Temperatures drop to minus 9.4C on coldest night so far this winter

The coldest night of the year in England and Wales sent temperatures plunging to as low as minus 9.4C (15F), the Met Office has said.

The village of Sennybridge in Powys recorded the coldest reading with the lowest November figure since 2010.

In Benson, Oxfordshire, a temperature of minus 8.5 (16F) was recorded.

Forecasters are expecting the cold snap to ease from Wednesday evening onwards as cloud moves across the country - but colder temperatures are likely to be back by the weekend with many areas seeing a fair amount of frost.

The Shetland Islands can expect long but light showers with gales forecast for the far north.

Sky News forecaster Isobel Lang said fog is likely to become more widespread on Wednesday night with tricky driving conditions expected during Thursday morning's rush hour across Ireland, Wales and the Midlands.

Cloud will lift the mercury slightly as it pushes down towards central and northern regions over the next few days.

:: UK Weather: The latest Sky News forecast

The Met Office said conditions were slightly colder than the average daytime temperatures for this time of the year.

London and Cardiff are expected to peak at 4C (39F), while Glasgow will reach 9C (48F) and Edinburgh 8C (46F) on Wednesday.

The cold snap comes as the Local Government Association's (LGA) winter readiness survey showed that councils are well prepared for icy conditions with a substantial stock of grit.

About half have reached the limit of storage capacity and gritters will be out treating thousands of miles of road when overnight temperatures plunge below zero.

LGA transport spokesman Martin Tett said: "We are well prepared for the cold, with 1.2 million tonnes of salt stockpiled and a fleet of state-of-the-art gritters ready to be deployed."

Public Health England has warned people to remember that "cold does kill" even in places that are not experiencing the coldest temperatures.

The meteorological winter begins on Thursday and lasts until 28 February. 

Donald Trump to leave business empire to avoid conflict of interest

Donald Trump will withdraw from running his businesses to avoid any perception of conflict of interest when he becomes president.

The President-elect tweeted that while it was not a legal necessity, it was a "visually important" move.

He said he would be leaving his "great business in total to fully focus on running the country" and that "legal documents are being crafted which take me out of business operations".

"The Presidency is a far more important task!" he added.

Hence, legal documents are being crafted which take me completely out of business operations. The Presidency is a far more important task!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2016

Mr Trump said he would give more details at a "major news conference" on 15 December.

Critics had argued the billionaire could expose himself to potential conflicts of interest in his new job, such as when pursuing policies that affect corporations.

His business empire includes hotels, property and golf courses.

Mr Trump also announced more nominations for his cabinet on Wednesday.

Steven Mnuchin, a former executive at investment bank Goldman Sachs, has been put forward for secretary of the Treasury.

Billionaire Wilbur Ross, another former banker, is in line to be commerce secretary.

It follows the nomination yesterday of Georgia representative Tom Price as health secretary - a key post considering Mr Trump's pledge to radically reshape President Barack Obama's signature Obamacare policy.

The key post as America's top diplomat is still up for grabs however, with Mr Trump still holding meetings to sound out candidates.

Mitt Romney is among those vying for the secretary of state post and last night met the President-elect for an intimate dinner.

The Republican, who called Mr Trump a "conman" and a "fraud" during the presidential campaign, emerged with a very different perspective after the pair feasted on a meal that included garlic soup with frogs legs.

"I had a wonderful evening with President-elect Trump," Mr Romney told reporters.

"We had another discussion about affairs throughout the world and these discussions I've had with him have been enlightening, and interesting, and engaging. I've enjoyed them very, very much."

He heaped more praise on his would-be boss's "message of inclusion" and said he had "increasing hope that President-elect Trump is the very man who can lead us".

Mr Trump had previously labelled Mr Romney a "loser" and "choke artist" after he failed in his own bid for the presidency in 2012.

However, former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway could be on a collision course with Mr Trump after saying in TV interviews that supporters would feel "betrayed" if Mr Romney got the job.

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, a loyal Trump supporter, is another of several candidates also in contention for the role. 

Other key appointments and nominations include: controversial Stephen Bannon as chief strategist, Alabama senator Jeff Sessions as attorney general, South Carolina governor Nikki Haley as ambassador to the UN, and Betsy DeVos as secretary of education.

Banks struggle as BoE warns on 'elevated' risk to financial system

Three of Britain's biggest lenders have struggled in a key test of how they would cope in a future financial crisis, as the Bank of England warned of "elevated" risks after the Brexit vote.

State-backed Royal Bank of Scotland must bolster its balance sheet by £2bn after failing the test.

Two other lenders - Barclays and Standard Chartered - also fell short on some measures but will not have to submit revised capital raising plans.

