Beleaguered Starmer appeals for unity at first cabinet meeting of 2026

Sir Keir Starmer has opened his first meeting of the year with his top team with an appeal to unity amid ongoing speculation over whether he will be ousted by Labour MPs.

The beleaguered prime minister called for discipline and a focus on tackling the cost of living crisis as his cabinet gathered in Downing Street.

It comes as rumours persist around a potential leadership bid by health secretary Wes Streeting with reports that Scottish Labour MPs are asking him to take over as leader to prevent a wipeout in the crucial May elections.

Support for Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner as potential candidates has also continued to grow.

Just hours before the cabinet meeting, Mr Streeting was forced to rebuff claims he is pushing for Sir Keir’s job, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: “I’m certainly not talking about it (leadership speculation).”

Sir Keir told his senior ministers that their challenge for 2026 is to show “hard work, focus and determination” in helping to ease the financial burden on households.

With Labour facing a difficult set of elections in England, Scotland and Wales in May, the prime minister is under pressure to show results.

A new Yougov poll published on Tuesday has also seen Labour slip further to third place 17 per cent behind Nigel Farage’s Reform on 26 per cent and the Tories on 19 per cent. Labour is only just above the Greens on 15 per cent while the Lib Dems are on 16 per cent.

The attempt to focus on domestic matters also comes as Donald Trump and the US continues to threaten to annex Greenland and with Sir Keir set to join world leaders in Paris for a meeting of Ukraine’s allies.

He said: “Yes, there’s a world of uncertainty and upheaval, but tackling the cost of living remains and must remain our focus.”

The prime minister insisted the government’s measures were paying off, with increases in the minimum wage, the Bank of England’s reductions in interest rates and help with energy bills all helping ease the burden on squeezed household incomes.

Speaking at the meeting of the political cabinet – without civil service officials but with Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell and general secretary Hollie Ridley in attendance – he added: “This will be an important year as we show that renewal is becoming reality and that Britain is turning the corner.

“Getting our country back on track is hard, difficult work and we will reject the politics of easy answers and gimmicks that, frankly, got us here in the first place.”

With speculation persisting in Westminster about the possibility of Sir Keir facing a leadership challenge if Labour performs badly in May’s local and devolved parliamentary elections, the prime minister urged his cabinet to deliver results.

Mr Streeting is widely viewed as a potential successor and Sir Keir pointedly noted the need to demonstrate improvements in the NHS as he called for hard work and determination from across the cabinet.

“At the next general election we will be judged on whether we’ve delivered on things that really matter – do people feel better off, are public services improving, for which they will look to the NHS, and do people feel more safe and secure in their own community,” he said.

“They are the issues we will be judged on at the next general election, that is our focus.

“That will require hard work, focus and determination from all of us.

“Together, as a team, we will rise to that challenge and deliver for the whole country.”

Labour has plummeted in the opinion polls since the 2024 general election landslide, with Reform UK enjoying consistent leads and hopeful of successes in May’s contests in English councils and in Wales.

In Scotland, Labour faces a challenge from Reform as both parties seek to oust the SNP.

Putin accused of bombing US company in Ukraine ahead of key Paris peace talks

European leaders have pushed back at Donald Trump’s threats against Greenland ahead of the latest Ukraine peace talks in Paris.

A joint statement from Denmark, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain on Tuesday said “Greenland belongs to its people”.

It comes amid fears the US president could follow through on his desire to annex the Danish territory, potentially putting the long-standing Nato alliance at risk.

The concerns over Trump’s designs on Greenland, and the recent toppling of Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro, threaten to overshadow the talks aimed at ending Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Trump’s senior negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and Kyiv‘s European allies in Paris today in the latest push for a peace deal.

The key issues to be discussed by the Coalition of the Willing-led talks include which countries are prepared to deploy peacekeeping troops and what the remit of any force overseeing a ceasefire might be. Russia has said it won’t accept troops from Nato countries on Ukrainian soil.

The only person who can stop Donald Trump now is Pope Leo

When the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church gathered behind closed doors last year to elect a successor to Pope Francis, pundits the world over produced lists of likely candidates for the papal throne. If there was one thing the experts agreed on, it was that an American did not have a chance. Given the US superpower status, it was assumed that the conclave – the gathering of scarlet-clad cardinals – would not want to extend its influence still further by choosing an American pope.

