Tuesday briefing: How Britain has coped with an Arctic blast

Good morning.

British winters have grown markedly milder over the past century:

analysis has shown

that the average UK winter has gotten 1C warmer and 15% wetter in the last century. Last

February

was the warmest in recorded history. There have been fewer and fewer snow days and the Met Office found that ground frost periods are three weeks shorter compared to the 1970s.

Though cold snaps are less frequent, when they do happen, they are disruptive. Over the last week, the UK has experienced a significant drop in temperatures

due to a cold Arctic blast

. Heavy snow, sleet and rain disrupted transport networks, closed roads and prevented thousands of pupils from attending their first day back at school. The Met Office has issued yellow warnings for snow and ice that are in place until this morning for most of Northern Ireland, the north and west of Scotland, most of Wales, and western and south-western regions of England.

Today’s newsletter examines the toll of last week’s freezing weather. That’s right after the headlines.

Five big stories

1. Canada

   | Justin Trudeau

   has said he will step down

   as Canada’s prime minister

   . His resignation throws open the doors to a fierce political battle to be the country’s next leader, with polls showing the Liberals losing badly to the official opposition Conservatives.

2. Child sexual exploitation

   | Keir Starmer

   has condemned Elon Musk’s increasingly erratic attacks on the government

   , suggesting that his “lies and misinformation” on grooming gangs were amplifying the “poison” of the far right. Ministers meanwhile promised to implement a key demand of a 2022 child sex abuse inquiry so that professionals who do not report claims of abuse will be sanctioned.

3. US politics

   | The US Congress

   certified Donald Trump’s presidential election victory

   on Monday, in an event heavy with symbolism four years to the day since he incited a violent mob to disrupt a similar ceremony. Kamala Harris presided over a joint Senate and House of Representatives session to validate the result.

4. Foster care

   | The UK is

   facing a fostering crisis where retiring carers are not being replaced by younger people

   , while the number of children entering care homes is rising, a charity has warned. The decline in foster carers is due to the impact of the pandemic, the costof living crisis, biological children staying at home for longer, spare rooms being used as home offices and changing family situations, Barnardo’s children’s charity said.

5. Tibet

   | A magnitude

   6.8 earthquake has struck near one of Tibet’s holiest cities

   , the China Earthquake Networks Centre has said, killing 53 people, injuring 62 and damaging buildings around Shigatse, according to state media.

In depth: Flood alerts, dramatic rescues and emergency measures follow Britain’s big freeze

Because this is Britain, there is reasonable consternation every time the country seems to grind to a halt at the slightest shift in weather. Britain’s infrastructure has not been built to cope with harsh winters and regular flooding. With increasingly wet winters and unpredictable cold snaps, vulnerable regions face mounting risks from infrastructure failures that could leave communities isolated and essential services disrupted – as last week demonstrated.

***

Flooding

As of this

morning

, 200 flood warnings and 300 flood alerts have been issued in England, according to the government. The Environment Agency has said a combination of melting snow and rain could lead to “significant river flooding”, adding that it is monitoring swollen rivers around the UK.

Flooding has brought rail services to a grinding halt, with widespread cancellation and delays due to flooded tracks across the country. In Scotland, dangerous water levels and a landslip triggered major disruption last week.

Major rescue operations have unfolded: hundreds were evacuated in Manchester after torrential rain trapped residents, while Rutland and Leicestershire declared major incidents yesterday, with

fire services fielding more than 200 emergency calls

and rescuing a least 59 people.

In Newport, Wales, flooding was so severe that police had to seize drifting cars, and footage was released of a completely submerged car in Birmingham.

***

The drop in temperatures

Sudden temperature falls can lead to widespread power outages. The network operators Northern Powergrid said more than 27,000 homes and businesses across Yorkshire and north-east England lost power on Sunday night. In Ireland, almost 60,000 homes and businesses were without power and 40,000 without water.

Some households will struggle to warm their homes to the recommended 18C, which is likely exacerbated by power outages. Last week, the UK’s Health Security Agency issued an amber alert for social care in England, saying vulnerable people were at risk. London councils have also

activated

an emergency accommodation protocol for people sleeping rough in freezing conditions, which will involve extra beds being made available.

***

Snow and sleet

Icy conditions rendered many motorways and roads impassable, with others brought to a standstill by traffic pile-ups. Despite speed restrictions and closures, treacherous conditions have still led to numerous vehicle collisions. Authorities are urging people to travel only when absolutely necessary, though this risks isolating rural and remote areas. The RAC reported that yesterday was likely the busiest day of the winter so far for vehicle breakdowns due to the severe weather. The harsh conditions have also left people stranded in perilous situations: in one instance,

five men were rescued from a mountain in the Lake District

, where they were found “waist-deep” in snow.

