Lead News

More Londoners in 2015 sold their houses and moved out of the capital than at any other time since the financial crisis, new figures show. Research by property firm Hamptons International revealed 63,000 households have left London for the suburbs in the last 12 months – the highest number since 2007. The company’s head of research Johnny Morris linked the ...

David Cameron has promised to send in more troops to “do whatever is needed” to help people caught in devastating floods in northern England. Thousands of people are being evacuated after rivers burst their banks and hundreds of homes became submerged in York, Leeds and Manchester after “unprecedented” levels of rain. The Army was mobilised athis morning to help emergency ...

The Prince of Wales has paid tribute to the great “personal sacrifice” of Britain’s servicemen and women in a Christmas message to the armed forces. Charles spoke of his admiration for those who endure “great danger” to protect the country, and the families who support them. And he praised the “professionalism, understanding and cultural sensitivity” of those in the military. ...

Millions of shoppers have hit the Boxing Day sales on high streets across the UK, seeking out the best bargains. The keenest queued from the early hours, with some stores opening their doors from 06:00 GMT. Retailers including Harrods, Liberty, House of Fraser, Next and Marks & Spencer dropped their prices in store, and offered more discounts online. Wealthy Chinese ...

Heavy rain has caused more flooding in northern England, with homes evacuated in Lancashire and Yorkshire, and rivers overflowing in Manchester and Leeds. Damage has included the destruction of a former pub in Greater Manchester, and a large hole has appeared in the M62. The Met Office has issued two severe weather warnings, meaning danger to life, for further rainfall. More ...

The Army has been called in to support efforts to protect parts of Cumbria amid fears of further flooding. Troops have been helping put out sandbags in preparation and flood defence gates have been closed in Cockermouth, Carlisle and Keswick. Heavy rainfall in the area is feeding already-swollen rivers and saturated ground. Cumbria has suffered severe flooding three times this ...

 The Queen has used her Christmas Day address to speak of light triumphing over the dark in a year that has seen “moments of darkness”. It comes after a year which has seen a number of terror attacks, including mass shootings in Paris and the killing of 39 people at a Tunisian resort. During the broadcast, the Queen acknowledged the ...

A three-year-old girl helped her heavily-pregnant mother call 999 after she fell down the stairs. In the call, Emma, who was alone in the house in Somerset with her mother Catherine Bazzard told the operator what had happened and where they lived. She told call handler Sarah Morris her “mummy was not bleeding but banged her head” and “has a ...

Spending will continue into Christmas Day when shoppers are expected to splash out £728m online: 11% more than last year The presents may still be under the tree, but retailers are already launching their end-of-year sales.. Currys PC World started its sale online at noon on Christmas Eve, and will be followed by Amazon at 4pm, then John Lewis at ...

Rail passengers have been hit by signal problems and flooding, as engineering work is due to disrupt train services over the festive period. Signalling problems at Gillingham disrupted Southeastern commuter trains from London, while flooding caused all trains to be cancelled between Folkestone Central and Dover Priory. Network Rail said 13% of journeys had been delayed across the entire network. ...