Yet the conclave did precisely that, selecting Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost – now Pope Leo XIV. As for American hegemony, there is no sense that Leo is in the pocket of Donald Trump. Quite the reverse. Despite conservative American Catholics believing one of their own would mark a step change from the radical Latin American Pope Francis, Leo has continued the papal warnings about climate change, shown empathy for the poorest in the world, and renewed calls for peace.

For Pope Leo, however, the defining moment of his pontificate – and of his relationship with his American homeland – is now likely to be Venezuela. Calling out Donald Trump on the legality and morality of a US military incursion will take courage. The signs so far are encouraging – but the moment has come for Leo’s voice to be louder, stronger and angrier.

In early December, the Pope warned that the US was preparing a military incursion into Venezuela. On Sunday, he used his traditional lunchtime address to speak out – though in restrained diplomatic language. There was talk of respect for human rights, for national sovereignty, for justice.

Yet there was also a hint of something else – something more emotional – when he told the crowd that he carried a “soul full of concern” for Venezuelans. What happens in Latin America is personal for this pope. While it is correct to describe Leo as the first American pope, he is also a Peruvian pontiff.

As Robert Prevost, he spent eight years as a bishop in northern Peru, became a Peruvian citizen, and ministered to Venezuelan refugees making their way through Ecuador and Colombia in search of safety – beyond the reach of Maduro and away from the economic collapse of their homeland. Not only does he know the Venezuelan people well, but so do two of his most senior aides. Cardinal Pietro Parolin – as secretary of state, effectively the deputy Pope – served as papal ambassador to Venezuela. Another, Edgar Peña Parra, is himself a Venezuelan archbishop.

None will be under any illusions about Maduro. Their focus, however, will be the people of Venezuela – not Trump’s plans for US oil barons to profit from the country’s vast natural resources.

As pope, Leo has two powerful tools when it comes to peace – a priority he has named from the outset. The first is his public voice. Nobody else commands a global platform quite like the pope’s. The second is Vatican diplomacy, with its well-informed network of nuncios around the world and its seat at international tables such as the UN, where it enjoys permanent observer status, with the right to attend, speak and influence the General Assembly.

There is ample precedent for Rome acting as a bridge between warring parties. During the Obama administration, the Vatican played a significant role in restoring ties between the US and Cuba. At a Vatican seminar on diplomacy I chaired in Rome in October, another of Leo’s lieutenants, the British Archbishop Paul Gallagher, recalled its role in brokering the 1984 peace treaty between Chile and Argentina over the Beagle Channel. There was talk, too, of the Vatican’s quiet peace-building during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. At the same seminar, former security minister MP Tom Tugendhat praised the Holy See for speaking out on global conflict “with prophetic clarity”.

That is what the Pope must do now. For both sovereign Argentina and for international law, Leo can be their most important ally – without an army.

England have one choice after mental disintegration in Ashes

Sometimes when trying to save a relationship, your other half can do something particularly horrible that, rather than upsetting you, provides you peace. Proves that this isn’t working. That you’re not right for each other. And that you should find someone new.

England came home drunk one too many times today. The showing across day three of the final Ashes Test was a perfectly-curated charcuterie board of the choicest cuts of nonsense from the last three-and-a-half years. It was quite cute when you asked Will Jacks to bowl spin in Rawalpindi in 2022, but in Sydney in 2026 it made me want to cry.

The morning session was the moment. England’s worst two-and-a-half hours of cricket either in living memory or since yesterday, I can’t decide.

Four catches went down. Four. Two were fiendishly difficult, one would have been a good catch had it stuck, but the fourth was a shocker. Jacks, in the deep, settled underneath a mistimed pull from Travis Head, and then just as the ball was about to arrive, he checked to see how close he was to the boundary. The ball clattered into his hands, and fell to the floor. Funnily enough, it turns out the sound of 50,000 Australians laughing is eerily similar to that of English wheels falling off.

The whole thing continues to bemuse. Jacks is a good fielder. He doesn’t drop simple catches. Nor is Matthew Potts a wayward bowler. And yet the evidence of history continues to dispute the evidence of today.

Potts, who had such a difficult time of it in his first match back yesterday, had his first three balls flayed for four. Soon, when bowling to Head, Potts had three fielders out on the offside boundary. Bowling to be cut, concede one, and have a go at the other end. His 100th run conceded came from a Head six. It was as desperate as it was sad.

