The Canadian province of Nova Scotia is facing pushback for what some have called "draconian" restrictions as it tries to limit wildfire risk in extremely dry conditions.

Last week, Nova Scotia banned all hiking, fishing and use of vehicles like ATVs in wooded areas, with rule breakers facing a C$25,000 ($18,000) fine. A tip line has been set up to report violations.

The Canadian Constitution Foundation, a non-profit that defends charter rights in the country, called the ban a "dangerous example of 'safetyism' and creeping authoritarianism".

Tens of thousands of residents are under evacuation alerts in eastern Canada as the country experiences its second worst wildfire season on record.

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says human activity is responsible for almost all wildfires in the Atlantic province - official statistics from 2009 say 97% of such blazes are caused by people.

On Wednesday, he defended the ban, which was announced last week, calling the province a "tinder box" that has not seen any rain since June.

"I get that people want to go for a hike or want to go for a walk in the woods with their dog," Houston said during a wildfire update with officials.

"But how would you like to be stuck in the woods while there's a fire burning around you?"

He said the restrictions will be loosened once enough rain falls to mitigate the risk.

"In the meantime go to the beach," he added.

Houston confirmed that 12 people have been fined so far for violating the ban.

"It's certainly my hope that every single one of those is fully prosecuted and collected," said the premier. "It's just too serious of a situation by now."

One of those penalised is military veteran Jeff Evely.

On Friday, Mr Evely posted a video on Facebook of himself going to a Department of Natural Resources office saying he wanted to challenge the ban in court, and "the only way for me to do that is to get the fine".

"I'm not trying to make trouble for you guys," Mr Evely, who ran as a candidate for the People's Party of Canada in April's federal election, is heard telling an official.

He is later seen walking into the woods, before going back to the office where he is fined C$28,872.50.

Others defend the restrictions as a needed precaution since the province has seen two fires a day for the last week on average.

Stephen Maher, a political journalist who lives in rural Nova Scotia, argued in an opinion piece for the Globe and Mail newspaper that there is little chance his run in the woods would have sparked a fire.

He added, "but fires are mostly caused by dimwitted and careless people, and there is no way of separating them from their careful neighbours, so the ban is necessary".

In a separate blog post, former Conservative Party campaign manager Fred DeLorey said that given the lack of rain, "when the provincial government announced a temporary ban on travelling in the woods due to extreme fire risk, I didn't complain. I exhaled".

Officials fear a repeat of 2023, the worst-ever fire season in Canada and in Nova Scotia, when 220 fires razed more than 25,000 hectares of land in the province.

The province of New Brunswick has brought in similar restrictions, barring use of public land.

On Wednesday, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador banned off-road vehicles in forested areas until at least next week. It has brought in fines of up to C$150,000 for fire ban violations.

Canada's 2025 wildfire season is the second-worst on record, after 2023.

Fires happen naturally in many parts of the world and it's difficult to know if climate change has caused or worsened a specific wildfire because other factors are also relevant.

According to the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, climate change is making the weather conditions needed for wildfires to spread more likely.

More than 470 blazes are currently "out of control", says the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

One is on the western outskirts of Halifax, the largest city in Nova Scotia, which continues to burn out of control.

In New Brunswick, Premier Susan Holt called it "a tale of two fires".

She said crews had made progress on one fire, but were having less success with another blaze near the community of Miramichi.

Military and coast guard units were deployed in Newfoundland and Labrador, while the worst fires were concentrated in the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Three other provinces, British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, have also seen fire activity well above their 25-year average.

Hailed by some as a hero and scorned by others as a traitor, Hong Kong's pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai is in the final stage of his national security trial.

Closing arguments begin on Thursday for Lai, who is accused of colluding with foreign forces under a Beijing-imposed national security law.

The trial has drawn international attention, with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer calling for Lai's release. The 77-year-old has British as well as Chinese citizenship - though China does not recognise dual nationality, and therefore considers Lai to be exclusively Chinese.

Lai has been detained since December 2020 and faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if he is convicted.

Critics say Lai's case shows how Hong Kong's legal system has been weaponised to silence political opposition.

Lai has been a persistent thorn in China's side. Unlike other tycoons who rose to the top in Hong Kong, Mr Lai became one of the fiercest critics of the Chinese state and a leading figure advocating democracy in the former British territory.

"I'm a born rebel," he told the BBC in an interview in 2020, hours before he was charged. "I have a very rebellious character."

