weather system. Pacific temperature anomalies are known to directly affect hurricane season and thus the United States. The best-known and most influential area is the large ENSO region in the tropical Pacific, which shifts between warm (El Niño) and cold (La Niña) phases. We are currently in a growing strong El Niño phase. The image below shows the typical atmospheric circulation during an El Niño event: Rising air in the central and eastern Pacific increases precipitation and lowers pressure over that region. At the same time, descending air in the western Pacific produces stable weather and high-pressure conditions. This creates a strong impact on tropical rainfall and pressure patterns, affecting the ocean-atmosphere feedback system. It then extends across the whole tropical region and from there toward both poles, making this a planetary-scale event. Below is my latest ocean analysis, created from NOAA-CRW data. You can see significant warm anomalies across the tropical Pacific area (ENSO region), with peak anomalies exceeding 7°C (12.6°F) above normal in the eastern regions. This is a very strong event unfolding, with strong seasonal impacts expected to follow. In the image below, we can also NCEP CFSv2 model forecast, which shows this event reaching and exceeding the Super El Niño threshold. You can also see that it is forecast to exceed the last 3 Super El Niño events . This is already evident in the analysis above, which shows a very strong event. To be recognized as a Super event, sustained seasonal values must exceed +2 degrees, which we have already passed.
Weatherwatch: AI model beats standard methods at predicting cyclones
The aftermath of Cyclone Gezani in Toamasina, Madagascar, in February. AI forecasting systems could give residents an extra day of warning of extreme storms. Photograph: Zo Andrianjafy/Reuters View image in fullscreen The aftermath of Cyclone Gezani in Toamasina, Madagascar, in February. AI forecasting systems could give residents an extra day of warning of extreme storms. Photograph: Zo Andrianjafy/Reuters Weatherwatch: AI model beats standard methods at predicting cyclones Artificial intelligence system delivers a three-day forecast as accurate as previous two-day predictions Google’s WeatherNext AI model is better than existing systems at forecasting cyclones, according to a paper published in Nature. The AI-based technology gives an extra day of warning, providing a three-day forecast for hurricanes or typhoons that is as accurate as previous two-day predictions. But this is just one AI tool transforming weather forecasting, part of a gradual shift that has been gaining momentum over the past year. Numerical forecasting dates back more than a century to Weather Prediction , a book , who was a pioneering Met Office mathematician. At that time, the calculations had to be carried out by hand. It took more than six weeks to generate a daily forecast, making the method impractical until the introduction of computers. Even with modern supercomputers, processing power can still be a limiting factor. AI sidesteps this, because rather than having to make detailed calculations like physics models, it develops predictions based on patterns learned from training data. AI-based systems now rival conventional models for forecasting on several scales, especially longer-term predictions. And while they are not necessarily superior, they can produce comparable forecasts faster and at lower cost. There is resistance to AI in many areas. In weather forecasting though, it is generally being welcomed as a useful new capability.
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