Moments of technical aberration led to hours of mental disintegration. England arrived this morning with two reviews remaining, only to burn them both on the nightwatchman Michael Neser before lunch. At the loss of the second one, Ben Stokes threw his hands to his head in disbelief. This couldn’t be happening. Only, it was. And it kept happening. Don’t think today provided a glimmer of hope. This was consistency in its purest form: misery.

The framing provided by Rob Key, Brendon McCullum and Stokes in the last week is that English cricket starting afresh after each Ashes series has been proven not to work. Let us learn from our mistakes and we’ll be the people best placed to take us forward. If you know what the problem is, there’s no problem.

With an unease and a fear of the unknown, it was a sentiment that was gathering pace. Stokes remains the best option for captain, but we’ve spent so much energy on this and McCullum’s payout will be north of a million pounds and we’ve just got the bathroom fitted together. So maybe we can make this work. Key is a good talker. I enjoy his company.

But just because we can handle them at their best doesn’t mean we deserve them at their worst.

The relaxed atmosphere they have cultivated has turned into sloppiness. These things always work in cycles. But an emphasis on wicket-taking has led to a lack of control. The desire to groom Shoaib Bashir has led to Jacob Bethell and Jacks sharing spinning duties. The wish to be attacking with the bat, then re-framing mid-series, has led to a halfway house where runs are left on the table.

The execution on the pitch hasn’t been there, and England have also admitted to getting the preparation wrong and the selection. To take a count: execution, preparation, selection. What, exactly, are we holding on for?

When Bazball arrived it was a revelation. The no-consequence, freeing environment they built thrived by lifting the pressure from a generation of players who had been scarred. But the players who have come in since have never carried that burden. The environment freed them from a pressure they had never experienced, until it arrived in spades on the most intense tour of them all. And now they are scarred, bearing those wounds from this trip, this series, and this leadership. Change won’t be for the sake of change.

Crucially, just because a relationship ends, it doesn’t have to mean it failed. Bazball has been a riotous three-and-a-half years. The cricket played has been joyous as often as it has been infuriating. Full throttle, foot to the floor fun. It’s just now that Bethell, Jamie Smith and co. are entering their mid-20s they’re looking for something more serious. It’s all well and good telling people to play their natural game, but what if they don’t know what it is.

The ECB CEO Richard Gould landed in Sydney this week. He has backed this leadership team to the end, but on day three he will have witnessed a performance that spelt it.

It’s time to move on. And to be honest, it’s you, not me.

The real reasons why AI isn’t coming for your job, according to experts

Over the last year, chances are that at least once you’ve found yourself asking: “Could AI take my job?”

Modern workplaces are increasingly making use of artificial intelligence tools that promise to rid workers of the day-to-day drudgery of parts of their job. The technology has been hailed as a game-changer with the “potential to transform the lives of working people” by prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, whose government has pledged millions to support the founding of “AI growth zones” across the country.

But AI isn’t coming to take your job tomorrow, according to experts at Microsoft and Imperial College London. In an article published in the journal Occupational Medicine, they warned that while AI technology can bring benefits to workplaces, it could actually make the roles left to humans more complex.

As AI becomes more deeply embedded in workplaces, the technology will “simultaneously create its own, new, health issues and challenges”, according to lead researcher Dr Lara Shemtob.

“Research shows that the labour market is changing, and some jobs and industries are more impacted by AI than others,” she said. “It’s important that workplaces are cognizant of that.”

So instead of being concerned about AI taking jobs, she said workplaces need to be aware of how implementing new technology is affecting employees.

For example, Dr Shemtob said some employees may see their role shift towards interacting with technology, where they used to speak to co-workers.

“Relationships might change if you start liaising more with tech than with a human colleague,” she explained. “This is the sort of problem we are encouraging employers to be mindful of.”

She added some people may not have been expected to be supervisors when they took on their role, but could find themselves starting to take on managerial tasks over AI agents.

Equally, she said AI “hallucination” could mean people need to check work more thoroughly, placing more burden on workers.

Both these issues are things she said could become a “hidden workload” that could “negate the benefits” of using technology.

“As AI absorbs routine tasks, human roles may shift toward stewardship, problem-solving, or emotional labour, all with their own psychological demands,” Dr Shemtob said.

