Snow Warning As Met Office Issues Alert

The Met Office has issued a weekend weather warning with snow expected to blanket most of England.

The Level 2 Alert warns there is a high risk of severe cold, icy and snow conditions between Saturday morning and next Tuesday.

The alert highlights all of England as being at risk.

Sky News weather presenter Isobel Lang said temperatures will plummet on Saturday, heightening the risk of sleet or snow.

"Outbreaks of rain across southern Britain will turn to sleet or snow," she said.

"At this stage around 5cm to 10cm (2in to 4in) of snow is possible over more hilly areas with nearer 2cm to 5cm over some low-lying areas later. Some snow may fall in London."

She added: "Some more significant snow is possible into Monday, and this could bring disruption across central and eastern Britain - so keep an eye on the forecast."

The Level 2 Alert issued by the Met Office

Sunday is likely to be even colder than Saturday. However it may be brighter although temperatures will remain just above freezing point.

The Met Office warned: "The snow event on Monday may bring 2cm to 5cm (0.75 to 2in) quite widely across England as it spreads southeastwards, with greater than 5cm falling over hills.

"This warning may be extended early next week."

The Met Office also warned of the dangers of cold ahead of the weekend, especially those who are most vulnerable.

It said: "Prolonged periods of cold weather can be dangerous, especially for the very young, very old or those with chronic diseases.

"If you want more information about how cold weather can affect your health please visit www.nhs.uk.

"If you are concerned about your health or somebody you care for, please contact NHS Direct on 0845 4647, www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk, or your local pharmacist."

A Level 2 Alert means there is a 60% risk of either heavy snow or widespread ice, or temperatures below 2C for 48 hours or longer.

The highest cold weather alert the Met Office can issue is Level 4, which is classified as a national emergency.

The RAC warned it was expecting up to 56,000 breakdowns and widespread disruption as the snow affects roads.

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Two Stabbed To Death In Birmingham City Centre

Two men have died after a double stabbing in Birmingham city centre, West Midlands police have said.

One victim is thought to have been stabbed outside a Sainsbury's store in Martineau Place, while the other was found slumped near a Boots store in Union Street with fatal injuries.

Officers administered first aid on both men - thought to be in their 40s - but both were pronounced dead at the scene just before 6pm.

Police have arrested a man in connection with the incident.

Inspector David Keen said: "Two men have suffered fatal injuries - these have been inflicted in the heart of the city at a busy time when workers and shoppers would be heading home.

"There are potentially hundreds of witnesses, either people who saw the stabbings or the offender leaving the scene, and I'd urge people to get in touch immediately - they could have vital information.

"A large police presence was quickly on the scene and a man was arrested swiftly."

Forensics and search experts have cordoned off several scenes in and around Union Street to preserve evidence.

A spokeswoman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: "Crews arrived to find two men who had been stabbed and were being given excellent first aid by police officers and passers-by.

"Both men went into cardiac arrest. Crews and the team of medics administered advanced life support to both men but sadly, despite the best efforts, nothing could be done to save them and they were confirmed dead on scene."

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101.

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Two Charged With Midnight Mass Murder

Two men have been charged with murdering the church organist Alan Greaves in Sheffield on Christmas Eve.

Ashley Foster, 21, and Jonathan Bowling, 22, have both been charged with the murder of Mr Greaves, a lay preacher, who was attacked just a few hundred metres from his home.

Mr Greaves, 68, was walking to St Saviour's Church at High Green, Sheffield, for midnight mass when his assailants struck.

The father-of-four died from the severe head injuries he suffered three days later.

South Yorkshire Police have made four arrests in connection with the murder.

Two other men, one in his 20s and one in his 40s, were arrested last month and have been bailed pending further inquiries.

Foster and Bowling will appear in court on Friday.

Mr Greaves' death shocked the community where he lived and more than 50 police officers were drafted in to help with the inquiry.

An inquest into Mr Greaves's death has been opened and adjourned by Sheffield Coroner Chris Dorries.

Mr Greaves's widow Maureen attended the short hearing.

At a service after her husband's death, Mrs Greaves said she had wept over the "evil that has been done".

She told the congregation of St Saviour's she had felt their love and support since her husband died.

