British Police On Alert For Nato Summit Demos

By Rhiannon Mills, Sky Reporter

Anti-war protestors are set to demonstrate in Newport, as South Wales prepares to host the Nato summit.

A march is due to begin at around 1pm and is expected to be peaceful, but police are expecting more demonstrations this week.

Anti-war protesters are gathering in calls for 'world peace and justice'

They include one on Thursday that may be "something a little more challenging" as protestors try to get to Celtic Manor Resort, which is the focus of the summit.

Adam Johannes, from the Stop the War Coalition, said: "Some 60 world leaders will be meeting. They'll be making their voices heard and it's really important that another voice is heard, the voice of millions of people around the world who want peace and justice, who reject the policies put forward by our leaders.

Adam Johannes: 'It's really important another voice is heard'

"We think these protests are really important, not only in terms of showing world leaders but also in shaping public debate."

Some 150 dignitaries, including 67 heads of state, are due to meet next Thursday and Friday at the Celtic Manor Resort near Newport, with dinners and events also planned in Cardiff.

The summit will focus on the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the situation in Afghanistan, and security challenges across the Middle East and North Africa. Representatives from all 28 Nato countries are attending.

Assistant Chief Constable Chris Armitt, the police officer in charge, has described it as one of the largest security operations in British history, and "completely uncharted territory".

He told Sky News: "There is huge confidence in the UK's ability to deliver a quality security operation around major events, if you look at the Commonwealth Games, the Olympics, that sort of thing.

"We know we can do it and people recognise that. All the visiting countries have concerns, which we have to give them assurance about. We work very closely to make sure we do that."

Some 9,500 police officers from across the UK have been drafted in to protect the world leaders and police any demonstrations. 

Nearly 11 miles of steel fencing has been erected around the Celtic Manor Resort, in Cardiff City centre and at Cardiff Bay, where seven Nato warships will be stationed.

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Lib Dems Promise Six Weeks' Paternity Leave

The Liberal Democrats will promise fathers an extra four weeks' paternity leave under new manifesto plans due to be announced.

The policy would extend the total parental leave to 58 weeks by extending fathers' current entitlement of two weeks to six.

Under the plans, the law would be amended to provide parental rights to cover six weeks reserved for working fathers and six weeks for working mothers.

The remaining time would be available to share between partners.

For same-sex couples, each partner would be entitled to six weeks' reserved leave, with the rest available to share.

The policy goes further than the Coalition's introduction of shared parental leave from next April.

Business and Equalities Minister Jo Swinson said shared paternal leave plays an essential part in building a stronger economy and a fairer society.

"It allows couples to choose how to split time off work to look after their new baby," she said.

"Extending paternity leave is an important next step to encouraging new dads to spend more time with their child in those vital early weeks and months after birth.

"When parents share caring responsibilities, more equality in the workplace will follow.

"It is a nonsense to think it is only the mother's job to look after children. Parenting is a shared responsibility."

A Lib Dem spokeswoman said the policy would also encourage fathers to spend more time with their children.

"It's very important to us. We have done lots in government so far to make sure fathers get more rights," she said.

"This is just the extra step in encouraging them to spend more time with their children."

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Rotherham PC Accused Of Child Sex Offence

A South Yorkshire police officer based in Rotherham has been charged with causing a 15-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity.

Pc Daniel Cookson, 27, appeared at Leeds Magistrates' Court on Thursday accused of the offence, the force said in a statement.

Cookson, who was arrested in November, was charged on August 21 but South Yorkshire Police has has only just released the information.

The force said he was "previously based in Rotherham".

It said the charge relates to an alleged offence committed between March and November last year, and Cookson was suspended when he was arrested in November.

Cookson was bailed to appear at Leeds Crown Court on September 11, according to the magistrates' court.

South Yorkshire police say his arrest is not related to the wider investigation into grooming in the town.

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Hospital Food Shake-Up Announced By NHS Chiefs

By Siobhan Robbins, Sky News Reporter

The days of lumpy mash and watery gravy should become a thing of the past for hospital patients and staff as new mandatory food standards are introduced.

The rules will be legally binding and are aimed at putting an end to unhealthy and inedible meals on the NHS.

Under the changes, all patients will be checked for malnutrition, given an individual food plan and get help eating and drinking.

Canteen food must also be healthy, meet guidelines on salt, sugar and fat and be sustainably sourced.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said most people enjoyed the meals they currently received.