The team also warned that as the sophistication of AI accelerates, and the tasks it can be given – or taken away from human co-workers – increases, we will see growing “role ambiguity” within workplaces.

She said this can potentially raise mental health issues such as uncertainty, stress and anxiety.

“We know that risk factors for work-related stress involve things like role ambiguity, and change can also be a stressor,” she said.

Dr Shemtob was keen to highlight the benefits that AI technologies can bring to the workplace.

She said government plans to make AI “work for working people” through greater investment in and adoption of the technology in British industry could have “lots of upsides”. The AI Opportunities Action Plan has seen the government join with leading tech firms and investors to pledge the creation of AI growth zones and “ensure British businesses and researchers stay at the forefront of AI”.

She believes the new technology could help the 2.5 to 3m people in the UK who are currently “economically inactive” by lowering barriers to employment.

“People with certain types of neurodiversity can really benefit from things AI can do in the workplace,” she explained. “AI tools like transcription, summarisation, and scheduling support can reduce barriers for neurodivergent workers.”

The introduction of AI technology could also have mental health benefits for workers, despite its challenges in the area, Dr Shemtob added.

For example, the experts behind the article believe it can be used to control “hazards” by reducing human involvement and completing tasks that are dangerous or psychologically harmful for humans, such as online content moderation – although they conceded there are “issues with appropriate decision making”.

She also said new technologies are helping occupational health professionals expand their reach and access more people in need.

But in order to feel the full effects of benefits, she said, workplaces need to use AI “consciously”.

“I think the pace of change is so fast it’s hard to stay on top of it and think these things through,” she added. “We are encouraging people to think consciously about how you are using AI – we’ve all got to be much more active in our awareness in how we are using it.”

‘Tis the season to connect: How to maximise your mobile

Our mobile phones are a vital part of our everyday lives, providing us with connection, entertainment and information. We rely on the device in our pocket to help us work, socialise, learn and so much more – so we want to make sure we’re getting the most we can from it.

Tesco Mobile’s new Pay as you go Essentials tariff can help you do just that, offering increased flexibility and benefits. It keeps things simple and lets you add 30-day bundles of data, minutes and texts that best suit your needs.

The tariff will replace Rocket Pack, Triple Credit and Lite tariffs for all existing Tesco Mobile Pay as you go customers.

Customers who prefer traditional Pay as you go can continue to use top-up balance for calls, texts and data at the standard rate: 25p per minute, 10p per text, 10p per MB.*

So whether you’re an existing Tesco Mobile customer or thinking of making the switch, here’s seven reasons why Pay as you go Essentials is the perfect option…

We all use our phones differently. For some, it’s all about streaming favourite shows and music, so having enough data is vital. Others just want to be able to text and call friends and family whenever they want. Tesco Mobile make it easy to find the right Pay as you go Essentials bundle for your needs. New customers can choose the best bundle for their needs, with bundles auto-renewing every 30 days using available top-up balance.

Circumstances can change and you might find yourself needing more data or minutes some months than others. Depending on how much you use your phone, a bundle is often more cost-effective than using your top-up balance and being charged standard rates for calls, texts and data usage. Pay as you go Essentials is a flexible top-up tariff designed to give users full control over their spend, letting them add bundles of data, minutes and texts to suit specific needs. You can change your bundle as often as you like or cancel at any time. If you decide to opt-out of a bundle you can continue to use your top-up balance for calls, text and data at the standard out-of-bundle rate (25p per minute, 10p per text, 10p per MB).

Pay as you go Essentials offers a range of five great-value bundle options that all include data, minutes and texts. Pay as you go Essentials bundles start from just £5 for 30 days (minimum £10 top-up at activation), while every bundle from £10 and up includes unlimited calls and texts (subject to Fair Usage Policy) – making it easy and affordable to stay connected. If you’re an existing Tesco Mobile Pay as you go customer you’ll get a free 30 day Essentials bundle based on your previous use so you can see if its the right one for you.

The new Tesco Mobile app is packed with useful features to help you make the most of your Pay as you go phone. It’s a quick and simple way to manage or change your bundles, check usage, top-up your balance change auto-renew settings and more. You can easily see your remaining data, minutes and texts, so you know whether you need to add a new or different bundle. Need a hand with something? Chat with the customer care team via live in-app messaging. This is a new app for Pay as you go customers, and customers will no longer be able to use their old Tesco Mobile Pay as you go apps.