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Adoption: 'Hotspots' Map Released To Cut Waits

A map showing the parts of England where most children are in need of adoptive parents has been published.

Education officials are concerned that prospective parents are often not being pointed to high-need areas if their own has few youngsters on its list.

The map is going online on the same day as a Government-funded hotline is launched offering advice from existing adopters on negotiating the process.

Children and families minister Edward Timpson said the initiatives should "arm would-be adopters with the information they need to approach any local area".

Rules allow people to apply to adopt from any part of the country.

Mr Timpson added: "We know many potential adopters out there can provide children with loving, stable homes but simply don't know where to start.

"These new tools will give many more people support in taking the first steps to adopting a child and giving them the chance to succeed in life."

But adoptive father Stevan Whitehead, from west London, told Sky News that the map is unlikely to have a big impact.

"It's not going to make any significant difference because it's not addressing the fundamental issues and problems in the overall adoption structure.

"We already know where all the children are. The problem is that local authorities are deterred from preparing sufficient adoptive parents," said Mr Whitehead, who is a trustee for the charity Adopt A Better Way.

The British Association of Social Workers branded the initiative a "gimmick aimed at 'exposing' an apparent world of local authority failure to find good homes for children".

"It is welcome to help signpost potential adopters to services that could help them to eventually take a child into their lives, but talk of 'hotspots', areas where children are spending the longest time 'waiting for new homes' is yet another example of this Government's simplistic approach to an incredibly complex subject," added BASW acting chief executive Bridget Robb.

The First4Adoption hotline can be accessed on 0300 222 0022 between 10am and 6pm Monday to Friday and the map can be accessed on the Department for Education website.

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Organist Murder Inquiry: Fourth Man Arrested

A fourth man has been arrested in connection with the killing of church organist Alan Greaves on Christmas Eve.

The lay preacher was making his way to Midnight Mass at St Saviour's Church, near his home in High Green, Sheffield, when he was attacked.

A 22-year-old man was arrested in Parson Cross, Sheffield, on suspicion of Mr Greaves' murder, South Yorkshire Police said.

It follows the arrest of a 21-year-old man from the High Green area of Sheffield on Tuesday night. He remains in custody.

Two other men, one in his 20s and one in his 40s, were arrested last month and have been bailed pending further inquiries.

Police said the arrest came thanks to the public response to an appeal on Monday, when they released CCTV footage of two men filmed just before Mr Greaves, a 68-year-old grandfather, was attacked as he went to the church a few hundred yards from his home.

The father-of-four died from severe head injuries three days later.

More than 50 police officers have been working on the case but detectives have been unable to establish a motive for the killing.

Independent charity Crimestoppers has put up a £10,000 reward to help find those responsible for his death.

At a memorial service after her husband's death, Mr Greaves' widow Maureen said she had wept over the "evil that has been done".

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MoD Overspends Equipment Budget By £6.5bn

The Ministry of Defence has overspent its equipment budget by £6.5bn and some of its major orders are likely to be delivered 39 years late.

The National Audit Office (NAO), in its latest report into the MoD's spending, has revealed that the 16 most costly projects, which originally totalled £56.5bn when they were approved and should have taken 159 years to deliver between them, now have a combined price tag of £61.1bn and will not be ready for a total of 195 years.

However, the good news is things are improving. This year's overspend is "only" £468m and most of that is due to the rising cost of fuel, though the NAO report author Tim Banfield said the defence buyers could do better.

He said: "What we see is too much turbulence in the projects, there's too much change, so if you look at the 16 projects this year that we are covering, 14 of them have got some change in cost or timescales in the last year.

"If you are the MoD trying to budget well, getting that kind of uncertainty and movement makes it very difficult to plan in the long term."

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the huge "blackhole" is a legacy of the MoD ordering during the last Labour Government.

He described a "conspiracy of optimism" between the MoD and contractors in the past and is adamant the current plans are "fully funded".

Mr Hammond likens balancing the defence budget to "turning round a supertanker".

"These are huge projects often delivered over periods of five, 10 even 15 years, often they've got legacies of poor management and financial control and getting this straight is a big task, but it's happening," he said.