But he added: "Patients say the quality of food at their hospital is one of the most important things in their stay, on top of which we know that if you give people healthy, nutritious food it means they recover more quickly, they stay in hospital for a shorter amount of time and it costs the NHS less, so there are lots of reasons why this is very important."

The plans come from a report by the Hospital Food Standards Panel, which also recommended hospitals develop food and drink policies that encourage healthy eating, high-quality food production, sustainability and excellent nutritional care.

The changes will be included in NHS contracts

Hospitals will also be scored on the standard of their food, with results to be posted online.

It is a move being welcomed by 22-year-old Craig Benwell, who said the meals he received during a recent stay in hospital were often inedible or served in tiny portions.

The hospital says thin, plain food was appropriate for his condition because he was being treated for Crohn's Disease.

But Mr Benwell told Sky News: "I can understand why I was on the special diet because I can only eat certain foods.

"But the amount of food that was coming out and the look of it just wasn't very appetising at all.

"The main problem was portion size ... I had to really gain weight and the portions they were giving me just really weren't enough."

The new changes will be included in NHS contracts but will not be written into law, leading to criticism from campaigners that they could be easily ignored.

Alex Jackson, coordinator of the Campaign for Better Hospital Food, added: "We're also alarmed that the Government's food standards are weak and only reflect basic catering and care standards, which are already commonly implemented in the NHS, including that 'tap water is available' to patients.

"Good things in themselves, but nowhere near ambitious enough to have a transformative effect on patient meals."

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Parents 'Cut Back On Food To Pay For Homes'

By Rachel Younger, Sky News Correspondent

Three million working parents in England are being forced to cut back on food so they can afford to pay for their homes.

A YouGov poll of working families has found that rising housing costs mean more and more of our wages are needed to keep a roof over our heads.

The problem has got so bad that more than one in 10 parents - over 750,000 people - admit to skipping meals rather than risk losing their home.

Recent figures from the government's English Housing Survey show households are spending 28% of their weekly income on housing costs alone - and that rises to 40% for private renters.

With rent or the mortgage swallowing so much of the monthly budget, many ordinary families are finding that regardless of how hard they work, any sudden drop in income from an unexpected job loss or illness can quickly put their homes at serious risk.

The poll found parents are facing tough choices. Some 13% say they have put off buying their children new shoes, with one in 10 delaying buying new school uniforms over the past year.

Now charities like Shelter are calling on the Government to provide a safety net strong enough to catch families who fall on hard times.

"This is a really terrible situation for many, many parents across the country," said the CEO of Shelter, Campbell Robb.

"What we're seeing is that people are just struggling to keep up their costs. Housing has gone up ... but other costs have gone up too.

"Generally speaking it's not about people being in places they can't afford. It's the places they're in becoming unaffordable."

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Rotherham Victim 'Verbally Abused By Police'

A victim of the Rotherham child sex abuse scandal has told Sky News she was verbally abused when she sought help from police.

She said the violence she suffered was ignored by authorities because her attacker was Asian and they were worried about causing racial unrest in the South Yorkshire town.

The woman gave a disturbing account of how she was treated by some police officers - claiming they called her a string of derogatory names.

One even said her attacker had every right to abuse her, she said.

Her grooming began when she turned 14 and was introduced to the man through friends in Rotherham.

She said he treated her well to start with and she fell in love with him, but after a few months he became violent.

"The more time we spent together the more he started to change," she said. "He became controlling, violent ... a relationship that was domestic violence."

She said she felt so scared at times she thought about killing herself.

"I had a fear of heights and he did a lot of things to try to scare me through that," she said.

The victim claims her abuse was ignored by Rotherham officers

"He once drove us to the edge of a cliff and said he was going to kill us both. He then dragged me out of the car and said he was going to throw me off."

She added: "He once tried to throw me over a balcony, luckily two people kind of stopped him from doing that.

"I had a child with me at the time, that were only a few months, in a pushchair, and he even kicked the pushchair over."

She said during her two years of abuse, the attacks went from once a week to two or three times a week.

His brothers were grooming other young girls, she said, but unlike many child victims in Rotherham she was sexually exploited by one man.

She was 16 when she went to police, but said her complaint was ignored.

Her abuser was even granted immunity from prosecution, she claimed.

"I explained to him (the police officer) what relationship we had and he said: 'Well, what do you expect? I think he's got every right to.'