Regular stress tests were put in place by the Bank of England after taxpayers were forced to bail out banks such as RBS in the financial crisis. RBS remains 73% owned by taxpayers.

The latest test - the third since the crisis - was the most severe yet, combining shocks to the global and domestic economies in a five-year doomsday scenario worse than that seen in 2008.

It modelled how the banking system would cope in a situation in which UK GDP shrinks by 4.3% amid a worldwide recession, unemployment adds 4.5 percentage points, and house prices plunge by 31%.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said the test had reinforced the resilience of the UK financial system which "may prove valuable given the elevated likelihood that some UK-specific risks to financial stability could materialise".

He added: "It will take time to clarify the UK's new relationships with the EU and the rest of the world.

"And the orderliness of the UK economy's adjustment to these changes will influence the risks to financial stability."

Results of the stress test were published alongside the Bank's latest Financial Stability Report, which said Britain's financial system faced a "challenging" outlook due to risks posed by leaving the European Union and the recent US election.

HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide and Santander UK did not reveal any shortcomings in the stress test.

Mr Carney said actions by banks to build up the capital they hold since the financial crisis had bolstered the resilience of the banking system.

He said it was now "well-placed to provide credit to households and businesses during periods of severe stress".

But the Bank found that RBS "remains susceptible to financial and economic stress" when taking into account misconduct costs it still faces following its behaviour during the financial crisis.

RBS finance director Ewen Stevenson said: "We have taken further important steps in 2016 to enhance our capital strength, but we recognise that we have more to do to restore the bank's stress resilience, including resolving outstanding legacy issues."

The bank plans to boost its balance sheet by taking actions including further asset sales and cost-cutting, but it is not tapping markets for extra finance. Shares fell 4%.

It comes weeks after the body that manages the Government's stakes in bailed-out banks disclosed the potential impact of US fines estimated at up to $12bn (£10bn) over RBS's role in the sale of mortgage-backed financial products in the run-up to the 2008 crisis.

Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers, said: "RBS is still the weak link in the UK banking chain, almost a decade after the financial crisis came close to wiping the bank out.

"However RBS is in no immediate danger, barring a repeat of something akin to the financial crisis.

"The good news from the stress test is the regulator believes that as a whole the UK banking system is in a good position to weather a particularly nasty economic storm."

Grandson of ex-Fiat boss faces charges over false kidnap claim

A grandson of late Fiat magnate Gianni Agnelli is facing charges for falsely reporting he had been kidnapped, according to police. 

Lapo Elkann allegedly concocted the story in order to get ransom money after running out of cash during a drug-fuelled binge, unnamed law enforcement sources told the Reuters news agency.

The 39-year-old claimed he was being held against his will in a flat in Manhattan, New York, from 6pm on Friday to 10.30pm on Saturday.

According to the New York Daily News, he rang his family and said a woman would hurt him unless a $10,000 ransom was paid.

A family representative allegedly dropped off the payment to police.

Officers said he had met a 29-year-old escort and the two took drugs before he made the false claim.

Mr Elkann and his brother, Fiat Chrysler chairman John Elkann, are heirs to Italy's biggest industrial dynasty.

It is the second time he has been linked to drug use after he nearly died of a drug overdose in 2005.

Mr Elkann, who founded a sunglasses company in 2007, was taken into custody on Sunday.

Shares in his business, Italia Independent, fell sharply after news of the arrest emerged.

He has since been released and is due in court in New York in January.

His family and his spokesman have declined to comment.

National Lottery: Thousands of online accounts hacked

National Lottery operator Camelot says it believes thousands of players' online accounts have been hacked.

The National Lottery operator said it discovered "suspicious activity" following online security monitoring on Monday.
Camelot said it believes "around 26,500 players' accounts were accessed", but fewer than 50 accounts have had activity take place since the hack.

In a statement, Camelot said: "We are currently taking all the necessary steps to fully understand what has happened, but we believe that the email address and password used on the National Lottery website may have been stolen from another website where affected players use the same details.

"We do not hold full debit card or bank account details in National Lottery players' online accounts and no money has been taken or deposited.

"However, we do believe that this attack may have resulted in some of the personal information that the affected players hold in their online account being accessed."

Some of the activity includes personal details being changed and, Camelot said, some of those details might have been legitimately changed by the players themselves.

The lottery organiser says it is contacting those players involved and helping them "re-activate their accounts security".

Camelot also says it has put a change of password in place for all the 26,500 players whose accounts were accessed and is contacting them so they can reset their own password.

The operator said it also wanted to make clear that there had been no unauthorised access to core National Lottery systems or any of its databases, which would affect draws or payment of prizes.