The real big ticket items include £17bn for more Typhoon fighter jets, £12bn for transport aircraft, including refuelling tankers and £5.3bn for the two new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers.

The NAO says that delivery delays in air refuelling aircraft means there is likely to be too few to go around in the next three years, though Mr Hammond said he is already taking steps to prolong the life of the current air tankers by another six months to plug the gap.

The NAO has acknowledged that the lead time for some of these projects is so great and the costs difficult to accurately assess, but nevertheless thinks the MoD could get better at it.

It cites one smaller project for a communications system designed for troops in Afghanistan, which costs £32m but not will be ready until all UK forces are back home.

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Pensions 'Plunge Over £3,000 In Five Years'

People planning to retire this year expect to be living off the lowest average incomes recorded in six years, it has been claimed.

This year's retirees expect to have a typical annual income of £15,300, making them around £3,400 a year worse off than workers who retired in 2008, according to the Prudential.

The gap becomes much worse when taking into account the effects of inflation's erosion of people's household budgets.

Someone who retired last year would have needed an annual income of £21,400 to have the same spending power as an average person who entered retirement in 2008 on a typical income of £18,700, the Prudential said.

However the average amount private employees retired on last year was £15,500, leaving them £5,900 worse off in real terms than workers who retired in 2008.

Across Britain there is also a £5,700-a-year difference between the regions with the highest and the lowest anticipated incomes for people retiring this year.

Londoners expect to retire on an annual income of around £18,200 this year, while retirees in the West Midlands have the lowest anticipated incomes, at £12,500.

Post-financial crash, annuity rates have dropped 33% and wiped thousands of pounds off retirees' incomes in recent years, while pensioners have faced a perfect storm of high living costs and low returns on their savings.

Pensioners face high living costs and low returns on their savings

Experts also warned that possible changes to the way that Retail Price Index (RPI) is worked out could lead to more people being forced to put their retirement on hold due to the squeeze on their incomes.

Tom McPhail, head of pensions research at financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "For people approaching retirement, that is a huge blow to their expectations at a time when it is probably too late for them to do anything about it."

Hargreaves Lansdown said that a 65-year-old man with a £100,000 pension pot could have secured an annual income of £7,855 by buying an annuity in the summer of 2008 but if he was doing so in December 2012, that figure would have fallen to £5,338.

Quantitative easing (QE) has been blamed for pushing down annuity rates which set the size of someone's retirement income for life.

QE makes it cheaper for companies to borrow by pushing down the yield on government bonds, but annuity incomes are also based on these yields, meaning that new pensioners see their incomes reduced.

The Office for National Statistics has also been consulting on changes to the RPI and the recommendations from this will be announced on Thursday.

This trend downward is set to continue as baby boomers pass the age of 65, with 55% of 55 to 64-year-olds drawing a salary, compared with 41% in February 2010, Aviva has said.

Vince Smith Hughes, retirement expert at Prudential, said: "Those who are still working should think about saving as much as possible as early as possible to give themselves the best chance of building up a decent pension pot to help to ensure a comfortable retirement."

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Council Parking Charge Profits Attacked By IAM

Councils are making huge profits from parking charges while cutting road safety spending, according to new figures.

Councils in England took more than £411m in parking charges in 2011/12 - an increase of almost 15% on 2010/11, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) said.

Yet at the same time, the amount spent by councils on road safety, education and safe routes to schools, decreased by 18% to £105m, the IAM said.

It added that overall revenue spending on highways and transport reduced by 6% between 2010/11 and 2011/12, while capital expenditure (on construction, tarmac etc) reduced by an estimated 13%.

Peter Box, a councillor and chairman of the Local Government Association's economy and transport board, said: "With the number of cars on our roads increasing, it's more crucial than ever that parking is properly managed.

"Councils spend billions of pounds a year on transport services and are currently facing general budget cuts of up to 33% and a £442m reduction in their highways maintenance budget.

"This means they have far less to spend on roads and transport initiatives."

Local Government Minister Brandon Lewis said: "The analysis by the Institute is wrong.

"Income from on-street and off-street parking only rose by 3.7% in the last year, which is lower than the prevailing rate of inflation.

"The Institute have failed to adjust for the fact that councils have cut costs through efficiency savings."