"My Dad went absolutely mental and told him to get out of the house. The police officer then apologised, and we put a formal complaint into the police about him.

Rotherham Council leader Roger Stone stood down in the wake of the report

"But just his manner of how he dealt with it - he didn't seem to care about it, he was so unprofessional."

When asked why her abuse was ignored by social workers, police and council bosses, she said: "I think it was because of the fact he was Asian.

"I don't think they wanted to start communities colliding together, and starting confrontation between communities."

She said Rotherham Council chiefs should face action for ignoring the plight of the 1,400 child victims targeted in the town.

"The people that were involved back then ... I think they need hanging," she said.

"I don't know what legal stuff can be done, but I think they all need to be in a courtroom and tell people exactly what they knew.

"I think it should be some kind of criminal offence that 1,400 girls have been allowed to be abused by professionals."

South Yorkshire Police say they have no knowledge of allegations concerning derogatory remarks made against the victim.

A spokesman said the suggestion a deal was struck with her abuser has been fully investigated and no evidence was found to support the claim.

"This case forms a part of Operation Clover looking into a series of child sexual exploitation investigations in Rotherham," he added.

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Schools Divert Cash To Cover £1bn Funding Gap

A £1bn shortfall in funding for places is forcing many schools to borrow money as well as cut back on repairs and building projects, according to a new poll.

More than three quarters of authorities in England claim they have not received enough cash from the Government to create the extra school places needed by 2017.

The research by the Local Government Association (LGA) is released as concern grows about a squeeze on school places fuelled in part by a rising birth rate and changes in local populations.

Councillor David Simmonds, chairman of the LGA's children and young people's board, said: "The scale of this black hole is such that the cost of the creation of new school places cannot be met by council taxpayers.

"The lack of school places is no longer confined to primary schools but is spreading to secondary schools, and across the country we estimate more than 200,000 places will be needed.

"Councils face a challenge to create places on time and in the right areas, in a climate where they are also short of money to do so."

Local councils were asked by the LGA if money provided by the Department for Education (DfE) had fully met the cost of providing school places between 2011/12 and 2016/17.

Of those that responded - around 79 councils - a total of 77% said the funding had not been enough.

More than a third (38%) of the councils who said they did not receive enough funding said they had borrowed money, two thirds (67%) used money from developers, over a fifth (22%) took funds from other building programmes and half (50%) used cash from other school projects, such as school building maintenance, the LGA said.

The LGA claims 130,000 new places will be needed by 2017/18, along with 80,716 new secondary places by 2019/2020.

A DfE spokeswoman said: "We are making every effort to stop an unprecedented increase in pupil numbers affecting class sizes, and councils have a legal duty to provide school places for children in their area.

"We have also confirmed a further £2.35bn to support councils to create the places needed by September 2017.

"In addition we are allowing good schools to expand without the restrictions and bureaucracy they faced in the past.

"And there are now more than 320 free schools open or in the pipeline which will provide a further 175,000 places - the vast majority of which are in areas of need."

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Tax Fugitives Brought To Justice By HMRC

Five of the UK's top tax fugitives have been brought back to the UK to face justice following a global HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) initiative, the organisation has said.

HMRC said it is "excellent news for all honest taxpayers" and released images of a further five people it wants to track down.

These are: Ahmed Salim Khezri, Norbert Dombo, Mohammed Kasim Farook (aka Mohammed Kasim), Paul Edwards and Murugasan Natarajan (aka Murucasan Natarajan and Raj Natarajan).

The five fugitives HMRC wants to apprehend

Those who have been apprehended in the last year are:

:: John Sabin, who fled to Spain after being convicted for his role in smuggling more than 150 million illicit cigarettes into the UK

:: Malcolm McGowan, who also fled to Spain before he could be sentenced for smuggling more than 28 million cigarettes

:: Magdalena Ferkova, returned from the Czech Republic after being found guilty of tax credit and child benefit fraud

:: Michael Voudouri, who fled to northern Cyprus prior to sentencing after being found guilty of an £11.6m money laundering scam

:: Michael Fearon, who fled to the Republic of Ireland while on trial for his part in smuggling more than 8 million cigarettes

Malcolm McGowan, one of those who has been caught in the last year

Jennie Granger, HMRC's Director General of Enforcement and Compliance, said: "This is down to the determination of our people with the help and support of the general public.

"We would like to thank the public for that help, and ask them to look at the 2014 list and help us to bring back the rest.

