Huge wildfire in West Midlands destroys 19 homes on UK’s hottest day of year A huge wildfire in the West Midlands completely destroyed 19 homes after it rapidly spread to buildings during the UK’s hottest day of the year. West Midlands Fire Service chief fire officer Simon Tuhill said firefighters were in attendance at 10
Second train derails day after two passengers badly hurt in East Sussex A second train has derailed less than 24 hours after two passengers were seriously injured when a Southern Rail service came off the tracks in East Sussex. A Greater Anglia train derailed at 2.12pm on Friday south of Wickford railway station in Essex,
West Midlands crews make progress tackling wildfires after ‘extensive’ devastation Fire crews are making progress tackling huge blazes in the West Midlands that led to thousands of 999 calls and caused “extensive” devastation, a fire chief said. Chief fire officer Simon Tuhill, of West Midlands Fire Service, said one huge blaze in Stourbridge, which forced
Farage wins in Clacton as police contest ‘credible threat’ claim at count Nigel Farage has won the Clacton by-election amid contested claims he was told by police not to attend the election count due to a “credible threat” against him. The Reform UK leader pre-empted the official declaration by telling supporters he had won “fairly
Two people seriously injured after train with 150 on board derails Two people have been seriously injured after a train with around 150 people on board derailed near Lewes in East Sussex. Multiple emergency services are at the scene of the incident, which happened near Lewes railway station on Thursday afternoon and involved a Southern
UK has hottest day of year so far as temperatures hit 38.1C The UK has recorded its hottest day of the year so far, as temperatures provisionally reached 38.1C at Kew Gardens in London, the Met Office said. It is the second time this year the country has seen temperatures reach 38C, and the
Huge fires threaten to tear through homes in West Midlands Huge fires have threatened to tear through homes in the West Midlands after dramatic footage circulating online showed enormous flames coming from buildings and a golf course. West Midlands Fire Service said it was facing “extreme levels of demand” due to a fire in Stourbridge
Do not treat customers like a blank cheque, Burnham warns water companies Andy Burnham has warned water companies against treating customers like “a blank cheque” after the regulator provisionally allowed them to unexpectedly further raise bills. Millions of households are set to see unexpected increases to their water bills after the industry watchdog gave suppliers
A-level top grades rise for third year in a row, likely driven by maths scores The proportion of A-level entries awarded top grades has risen for the third year in a row, likely driven by the popularity of maths and students scoring highly in it. Hundreds of thousands of teenagers in England, Wales and Northern
World Cup and June’s heatwave help UK economy withstand Iran war pressures Britain’s economic growth slowed in the second quarter but a boost from heatwaves and the World Cup helped offset impacts from the Iran war in a better-than-expected performance in June, official figures have shown. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said gross domestic