Several airports, including Manchester and Liverpool, temporarily closed their runways because of heavy snow and ice. The UK’s typically mild climate means most airports have not invested in infrastructure to handle unusual or extreme weather events, leaving thousands of passengers in the lurch or waiting hours on end for their flight to take off.

With freezing temperatures expected to persist into next week, further disruption seems inevitable.

What else we’ve been reading

• After

  Demi Moore

  (above) celebrated her first major award win for the Substance, Steve Rose

  has a great profile

  of a star written off as a “popcorn actress”: “She has had the kind of Hollywood career most female actors would both dream of and never wish on their worst enemy”.

  Archie

• On

  6 January

  2021

  , scores of people stormed the US Capitol in an insurrection that stunned the nation. Four years on,

  Rachel Leingang reports

  that some of those accused or convicted of participation in the attack are convinced that, with Donald Trump’s return to power right around the corner, pardons and redemption are imminent.

  Nimo

• Sociologist Dan Evans

  has a smart piece

  arguing that the “

  graduates without a future

  ” are the voters who will decide future British elections: “The middle classes function as a stabilising rod for society, and the crumbling of this pillar has driven the febrility of modern politics.”

  Archie

• ICYMI:

  Bethan McKernan and Sufian Taha’s report

  about the killing of 22-year-old journalism student

  Shatha al-Sabbagh

  in the West Bank is a fascinating must-read.

  Nimo

• As

  Elon Musk

  continues with his bewildering campaign against British politicians,

  this piece by Phil Tinline for the New Statesman

  – originally published in October – sheds useful light on why the UK has become such an obsession for the American right.

  Archie

Sport

Premier League

| Nottingham Forest extended their remarkable form and moved level with second-placed Arsenal with a convincing 3-0 win over Wolves. Wolves’ former head coach Nuno Espírito Santo and academy product Morgan Gibbs-White

returned to haunt the Molineux

, while New Zealand striker Chris Wood was again among the goals.

Cricket

| England and Australia

could play two Ashes series every three years

from 2027 onwards under a radical two-division plan being considered for Test cricket. The potential move is in response to a major gap in interest between the most lucrative contests between the world’s leading sides and series involving smaller cricketing nations.

Tennis

| A local campaign group is taking legal action to stop the expansion of the All England Lawn and Tennis Club (AELTC), as

the row over the future of Wimbledon reignited on Monday

. The group are seeking a judicial review of plans to convert a swathe of the former Wimbledon Golf Club into a vastly expanded grand slam venue.

The front pages

Keir Starmer’s war of words with Elon Musk dominates the day’s headlines. The

Guardian

leads with “PM condemns Musk for ‘lies and misinformation’ on abuse cases”. The

Financial Times

, similarly, has “Starmer strikes back at Musk over ‘lies and misinformation’ on abuse cases”. The

Times

reports “Europe turns on Musk over attempts to sway voters”.

The

Mail,

meanwhile, goes with “Fury as PM suggests those calling for inquiry into scandal are ‘jumping on a far-Right bandwagon’”. The

Express

, in much the same vein, has “Fury as PM ‘smears’ concerned politicians for ‘jumping on far-Right bandwagon’”. The

Telegraph

leads with “Starmer - Calls for grooming probe are far-Right”. The

Mirror

simply splashes with the one-word headline “POISON”.

i

leads on “NHS will send extra 2.5 million patients to private hospitals in ‘urgent’ attempt to cut waiting lists”.

Today in Focus

The month that changed South Korea for ever

Raphael Rashid

and

Haeryun Kang

chart the turmoil

that has engulfed the country over the past month, from a declaration of martial law to two impeachments and the worst domestic aviation disaster in its history

Cartoon of the day | Pete Songi

The Upside

A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad

In this week’s edition of the Filter newsletter, Hannah Booth rounded up

Guardian readers’ shopping resolutions

. (And do

sign up to the Filter here

.)

From cutting down on skincare stuff to finally clearing out the food in your freezer, there’s something for anyone still looking for a truly life-changing resolution in 2025. Reader Jane pledges: “I will try to shop more frequently so that food is fresh. I eat lots of fruit and veg and could increase the variety.” Another reader, Victoria, wants to buy fewer clothes. But, she admits: “I set this intention every year, but I seem to weaken around June and October.” We believe in you, Victoria!

Sign up here

for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday

Bored at work?

And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.

• Quick crossword

• Cryptic crossword

• Wordiply