UK floods in pictures: Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge, West Bradford, Summerseat and other areas in Lancashire and Yorkshire affected December 26, 2015 People have been evacuated from their homes in some areas of Yorkshire and Lancashire on Boxing Day, after Northern England was struck by heavy rain. The Met Office issued their highest severe weather warning for the area, advising those present to "take action" and others not to travel to affected regions. The River Calder, River Ribble and [...]
Hebden Bridge flooding “worse than 2012” as red warning issued for rain in Yorkshire and Lancashire December 26, 2015 Insurers are braced for the fall-out from severe flooding in Yorkshire and Lancashire which some local business owners have described as worse than the devastating floods of 2012. Homes in Lancashire and Yorkshire have been evacuated after the Met Office issued its most severe red weather warning for rain. Some areas are expected to experience a month's [...]
World’s largest economies: UK could overtake Germany and Japan to become world’s fourth biggest economy December 26, 2015 The strength of the UK's economic performance has been underlined as it was named the fifth biggest economy in the world for the second successive year and forecast to eventually overtake Japan and Germany. In its annual league table of world economies, the Centre for Economic and Business Research (Cebr) forecast the UK to become "the best performing economy" [...]
Londoners buying property outside the capital hits highest rate in eight years December 26, 2015 Eye-watering property prices forced Londoners to leave the capital at their highest rate for eight years in 2015, as they spent £24bn on homes outside of the city. 63,000 homes outside the capital were purchased by Londoners in the past year – a two-thirds increase on the 38,000 purchased in 2014 – as house prices continued to skyrocket in the capital. According [...]
Blood pressure-lowering tablets should be given to more people in the UK, study advises December 24, 2015 Pills that lower blood pressure shouldn't only be prescribed to those with noticeably high blood pressure, according to a new study published in The Lancet. The authors say they should be given to anyone at high risk of heart disease, irrespective of what their blood pressure says about their health. People who fall into the [...]
Little festive cheer for investors as FTSE 100 finishes flat December 24, 2015 It seems Santa didn't have much in his sack for equities investors this year, after the FTSE finished the day's session flat at 6,254.64 points, just 0.22 per cent higher. It was a disappointing outcome, after the bluechip index showed signs of a late Santa rally yesterday, closing 2.6 per cent higher as mining stocks rebounded. But trading during this morning's [...]
The Christmas Dinner Index: Your Christmas dinner will cost one per cent less this year as mince pie prices fall December 24, 2015 Some festive news from RBS analyst Richard Ramsey, who has pointed out that the economics elves at Mintec have been hard at work figuring out how much the good people of Britain will shell out for their supper on Christmas day – and it turns out the price has fallen. The Christmas Dinner Index, which takes into account the costs of all [...]
Here’s how much you’re going to eat, drink, watch and unwrap on Christmas Day December 24, 2015 Wizzard might wish it could be Christmas everyday, but it's probably just as well, because you'd end up an obese, bankrupt shell of your former self within… let's say a couple of weeks. That's not us being Scrooge-like, but looking at the evidence it's clear any more than one Christmas Day a year would put [...]
All I want for Christmas is…: Christmas gift requests on Twitter reveal Apple, Nike and Victoria’s Secret as most popular brands December 24, 2015 What did you put on your wishlist this year? Thanks to the wonders of technology, we may be able to guess. Santa may be making his list and checking it twice, but as for the rest of us, we seem to be making our lists and then tweeting them twice. As social media analytics firm [...]
Sport, cosmetics and the internet: Why it’s time for investors to be more mature about China December 24, 2015 It’s not hard to find bad news stories about China's economy. China's stock market has plummeted 40 per cent from its peak, iron ore prices have collapsed by 75 per cent, Macau gaming revenue has halved in two years, luxury goods profit warnings abound and the yuan has been devalued. While the quality of official gross domestic [...]