As strike-hit Britain shivers, it’s all much sunnier in St Barts
SIR Paul McCartney and wife Nancy Shevell jetted off to the sun-soaked West Indies for the festive period – and few would blame them as Britain is set for a New Year’s washout.
With Public Health England warning of temperatures dipping to -5C today and rain sweeping the country, the beaches of St Barts seem much more appealing.
The McCartneys joined a number of high-profile stars on the idyllic island as Russian billionaire and Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich reportedly held his annual New Year’s Eve party at his £58m St Barts estate with live music from The Rolling Stones and Guns N’ Roses.
They were believed to be joined by Stella McCartney and Puff Daddy among others.
Back home, passengers were left to spend New Year sleeping in airports after fog forced hundreds of flights to be cancelled.
Yesterday Heathrow Airport suspended 45 flights and a third of its flights suffered delays. It comes after airports across the UK cancelled hundreds of flights on Friday.
The Met Office predicts that the fog will clear by the end of today when rain is expected to sweep south across England. Despite this, other European airports are expected to face disruption.
Met Office forecaster Nathan Partridge said: “Although we will be clear of fog, there’s still a lot of fog across many parts of western Europe, there’s huge amounts of it across France, Germany and a few other areas, so that’s also a knock-on effect for the flights.”
Meanwhile, a fresh strike by workers on Southern will mean misery for passengers. Members of the RMT union launched a threeday walkout yesterday in their long-running dispute over the role of conductors.
And as PHE warned of extra pressure on hospitals due to the cold spell, last night emergency services were pushed to breaking point, as paramedics in the South East struggled to reach patients due to a high level of 999 calls. South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust said 999 callers in Kent in particular were hit by delays in crews reaching them due to the high demand. Last year, between 10pm on New Year’s Eve and 4am on Jan 1, the Trust handled 1,135 calls – an average of more than three a minute – and this year was expected to be higher. Swimmers welcoming 2017 with a chilly early morning dip in the sea can enjoy some extra new year cheer as it emerged they are experiencing the cleanest bathing waters since the industrial revolution. Three times as many beaches and bays around England met tough water quality inspection standards in 2016 as did so a generation ago, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. A total of 413 stretches of bathing water around England were tested, with all but six passing.