Phone calls cutting out, videos buffering, texts that don’t send… an unreliable phone signal can be hugely frustrating. Tesco Mobile shares O2’s network, which means 99 per cent UK coverage, and a better connection in hard-to-reach rural areas – so you won’t be searching for a signal. Tesco Mobile’s 4G and 5G networks are constantly being improved, and with Pay as you go Essentials, customers can use 4G Calling (also known as VoLTE) means you’ll use your 4G connection to make and receive calls, enjoying clearer calls. You can find this option in your network settings.

With Tesco Mobile, you get a Clubcard point for every £1 you spend. Just link your Clubcard to your phone (text the word CLUBCARD to 28578 free from your Tesco Mobile phone) and watch the points add up. You can then convert your points to vouchers to save on your weekly grocery shop or exchange the vouchers for Reward Partner codes to save money on meals out, entertainment, day trips, travel and more. For a limited time, Tesco Mobile customers can get 500 Clubcard points every time they add a £15 Pay as you go Essentials bundle when they link their Clubcard within the first 28 days of adding the bundle. Clubcard points will be automatically issued within 30 days.

For more information on Tesco Mobile’s Pay as you go Essentials, including all available bundles, visit Tesco Mobile

*Offer ends 01/02/2026. See Terms And Conditions for full terms.

Mass cancellations at Amsterdam airport as snow wreaks travel chaos

One-third of a million passengers flying to and from Amsterdam Schiphol – including tens of thousands from the UK – have now had their flights cancelled as a result of extreme wintry weather.

In the UK, the Met Office has issued amber and yellow weather warnings for snow and ice covering almost the whole of the UK. Hundreds of thousands of travellers face another day of disruption caused by a combination of both severe weather and technical failures. There are cancellations and delays on the Great Western and East Coast intercity lines.

Here is everything you need to know.

For flyers, mass cancellations to and from Amsterdam Schiphol airport are continuing for a fifth day due to snow and ice. Dozens of flights between the Dutch hub and UK airports on KLM are once again cancelled – including services to and from Aberdeen, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Heathrow, Humberside, Inverness, Leeds Bradford, London City, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich and Teesside.

The airport says: “Due to persistent winter weather, only limited air traffic is possible to and from Schiphol. Our snow crews are working around the clock to keep the runways clear, and aircraft are being carefully de-iced to ensure everyone can travel safely.

“However, the wintry conditions are expected to cause disruptions to the flight schedule in the coming days.”

With some understatement, the airport adds: “This may result in delays and cancellations.”

The flight-tracking website Flightradar24 calculates that one-third of Amsterdam’s flights have been cancelled on Tuesday. It adds: “That figure is expected to rise to 50-60 per cent throughout the day.”

Already, 171 flights scheduled for Wednesday have been grounded. In total, since last Friday, around 2,500 flights have been cancelled – affecting at least one-third of a million passengers.

The Dutch airline is telling passengers: “Due to severe winter weather, including snow and strong winds, flights at Amsterdam airport Schiphol are disrupted. We understand this may be stressful, but we are doing all we can to help you on your way again.”

For some smaller UK airports, links to Amsterdam are the only international flights of the day.

British Airways has cancelled four flights so far linking Heathrow with Amsterdam.

Anyone reaching Amsterdam will find their problems are only beginning. The airport warns: “There is no train traffic available throughout the Netherlands (until at least 10am).”

As the morning rush hour began, National Rail warned that damage to overhead electric wires west of London Paddington is severely disrupting trains on the Elizabeth line, Heathrow Express and GWR network. Dozens of trains have been cancelled, including some intercity trains on the line to and from Bristol Temple Meads.

National Rail warns disruption is expected to continue “until the end of the day” on Tuesday.

On the East Coast Main Line, LNER is warning passengers “to defer travel until further notice between Edinburgh, Leeds and London Kings Cross” on Tuesday 6 January.

The link between Scotland, northeast England, Yorkshire and London King’s Cross was severely disrupted on Monday due to a broken rail. LNER warns: “The severity of this disruption has resulted in a fleet imbalance.”

Many trains are cancelled, including early LNER departures from Edinburgh, Newcastle and Yorkshire and some northbound departures from the English capital. Grand Central, Hull Trains and Lumo services are delayed.