The IAM said the top council "earners" from parking in 2011/12, all in London, were:

:: Westminster - up 8.7% from 2010/11 to £38m
:: Kensington and Chelsea - up 31% to £27.5m
:: Camden - up 18% to £25m

Outside London the biggest earners were:

:: Brighton and Hove - up 18.9% to £13.7m
:: Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire - up 9.3% to £6.5m
:: Newcastle upon Tyne - up 51% to £6.2m

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Man Charged After Girl's Car Chase Death

Police have charged a 32-year-old man with causing death by dangerous driving and other offences over a fatal collison which followed a police chase.

A 13-year-old girl died in the crash on Sunday, which involved a car being pursued by police in southeast London.

Devon Newell, from Peckham in southeast London, has been charged with five offences including causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and failing to stop for police.

Debris lies beside the road

He is also facing charges of failing to stop at the scene of an accident and driving without insurance or a license.

He is due to appear in Camberwell Green Magistrates Court onnTuesday via video link.

The teenage girl was travelling with her mother, father and brother when their Volkswagen Polo collided with a Peugeot 308 being chased by a marked police car.

The crash happened in southeast London near Millwall Football Club

The girl was in the rear of the Polo and died at the scene from her injuries, Scotland Yard said. Her parents and brother were taken to hospital. Their injuries were not thought to be serious.

The crash happened just before 6.30pm on Sunday in Ilderton Road, between New Cross and South Bermondsey and close to Millwall Football Club's stadium.

The Metropolitan Police said the chase began when the Peugeot triggered a "positive hit" on the police car's automatic number plate recognition system. The force said the police car involved had its blue lights and sirens on when the collision happened.

Commander Tony Eastaugh said: "An innocent family are now dealing with the tragic loss of a loved one.

"The Metropolitan Police has now begun a thorough investigation into the circumstances of this terrible incident. The thoughts of our staff and officers are with the family at this time."

Traffic police and officers from the Directorate of Professional Standards are now investigating, the force said.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has also been informed and an investigator has begun assessing the circumstances of the collision.

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Online Sales Fail To Boost 'Sluggish' December

By Ursula Errington, Business Reporter

Strong online sales in December have failed to boost what has been described as an "underwhelming and sluggish" Christmas on the high street.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said retail sales for the month were up just 1.5% compared to the Christmas period in 2011.

However Internet sales rose by almost 18%.

If the online contribution to total year-on-year sales growth is stripped out, it shows that high street trading stagnated compared to last Christmas.

"Online retail still accounts for a relatively small part of total sales," said BRC Director General, Helen Dickinson.

The outlook for British retailers for 2013 year is 'subdued'

"But in December it played a disproportionately larger role in driving non-food sales.

"Shoppers took advantage of the investment many retailers have made in making their websites easier to use across multiple devices, in flexibility of delivery options as click-and-collect came of age, and in security - they now feel much more comfortable putting their credit card numbers into their mobile phones."     

Pimlico-based florist, Rosemary Watkins, knew it would be a tough December for the shop she has worked in for three years but it was worse than she imagined.

They closed early on December 24 and in the run-up to Christmas they hardly saw what could be termed as Christmas trade.

"We had the shop ready from the first week in December," she told Sky News. "But what we anticipated would happen, didn't happen.

"We were lucky to sell what we did. We had to stop buying stock as it's perishable; you can't hold onto it. If it's this bad here in SW1 I can't imagine what it's like in other parts of the country."   

The survey reveals shoppers are increasingly confident buying good online

Footfall was down considerably on last year largely because of bad weather and consumers buying more in one go, thereby reducing the opportunity to browse and be tempted to buy.

But perhaps the most influential factor was the shift towards the internet. It appears fewer shoppers were searching in stores first, before going online.

Pharmacy owner Nishma Hirani is just a few doors down from Rosemary's florist. She has decided to focus on internet sales of perfume and her higher-end health and beauty products for Christmas 2013.

She also intends to modify how much stock she carries in the run up to next Christmas. The BRC survey showed that generally, retailers bought in less stock and held off offering heavy discounts in order to keep their margins up.

