<p>The Met Office has issued a warning for the UK over freezing temperatures and incoming snow. Following the warmest New Year on record, the UK could be set to be propelled back into wintery weather, as today, January 4, temperatures have plummeted overnight, with some areas even falling below -5C. Frost, 80mph wind, rain, hill <a href="https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/met-office-issues-warning-as-sub-zero-temperatures-and-snow-set-to-hit-uk/" title="Read more" >…</a></p>
<p>Dr. Margaret McCollum visits Embankment tube station every day just to hear her late husband’s voice. We all know the typical chime of ‘mind the gap’; whether you’ve heard it on an early morning commute or drunk on a night tube, it’s easy to tune out. However, to Margaret, one particular recording of the famous <a href="https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/woman-visits-underground-station-every-day-just-to-hear-her-husbands-voice/" title="Read more" >…</a></p>
<p>Boris Johnson has provided an update on Covid restrictions as a government review approaches. Ahead of the government review taking place on Wednesday, January 5, the prime minister acknowledged that the NHS was likely to come under ‘considerable’ pressure in the coming weeks, as a result of rising hospitalisations and staff shortages. However, Johnson has <a href="https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/boris-johnson-gives-covid-restrictions-update-ahead-of-government-review/" title="Read more" >…</a></p>
<p>The Metropolitan Police have come under fire after posting footage of officers carrying out invasive drug swabs. In a new tweet, the Met Police shared a clip of officers performing tests on members of the public in Shoreditch, east London. While the force said that the tests helped ensure that ‘the night time economy’ is <a href="https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/met-polices-horribly-invasive-random-drug-swab-video-sparks-outrage-online/" title="Read more" >…</a></p>
<p>Sir Lindsay Hoyle has spoken out in support of the Queen’s decision to appoint Tony Blair a Knight Companion, after calls emerged for the former prime minister’s knighthood to be removed. Blair’s knighthood was announced at the end of the year, with a petition to remove the honour launched on New Years Day by Angus <a href="https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/all-former-prime-ministers-should-be-knighted-speaker-of-the-commons-says/" title="Read more" >…</a></p>
<p>Doctors have revealed the first diagnosis of what is being dubbed ‘Flurona’ in Israel. On Thursday, December 30, a woman tested positive for both coronavirus and influenza while at the Beilinson Hospital, located in the city of Petach Tikva. However, doctors suspect that further cases of ‘flurona‘ are likely present within the country. Director of <a href="https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/first-case-of-flurona-detected-in-israel/" title="Read more" >…</a></p>
<p>A ‘big potato’ statue in Cyprus has sparked a police investigation after it was left vandalised on New Year’s Day. As much as I am an avid fan of potatoes, I’m not quite sure I love them enough to commemorate them in such a bizarre way, and clearly some vandals felt the same. On January <a href="https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/police-investigate-as-big-potato-statue-is-found-vandalised/" title="Read more" >…</a></p>
<p>Absence rates are anticipated at reaching up to 25% as a result of a record number of daily cases of coronavirus from over the Christmas period. While no new restrictions were implemented ahead of January, the Cabinet Office has revealed leaders of public sectors have been warned to prepare for ‘worst-case scenarios’ for workplace absences <a href="https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/omicron-workplaces-warned-over-absences-of-up-to-25/" title="Read more" >…</a></p>
<p>A Dutch anti-lockdown protest turned violent over the weekend as police attempted to disperse crowds defying a ban on public gatherings. Video footage taken from the unauthorised protest in Amsterdam showed police hitting protesters with batons, with at least one man bitten by a police dog. The scuffles reportedly broke out after police intervened to <a href="https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/anti-lockdown-protesters-attacked-by-dogs-as-riot-police-intervene/" title="Read more" >…</a></p>
<p>The government is set to review the need for further Covid-19 restrictions later this week, as one of Boris Johnson’s Cabinet ministers claims there is ‘nothing in the data’ to support additional measures. Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi confirmed MPs would officially review the situation on Wednesday, four weeks after England was moved to ‘Plan B’ <a href="https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/omicron-government-to-review-covid-restrictions-this-week/" title="Read more" >…</a></p>
<p>The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has predicted that the end of the Covid-19 pandemic is in sight. Director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus marked the turn of the new year with an end-of-year address in which he proclaimed he was ‘confident’ life would return more fully to normal within the next year. ‘While no country <a href="https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/who-boss-confident-the-pandemic-will-end-this-year/" title="Read more" >…</a></p>
<p>Prince Andrew may be asked to give up his title if he loses a lawsuit filed against him by a victim of convicted sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein, according to reports. Following the conviction of Epstein’s former girlfriend and socialite Ghislaine Maxwell for sex trafficking, the prince has come under renewed scrutiny for his relationship both <a href="https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/prince-andrew-could-lose-royal-titles-if-he-loses-sex-abuse-case/" title="Read more" >…</a></p>
<p>The Taliban has ordered a series of mannequin beheadings, according to reports, claiming they group think they are ‘idols’ forbidden by Islam. This week, shopkeepers in Herat, Afghanistan, have reportedly been told to remove the heads of female mannequins. The Taliban are said to believe the mannequins were being worshiped as idols, and the Quran <a href="https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/the-taliban-ordered-shop-mannequin-beheadings-reports-say/" title="Read more" >…</a></p>
<p>The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for parts of the UK today, January 2, as storms are expected to hit the country. The storms are due to hit the south of England, with the potential to bring road closures, power cuts and damage to trees and buildings. A large band of stormy weather <a href="https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/met-office-issues-yellow-weather-warning-as-thunderstorms-expected-to-hit-england-today/" title="Read more" >…</a></p>
<p>Desmond Tutu was laid to rest on New Year’s Day in his homeland of South Africa, with the 90-year-old buried in the cheapest available coffin as per his own request. Tutu died last Sunday, December 26, at age 90 and was given a state funeral at St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town yesterday, January 1. <a href="https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/desmond-tutu-laid-to-rest-in-cheapest-coffin-available-to-honour-final-wish/" title="Read more" >…</a></p>
<p>Ministers have told schools in England that pupils should return to wearing masks when in class, with fears that the new term will bring another spike in Omicron cases when it begins this week. Secondary school children in England will be expected to return to mask-wearing during lessons, with the Department for Education saying the advice <a href="https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/omicron-pupils-told-to-wear-face-masks-at-school-over-variant-spread-fears/" title="Read more" >…</a></p>
<p>No it’s not just your hangover making you feel a bit off, it really is unseasonably warm today, January 1. In fact, it’s the warmest New Year’s Day on record, with a temperature of 16.2°C (61.1°F) recorded in St James’s Park, London. The temperature beats the previous record for the UK, 15.6°C (60°F), as the <a href="https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/today-is-the-warmest-new-years-day-on-record/" title="Read more" >…</a></p>
<p>Prime Minister Boris Johnson has delayed a decision about possible further Covid-19 restrictions until next week, sources have said. Amid rising hospitalisations and continued record-level case numbers the government confirmed earlier this week that no new measures would be introduced ahead of the New Year, allowing hospitality businesses to remain open for the festivities. Johnson <a href="https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/omicron-boris-johnson-expected-to-make-indoor-mixing-announcement-next-week/" title="Read more" >…</a></p>