Professor Andrew Pollard reveals ‘optimism’ that current vaccines will prevent serious disease

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A relative described her as a ‘romantic’ type of person and a ‘beautiful angel’

Whitehall officials have been placed on a ‘war footing’ and told to start weighing future restrictions to be implemented if the variant eventually takes hold, while leading scientists have called for pre-emptive action

Watch the latest UK weather forecast from the Independent for today.

Met Office issues rare red alert warning of damage to buildings and power cuts

Wright was arrested after being found sleeping inside his lorry

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Climate change group calls American firm ‘exploitative and environmentally destructive’

London hopes French president will ‘reconsider’ withdrawal of Priti Patel’s invitation to crisis talks

Campaigners preparing to launch legal challenges against policy after Channel’s deadliest small boat disaster

Rail chief says costs are impossible to justify

French protests over post-Brexit fishing arrangements escalate

Stock and oil prices tumble worldwide

Four teenagers – aged 13, two aged 14, and one aged 15 – have been arrested on suspicion of murder

A year after suffering a huge election loss, New Zealand’s conservative opposition leader Judith Collins has been ousted by her caucus

Local charity worker says ‘it’s proof that the government’s strategy of deterrence isn’t working’

MP says two of constituent’s relatives have been murdered by Taliban during three-month delay

Expert warns Katherine Denkinson that the situation in the UK will get worse if it goes unchecked, adding: ‘It is only a matter of time before someone snaps’

‘A devastating loss for us here in Plymouth,’ says organiser

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‘He knows what he must do to move this forward’, says Labour leader on predecessor

Defendant arrives at court with face covered as it emerges he was lead guitarist in local indie rock band

Mateusz Morawiecki visits Downing Street for migration talks

Another 160 more people die with coronavirus

The shadow health secretary had been due to appear in the Commons

‘Highly likely’ that strain has spread beyond Southern Africa, but none detected in UK so far

A number of cases have already been confirmed

‘I don’t know if we are going to make it’, one man making the crossing told his friend before he disappeared

Roofs could be blown off by gusts up to 90mph, forecasters warn

Only 10 cases have been reported worldwide so far

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Former PM likens Labour’s position to 1983 when it was criticised for supporting LGBT rights

‘Shocking stuff’: Pressure on MPs over sleaze vote could be criminal, says campaigning law group

RMT union at odds with TfL over driver shift patterns as Night Tube returns

Cold Arctic air could bring colder weather and snow to parts of the UK, the Met Office has warned

Home Office says ‘only right’ to take time finding right person to tackle small boat crossings

Arctic winds sending temperatures tumbling as we enter December but opinion divided among experts on whether Britain will experience coldest winter since 2010

Travel restrictions needed while scientists ‘check out’ variant, says transport secretary

‘Fed up with double-talk’: Paris disinvites Priti Patel from emergency summit