Bad weather in the shape of “heavy snow” is blamed for the cancellation of the early LNER train from Berwick-upon-Tweed to London King’s Cross. Links from Aberdeen to Edinburgh are also axed due to snow.

In Scotland, LNER has cancelled all trains between Edinburgh and Aberdeen until 2pm on Tuesday 6 January. “There will be no rail replacement transport in operation,” the operator says.

ScotRail trains on key lines in the north of the country have been cancelled due to heavy and drifting snow:

The Merseyrail network connecting Liverpool, Chester and other locations is disrupted, with multiple cancellations on all lines.

Roads in northern Scotland are severely disrupted. The A887 northwest of Loch Ness is blocked by a fallen tree, while many other routes are only passable with extreme care. Traffic Scotland has closed the A939 linking Nairn on the Moray coast with the Grampians.

In west Wales, the main north-south road, the A487, is blocked near Machynlleth by an overturned vehicle. The A474 in south Wales and the A494 in mid-Wales are also blocked.

Higher roads in Cheshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire are treacherous because of ice and snow.

Motorists heading for Dover are warned that the Roundhill Tunnel on the A20 is closed because of a diesel spillage. Anyone who misses a ferry to France will be rebooked on the next available service.

Read more: What rights do you have to compensation for cancelled or delayed flights?

Full list of all UK schools closed today due to snow and ice

Hundreds of schools will remain closed for a second day as snow and ice continue to cause disruption across the country amid multiple weather warnings.

Temperatures will struggle to get above freezing as many people are due to return to school or work after the festive period, with the Met Office warning that cold conditions will bring a range of hazards over the next few days.

Two amber snow warnings and five yellow snow and ice warnings remain in place across Scotland, the North West, east and south west of England, Northern Ireland, and Wales.

Much of Scotland has faced the worst of the weather, with hundreds of schools in the north of the country remaining closed on Tuesday. Schools in Shetland, Orkney and Aberdeenshire will remain shut on Tuesday after pupils enjoyed an extra day of holiday on Monday following the festive break due to the weather.

You can check the status of your child’s school here:

A number of flights have been cancelled, while some train lines are also affected.

The amber snow warnings are in place from 11am to 7pm on Tuesday for the Highlands and Central Scotland as a spell of heavy snow is expected to move east across central and north of the country, clearing to wintry showers during Tuesday night. A further 5 to 10cm is expected widely with 15cm in places, particularly above 200m.

The alerts warn of an increased likelihood of impacts from severe weather, including the possibility of travel delays, road and rail closures, power cuts and the potential risk to life and property.

Separate yellow warnings for snow and ice cover much of the UK, including Northern Ireland, Wales, much of Scotland north of Glasgow, south-west England, north-west England, the Midlands, east England and the northeast of England, stretching up to the Scottish Borders.

The Met Office said yellow alerts mean that it is likely the weather will cause at least low-level impacts, including some disruption to travel.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has also issued an amber cold health alert, as an early warning that adverse temperatures are likely to affect health and wellbeing, which is in place in England until Friday.

Dr Agostinho Sousa, head of extreme events and health protection at UKHSA, urged people to check in on vulnerable friends, family and neighbours. He warned: “The forecast temperatures can have a serious impact on the health of some people, leading to increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and chest infections, particularly for individuals over the age of 65 and those with pre-existing health conditions.”

Police travel advice was issued after the additional amber weather warning for snow across north and north-east Scotland.

Assistant chief constable Alan Waddell said: “The forecasted heavy snow showers and ice means driving conditions are likely to be hazardous in some areas. Our advice is to plan ahead and consider if your journey is really necessary during the weather warnings. If you need to travel, please drive to the conditions, be prepared for delays and allow extra time for your journey.”

Scotland’s first minister John Swinney said snow across northern Scotland has had a “significant” impact, and that a “huge effort” was going into keeping transport moving and public services open.

“At present, there is still some travel disruption but trunk roads are open and rail, ferry and air services are working to get back to normal as quickly as possible,” he said.

“Likewise, many schools are closed today but remote learning is in place for young people while contingency plans are in place for affected health and social care services.

“There will be further snow and ice, with yellow warnings in large parts of Scotland and temperatures set to remain cold, so impacts will continue to be felt in the coming days which could include transport problems and I would encourage everyone to plan ahead, look out for each other and pay close attention to the range of weather and travel advice available.”