"These fugitives were involved in frauds that have collectively cost the UK more than  £844 million but the success of our campaign means those on the run should know that HMRC will relentlessly pursue them."

HMRC said it had also received "important information" on the location of five other people on its "most wanted" list.

It is two years since HMRC first published images of its top tax fraud absconders, and since then the pictures have been viewed three million times, leading to the capture of some of the fugitives.

There is also a map showing where HMRC believes the remaining people on the list to be.

HMRC says that, where legally possible, it will seek extraditions with the help of the Crown Prosecution Service and other partners in the UK and abroad to ensure they are brought back to the UK. 

:: Anyone with information should contact the Tax Evasion Hotline on 0800 788 887 or email via the HMRC website. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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Murder Probe After Stockport Teacher Dies

By Mike McCarthy, North of England Correspondent

Police have begun a murder inquiry after a teacher attacked at home several days ago died at the weekend.

The school where Rukshana Miah taught paid tribute to her on Monday as "a much loved and valued colleague and friend".

The 35-year-old primary school teacher was taken to hospital after police were called to her home in Stockport a week ago.

She remained critically ill in hospital and died on Saturday five days after the attack.

Her husband Abdul Kashem Miah (36) was initially charged with attempted murder and appeared at Stockport Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

He is due to appear at Manchester Crown Court on September 10.

Mrs Miah's school, Broadoak Primary at Ashton-Under-Lyne, posted an online tribute saying: "It is with enormous sadness that staff and governors have to share that... our wonderful Year 6 teacher died after a short period in hospital."

She joined the school in 2007 and was described as an outstanding teacher who was devoted to the success of the children she taught.

The post continued: "Our thoughts are with Ruk's children and family at this terrible time. Broadoak will be a sadder place without her, we have lost one of our best.

"Rukshana's family have told us that they have been overwhelmed with the compassion, kind thoughts and support they have received.

"Over the coming days and weeks we will have a chance to reflect on Ruk's time with us."

The school has invited parents and families to share their memories of Mrs Miah at the start of the new term by signing a book of condolences which will be passed on to her family.

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UK Ebola Case: Family Praise 'Excellent Care'

The family of a British nurse airlifted from Africa to London to be treated for ebola has thanked the medical team looking after him.

Volunteer nurse William Pooley is in the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead after contracting the virus in Sierra Leone.

He is the first confirmed British ebola case. There is no cure and outbreaks have a fatality rate as high as 90%.

A statement from his family said: "We would like to express our thanks to all involved in bringing our son back to the UK.

Mr Pooley is brought to the Royal Free with a police escort

"We have been astounded by the speed and way which the various international and UK government agencies have worked together to get Will home.

"Will is receiving excellent care at the Royal Free Hospital and we could not ask for him to be in a better place.

"We ... ask everyone to remember those in other parts of the world suffering with ebola who do not have access to the same healthcare facilities as Will."

Mr Pooley, 29, was flown back to the UK on Sunday night for emergency treatment.

The victim is being treated at the Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead, London

Days before he contracted the disease, he spoke about the joy of seeing ebola victims make a full recovery.

He told The Guardian: "It's great seeing them walk away after some of them have been in a terrible state. Seeing them on the wards and then seeing them recover and walk out the door is great."

Mr Pooley is being treated in Hampstead because it has the only isolation ward in the country.

His bed will be surrounded by a tent with its own controlled ventilation system and the only people allowed inside are specially-trained medical staff.

Liberia has been receiving shipments of USAid as it struggles to cope

A Liberian doctor who was one of three Africans to receive the experimental Ebola drug ZMapp is among the latest to have died, the country's information minister said on Monday.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday that protective equipment had been sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where two cases of ebola have been confirmed.

Japan said it had developed an anti-influenza drug which may be able to treat the virus.

It is not known if favipiravir, which trades under the name Avigan, can treat the disease, but it was designed to treat new and re-emerging influenza viruses, which have similarities to ebola.

Residents have been quarantined in several parts of Liberia

Mr Pooley was working at a hospice in Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, but moved to a government hospital in Kenema when he found out workers at the hospital had died.

In an interview with a blogger for freetownfashpack.com published earlier this month, he is reported to have said: "It's the easiest situation in the world to make a difference."

His friend Dr Oliver Johnson, who has been working in Freetown, said Mr Pooley was an "extraordinary guy" who knew the risks involved but was prepared to take them in order to help.

