People across much of the UK should be safe to leave their winter layers and umbrellas at home on Christmas Day, as a run of unseasonably mild weather continues. Highs of between 11C and 13C are forecast, lower than the warmest Christmas on record back in 1920 when it was 15.6C in Devon.

Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said this year will be a “green Christmas” as no snow or frost is expected anywhere in the country.

Britain's economy failed to grow during the first three months of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's new government, official figures showed on Monday, adding to signs of a slowdown that has cast a shadow over his time in office so far.

The British economy flatlined in the third quarter of the year, according to downwardly revised official figures Monday, in another blow to the new Labour government that has made growth its number one mission.