The statement continued: "Cyber criminals such as this are persistent, and we are continuing to monitor and protect our systems.

"We are also working closely with the National Crime Agency and the National Cyber Security Centre on an ongoing basis on this criminal matter. 

"We'd like to reassure our customers that protecting their personal data is of the utmost importance to us.

"We are very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause to our players and would like to encourage those with any concerns to contact us directly, so we can discuss it with them in more detail."

Warnings as four men kill themselves after online sex blackmail scam

Four men have killed themselves after being targeted in a new and fast-growing sex blackmail scam.

Victims are being lured into exposing themselves or committing sex acts online by pretty young women after accepting their friendship requests on social networking sites.

They then face payment demands of hundreds of pounds - or threats that recordings of their behaviour will be sent to family and friends whose contact details they have unwittingly given access to.

Martin Hewitt, of the National Police Chiefs' Council, said: "We started to see it emerging about 18 months ago.

"Last year we had about 300 offences recorded in the UK and we're now this year over 900, and I suspect there's a significant number that don't get reported because the crime is preying on people's embarrassment and their humiliation of being caught out doing something like this."

Schoolboy Ronan Hughes, 17, was tricked into sending intimate photographs of himself, then faced a demand for £3,000 to avoid exposure.

He killed himself even though he had revealed the threat to his parents and police in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.

Daniel Perry, from Dunfermline, also 17, took his own life after threats to reveal his compromising online conversations.

Police would not reveal details of the other two suicides, but said they were both within the past year and added there could be more.

Carpenter Jon Pearn, 58, from Plymouth, admitted exposing himself online to a girl who claimed her name was Angel, but then revealed she was a man and demanded money. He refused to pay.

He said: "To me it was just one big joke - I just didn't care what they were saying at me. They weren't going to bluff me.

"Even if I was happily married, which I'm not - I'm single, so it can't affect anybody.

"Even if I had thousands of pounds I wouldn't have paid them a penny. To me they're just sad little low-lifes. Trying to bleed innocent people. 

"And then when I went to the police I was gobsmacked when the police lady told me how many people had been in just that month - 19 people in that police station alone."

Organised crime groups in the Philippines, Morocco and Ivory Coast were discovered running many of the sextortion scams, some using British girls.

Most of the UK victims are men aged 18-24, the eldest was 82 and the youngest 14. Some women have also been targeted.

Police have issued advice to victims, urging them not to pay or panic, but to shut down their social media accounts and report what has happened.

Senior officers insisted they will investigate and will not judge victims' behaviour.

Roy Sinclair, from the National Crime Agency's (NCA) anti-kidnap and extortion unit, said: "There is huge under-reporting of these kinds of offences, often because victims feel ashamed or embarrassed, but of course criminals are relying on that reaction in order to succeed.

"This is why we are launching this new campaign. We want victims and potential victims to know how they can protect themselves and to understand what to do if they are targeted.

"This is still a relatively new and emerging crime type, so the NCA and police are working with the Home Office to get a more accurate picture of the true scale."

The campaign includes a film aimed at helping victims to recognise an approach and providing online advice.

Vegan campaigners demand animal fat removed from new £5 notes

Campaigners have started a petition to urge the Bank of England to remove animal fat from the new £5 note.

There was anger among vegans and vegetarians after the bank confirmed the fivers contain tallow, a suet derivative.

Doug Maw, who started the petition, said he was "disgusted" and would not be using the notes.

"I understand old notes contain stuff as well - we can't do anything about what is in circulation - but the fact they are producing new ones is what really riles me," said Mr Maw.

"I don't think anything will happen about what has already been made, but I just hope they produce new ones without using animal fats."

Mr Maw is also trying to set up a petition on the Government site to try to force a debate on the issue in Parliament.

Some 9,000 people have signed the Change.org petition since Monday.

"Why would a piece of money ever need to contain something from an animal? ridiculous. surely theres substitutes and materials that can do the exact same thing," said one supporter, Martha McCoss.

Suzanne Bradshaw wrote: "The use of animal products is completely unnecessary.

"It's about time the bank dragged itself into the twenty first century and used a more environmentally friendly and ethical product to coat the notes."

The notes, which feature Winston Churchill and are designed to be more robust, began to enter circulation in September.

The first print run was set to produce 440 million notes, with polymer tenners coming next year and £20 notes by 2020.

A Bank of England spokeswoman confirmed animal fat is being used in the production process of the £5 note.

She said: "We can confirm that the polymer pellet from which the base substrate is made contains a trace of a substance known as tallow.

"Tallow is derived from animal fats (suet) and is a substance that is also widely used in the manufacture of candles and soap."