But optimistic Nishma did not do that. Buoyed by solid sales in last year's difficult climate, she bought a lot of stock and is now stuck with it.

Surrounded by perfumes bearing sale stickers she explained: "Last year people were buying four or five bottles of perfume at a time but this year they only bought one or two - not bulk buying.

"We kept our stock quite high but we just didn't find it was moving as quick as we would have liked it too."

Overall, the BRCs outlook for this year is subdued. They have said their members expect the hard times to continue but not worsen, with this "bumping along the bottom" effect to continue for perhaps years to come.

KPMG's Head of Retail, David McCorquodale, said: "While consumer confidence remains low, shoppers will tighten their belts and rein in their spending, making life difficult for the average UK retailer.

"There will be no boom and it's likely more than a few will go bust".

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Belfast: Loyalist Call For Peaceful Protest

Leading loyalists have held talks with Northern Ireland's chief constable Matt Baggott, as fresh disturbances erupted in Belfast.

In a statement after the meeting, Billy Hutchinson - who leads the Progressive Unionist Party, the political wing of the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force - welcomed attempts by church leaders to ease tensions and called for all protests to be peaceful.

It comes as police came under attack for a fourth night in a row. A mob hurled steel barriers, bricks, fireworks and bottles at officers patrolling Castlereagh Street in the east of the city.

Hours earlier, Mr Baggott said loyalist violence over the flying of the Union flag on City Hall would be firmly dealt with for as long as necessary.

"I want to commend the tireless courage of my officers at this very difficult time," he said.

"Fifty two colleagues have now been injured while protecting the community during a series of violent incidents.

"You may be assured there will be sufficient resources in the event of more disorder for however long is necessary."

Mr Baggott said the PSNI would do "everything possible" to maintain law and order and deal firmly with the ugly scenes that have marred Northern Ireland over recent days.

He added: "As you have seen in the last few days we will continue to apprehend and put people before the courts."

A protest in the area earlier on Sunday had dispersed, before factions broke away and launched an onslaught on police lines.

Disorder was also reported on Mountpottinger Road and Beersbridge Road, where a car was set ablaze.

The disorder in east Belfast

So far, 70 people have been arrested in connection with the sporadic rioting. Through special sittings of the city's magistrates court, 47 people have already being charged.

On Saturday, frontline officers reported coming under gunfire. A 38-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

More than 1,000 demonstrators had earlier marched on City Hall, but despite tense scenes and some scuffles the rally passed off without major incident.

As the flag-waving crowds broke up, violence again flared on the Newtownards Road and surrounding areas in the traditionally unionist east of the city.

Around 100 loyalists hurled petrol bombs, fireworks, smoke canisters, bricks and other masonry at officers, the PSNI said. Laser pens were also directed at officers' faces.

Police responded with water cannon and fired three plastic bullets. One officer was injured.

After a meeting of church leaders, politicians and community representatives on Sunday, Presbyterian minister Rev Mervyn Gibson said there were accusations that police used batons against people who were not involved in the rioting.

"There's a genuine feeling that there was a change in tactics, that the gloves were off," he said.

"In these instances, not everybody is a rioter."

He said unionist leaders would seek meetings with the Policing Board, the local police commander and the local policing partnership.

More follows...

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Teenage Girl Killed In Police Pursuit Crash

A 13-year-old girl has died in a crash involving a car which was being pursued by police in south east London.

The teenager was travelling with her mother, father and brother in Ilderton Road, New Cross, on Sunday evening when their Volkswagen Polo and a Peugeot 308 that was being chased by a marked police car collided.

The girl, who was in the rear of the car, died at the scene from her injuries, Scotland Yard said.

Her parents and brother were taken to hospital and their injuries were not thought to be serious.

The male driver of the Peugeot was arrested and taken into custody. A female passenger was taken to hospital suffering from minor injuries.

The incident happened just before 6.30pm and police, ambulance and fire crews attended.

The Metropolitan Police said the pursuing police car had its blue lights and sirens on when the collision happened.

Commander Tony Eastaugh said: "An innocent family are now dealing with the tragic loss of a loved one.

"The Metropolitan Police has now begun a thorough investigation into the circumstances of this terrible incident. The thoughts of our staff and officers are with the family at this time."