The Department of Health said he was not "seriously unwell", and health chiefs have insisted that the risk to the public from ebola is "very low".

There have so far been 2,615 confirmed cases and 1,427 deaths in the outbreak in Africa.

Ebola is contracted through contact with an infected person's bodily fluids and there is currently no cure or vaccine.

Symptoms of the virus appear as a sudden onset of fever, headache, sore throat, intense weakness and muscle pain.

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Richard Attenborough: Director Dies Aged 90

Tributes have poured in for Oscar-winning director Richard Attenborough, who dominated the British film business for more than half a century.

Lord Attenborough, who won two Academy Awards for directing Gandhi in 1983, died at lunchtime on Sunday.

BAFTA described its former president as a "titan of British cinema"  who set an example of  "industry, skill and compassion" that business would do well to live up to.

2005: Lord Attenborough with his wife Sheila whom he married when he was 21

He was President of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and championed the British film business for more than 60 years as an actor, director and prolific movie-maker.

Gandhi was the highlight of his career, clinching eight Oscars, including best film. The 90-year-old was the older brother of naturalist Sir David Attenborough.

Lord 'Dickie' Attenborough was born in Cambridgeshire in 1923 and educated at Wyggeston Grammar School and Emmanuel College Cambridge.

He married the actress Sheila Sim when he was 21. His son Michael was born in 1949, followed by two daughters, Jane and Charlotte.

Richard Attenborough was a 'titan' of cinema for decades, says BAFTA

Tragedy struck on Boxing Day 2004 when his elder daughter Jane Holland, and her daughter, Lucy, and her mother-in-law, also named Jane, were killed in the south-Asian tsunami.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "His acting in Brighton Rock was brilliant, his directing of Gandhi was stunning - Richard Attenborough was one of the greats of cinema."

Director Steven Spielberg said: "Dickie Attenborough was passionate about everything in his life -  family, friends, country and career.  

"He made a gift to the world with his emotional epic Ghandi and he was the perfect ringmaster to bring the dinosaurs back to life as John Hammond in Jurassic Park. 

With his brother, naturalist David

"He was a dear friend and I am standing in an endless line of those who completely adored him."

Baroness Royal of Blaisdon, Labour's leader in the House of Lords, said she was "proud" that the actor was a Labour peer.

"Very sad to learn of death of Richard Attenborough, a fine man in every way. Proud that he was a Labour peer," she said.

Former Cabinet minister Peter Hain also paid tribute to the "brilliant actor and film director" who he also hailed as an "anti-Apartheid, Labour and Chelsea Football Club stalwart".

In a statement on their website, Chelsea said: "Chelsea Football Club is tonight deeply saddened to learn of the passing of our Life President Lord Attenborough.

"His personality was woven into the tapestry of the club over seven decades. He will be greatly missed."

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First Briton With Ebola Virus Lands In UK

A British man who caught the ebola virus in Sierra Leone has arrived in the UK on a Royal Air Force jet.

The healthcare worker, understood to be called William, landed at RAF Northolt near Heathrow just before 9pm on board a specially equipped C17 plane.

An ambulance transporting the man to an isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in north London travelled there under a police escort to stop other vehicles from interrupting the journey.

The nurse is taken off the RAF jet

The hospital is home to the UK's only high-level isolation unit which has a specially-designed tent with controlled ventilation.

The only people allowed inside are specially-trained medical staff.

Dr Paul Cosford, director for health protection at Public Health England, said protective measures will be in place to avoid the virus being transmitted to staff transporting the patient and healthcare workers in the UK.

The flight from Sierra Leone took around eight hours

The man, who the Department of Health has said is not "seriously unwell", is understood to have been a volunteer at a clinic in the Kenema district of Sierra Leone.

Sky sources who have knowledge of the repatriation describe the young male nurse, who is estimated to be in his late 20s or early 30s, as a "remarkable and amazing young man".

There have so far been 2,615 confirmed cases and 1,427 deaths in the outbreak.

The ambulance carrying William is escorted to the Royal Free Hospital

Health chiefs insist the risk to the British public from ebola, which kills up to 90% of those who get it, is "very low".

Deputy chief medical officer Professor John Watson said: "We have robust, well-developed and well-tested NHS systems for managing unusual infectious diseases when they arise, supported by a wide range of experts.

"UK hospitals have a proven record of dealing with imported infectious diseases and this patient will be isolated and will receive the best care possible."

The Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead

Ebola is contracted through contact with an infected person's bodily fluids and there is currently no cure or vaccine.

Strict quarantine measures are used to stop the spread of the virus, as well as high standards of hygiene for anyone who might come into contact with sufferers.

Symptoms of the virus appear as a sudden onset of fever, headache, sore throat, intense weakness and muscle pain.

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Ebola: Briton Tests Positive In Sierra Leone

MSF Says Ebola Epidemic Is Like War Time

Updated: 6:55pm UK, Friday 15 August 2014

Health experts have revealed they are struggling to contain West Africa's deadly ebola outbreak, and described the situation as like being in "wartime".

The charity Medecin Sans Frontieres (MSF) said if the situation in Liberia is not brought under control then the region will never be stabilised.

"The main thing I come back to is that it is deteriorating faster, moving faster than we can respond to," MSF international president Dr Joanne Liu said.

"To put it in context with my time with MSF, I really feel that it is like wartime, in terms of fear and nobody knowing what is going on.

"We need a response in terms of international organisations and states, and it needs to happen now if we want to contain this epidemic."

MSF, which employs doctors in some of the world's most difficult conditions, has struggled to help control the ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Dr Liu, who made the announcement at a news conference in Geneva following a 10-day trip to affected areas, said it will take about six months to bring the epidemic under control.

It was first identified in Guinea in March and has since spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and finally Nigeria - promoting increased international concern.

On Friday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said the death toll from the ebola outbreak has risen to 1,145 - with 76 new deaths reported over two days.

The health agency said a total of 152 confirmed, probable or suspected new cases of the fever were reported in that same period in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

The plea from MSF, which was founded in 1971, comes after the World Health Organisation (WHO) said the number of deaths and confirmed cases has been vastly underestimated.

The death toll from the outbreak in the region currently stands at more than 1,068 people.

There have been 1,975 confirmed, probable or suspected cases, the WHO said, with the majority in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

"The outbreak is expected to continue for some time. WHO's operational response plan extends over the next several months," the WHO said on Thursday.

The UN World Food Programme said on Friday it would now provide food aid to a million people affected by the emergency.

Meanwhile, Olympic Games organisers have banned young athletes from ebola-affected regions of West Africa from participating in the Youth Olympic Games in China.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said three competitors would not be allowed to take part in combat sports and swimming pool events.

The IOC and the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee said it was impossible to rule out the risk of potential infection.

Those from the affected regions competing in other sports will undergo regular temperature checks and physical assessments throughout the games, which begin on Saturday.

The IOC added that there had been no suspected cases of ebola reported in China and "the risk of infection is extremely unlikely".

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Bank Holiday Weather Alert Over Rain And Wind

A weather alert has been issued as heavy rain and wind threaten travel problems for millions of Britons returning home from a weekend break.

The Met Office has issued a sweeping yellow weather alert for Bank Holiday Monday, predicting significant surface water on roads and gusts of up to 40mph. 

Meanwhile, overnight temperatures will plummet to freezing point in some areas, with the first frost of the summer arriving in the north this morning.

Tomorrow's weather warning relates to parts of Wales, as well as London, the South East, East and South West of England, although most of the UK will see some rain.

Winds of up to 40mph are expected in some areas

Temperatures will struggle to get above 17C (62.6F) - well below average for August.

Scotland, where it is not a bank holiday, will enjoy the best of the weather tomorrow.

The Met Office said: "Heavy rain is expected to affect many southern areas of Britain at times during Bank Holiday Monday, with strong winds a possible additional factor close to southern coasts.

"The public should be aware that there may be some impacts to holiday traffic and other outdoor activities.

The first frost of the summer is expected to arrive in the north on Sunday

"A complex area of low pressure looks like bringing an unpleasant day's weather to much of the south on Monday.

"Rainfall amounts look like exceeding 20mm quite widely, while a few places might see around 40mm, so there will be a lot of surface water and spray on roads.

"The spray will probably be made worse by strong winds across some southern areas; gusts to around 40mph may occur at some coastal locations although this will depend on the exact track of the low pressure."

More than five million people in the UK are planning an overnight holiday trip this weekend, VisitEngland said.

Around one million people are expected to be drawn to Notting Hill Carnival, one of Europe's biggest street carnival events, today and tomorrow.

Despite a cold start, Sunday's weather will be largely fine across the UK with spells of sunshine and highs of 18C (64.4F).

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