Traffic police and officers from the Directorate of Professional Standards are now investigating, the force said.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has also been informed and an investigator was at the scene assessing the circumstances of the collision.

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Man Arrested After Shots Fired In NI Clashes

A man has been arrested in Belfast on suspicion of attempted murder after gunshots were fired during clashes between loyalist and nationalist protesters.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) confirmed the arrest of the 38-year-old man.

Sky sources revealed that pictures from a PSNI helicopter prompted the detention of the suspect.

Police said a further four men have been charged with a number of public order offences, while another two men remain in custody after being arrested on Saturday afternoon.

Officers were pelted with rocks, fireworks and fire bombs as violence continued into the evening and advised motorists to avoid the area.

Earlier in the day police used water cannon amid disturbances in the Lower Newtownards Road area of east Belfast.

The violence followed a tense but peaceful march by loyalists who had been demonstrating against restrictions on the flying of the Union Flag over City Hall.

Police used water cannon to extinguish the fires

Sky sources said loyalist members of the clergy are actively trying to diffuse the local tension.

Sky News Ireland Correspondent David Blevins said the loyalists apparently came under attack as they passed a nationalist area, following the march.

It is the third day of clashes between opposing sides in various parts of Belfast.

"There is the potential for the violence to intensify," Blevins said.

"And the gunshots from with the loyalist area is a very worrying development.

"The clashes between police and loyalists came after the officers were accused of brutality after the march."

The disturbances occurred after protesters headed home

Saturday's disturbances follow running battles overnight which saw petrol bombs, fireworks and ball bearings thrown at officers in riot gear, injuring nine of them.

The officers were injured from elements within a crowd of up to 300 people, in what they called "a sustained attack".

A PSNI spokesman said 18 arrests were made after the public disorder in the Castlereagh Street and Templemore Avenue areas.

Some 30 petrol bombs were thrown at police officers as they dealt with riots on Friday night.

There were also protests in the Robbs Road area of Dundonald, near Ulster Hospital, and in the O'Neill Road area of Newtonabbey, where there was reportedly an attempt to hijack a bus, plus a raid on a commercial premises by masked men.

The latest violence comes after 10 police officers were also injured on Thursday during a demonstration against the decision to reduce the number of days the Union Flag is flown from City Hall.

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Child Benefit Payment Cut-Off For Families

By Emma Birchley, East of England Correspondent

Child benefit payments to more than a million people are due to be cut from Monday, as part of the Government's plan to reduce spending.

If either parent earns £50,000 then payments are to be reduced on a sliding scale, with those on a salary of £60,000 or more losing it altogether.

Treasury minister David Gauke said it was a decision that had to be made to save the taxpayer as much as £1.5bn a year.

"Everybody has got to make a contribution, we're reducing benefits and we've made some cuts in benefits," he said.

"But it's right that those who are earning more than average, those who are in fact in the top 10-15%  of earners, make that contribution."

As many as 300,000 of the 1.1 million who will see changes to their child benefit are yet to have received a letter from the Government informing them of the cuts.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has said it had been unable to contact everyone as it held incomplete data on some customers following changes to their income, relationship status, or address.

Child benefit is currently £20.30 a week for the first child and an additional £13.40 for each child after that.

For a family with two children and one parent earning more than £60,000 it means losing £1,752 per year.

But if both parents earn £49,000, the benefit will be unaffected.

Mother Mel Smith will be among the parents to lose out

Those expecting to lose payment have until the end of today to opt out of receiving the money by filling in a form on the HMRC website.

Otherwise they will continue to receive the handout and have to complete self-assessment forms to repay it in tax.

Mel Smith has two young children and does not work, but her husband's salary level means they will lose all of their child benefit.

"It doesn't seem fair when we only have one income," she said.

But while taking with one hand the Government is considering ways to give with the other.

It is thought new proposals may include allowing families to offset some of their childcare costs against their tax, making it easier for mothers like Mel to return to work.

"I would seriously consider going back to work full time if that were introduced," she said.

"It would be better for me to do full time really than part time but again you have to weigh up whether it works out as a family."

It is estimated that around one million women are missing from the workforce because of the price of childcare, which amounts to almost 27% of the average family income.

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