He is the most prominent person charged under the controversial national security law which China introduced in 2020, in response to massive protests which erupted in Hong Kong the year before.

The legislation criminalises a wider range of dissenting acts which Beijing considers subversion and secession, among other things.

Beijing says the national security law is necessary to maintain stability in Hong Kong but critics say it has effectively outlawed dissent.

Over the years, Lai's son Sebastien has called for his release. In February, the younger Lai urged Starmer and US President Donald Trump to take urgent action, adding that his father's "body is breaking down".

Rags to riches

Lai was born in Guangzhou, a city in southern China, to a wealthy family that lost everything when the communists took power in 1949.

He was 12 years old when he fled his village in mainland China, arriving in Hong Kong as a stowaway on a fishing boat.

While working odd jobs and knitting in a small clothing shop he taught himself English. He went from a menial role to eventually founding a multi-million dollar empire including the international clothing brand Giordano.

The chain was a huge success. But when China sent in tanks to crush pro-democracy protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989, Lai began a new journey as a vocal democracy activist as well as an entrepreneur.

He started writing columns criticising the massacre that followed the demonstrations in Beijing and established a publishing house that went on to become one of Hong Kong's most influential.

As China responded by threatening to shut his stores on the mainland, leading him to sell the company, Lai launched a string of popular pro-democracy titles that included Next, a digital magazine, and the widely read Apple Daily newspaper.

In a local media landscape increasingly fearful of Beijing, Lai had been a persistent critic of Chinese authorities both through his publications and writing.

This has seen him become a hero for many in Hong Kong, who view him as a man of courage who took great risks to defend the freedoms of the city.

But on the mainland he is viewed as a "traitor" who threatens Chinese national security.

In recent years, masked attackers firebombed Lai's house and company headquarters. He was also the target of an assassination plot.

But none of the threats stopped him from airing his views robustly. He was a prominent part of the city's pro-democracy demonstrations and was arrested twice in 2021 on illegal assembly charges.

When China passed Hong Kong's new national security law in June 2020, Lai told the BBC it sounded the "death knell" for the territory.

The influential entrepreneur also warned that Hong Kong would become as corrupt as China. Without the rule of law, he said, its coveted status as a global financial hub would be "totally destroyed".

The media mogul is known for his frankness and acts of flamboyance.

In 2021, he urged Donald Trump to help the territory, saying he was "the only one who can save us" from China. His newspaper, Apple Daily, published a front-page letter that finished: "Mr President, please help us."

For Lai, such acts were necessary to defend the city which had taken him in and fuelled his success.

He once told news agency AFP: "I came here with nothing, the freedom of this place has given me everything... Maybe it's time I paid back for that freedom by fighting for it."

Lai has been slapped with various charges - including unauthorised assembly and fraud - since 2020.

He has been in custody since December of that year.

The prosecution of Lai has captured international attention, with rights groups and foreign governments urging his release.

Over the years, Sebastien Lai has travelled the world to denounce his father's arrest and condemn Hong Kong for punishing "characteristics that should be celebrated".

"My father is in jail for the truth on his lips, courage in his heart, and freedom in his soul," he had said.

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It is a first in Taylor Swift's music career.

The megastar made her podcast debut on Wednesday night, appearing on New Heights - hosted by boyfriend Travis Kelce and his brother Jason Kelce - where she told the world about her new album "The Life of a Showgirl".

The American football star brothers offered a warm welcome to Swift, calling her "Tay Tay" and running through a list of her many awards.

Teaser clips of the New Heights podcast had already gone viral before the podcast aired, including one video clip where Swift unveils a briefcase with "TS" on it and pulls out her new 12th studio album, which is obscured by blurring.

The record was simultaneously made available for pre-order on her website - which also had a countdown clock to the moment when she would appear on the podcast.

The pop superstar is notorious for not giving interviews, typically sharing updates on her life through song lyrics which frenzied fans analyse and piece together.

Here is some of what we learned from the hour-long appearance.

Poking fun at male sports fans

The episode begins with a screaming introduction from Jason, the former Philadelphia Eagles player, who runs through a long list of his brother's girlfriend's accomplishments, including being the only artist to win the album of the year Grammy four times.

Swift sat beside Travis, chuckling along before thanking Jason for his enthusiasm.

She then went on to poke fun at her appearing on a podcast that typically caters to American football fans.

"As we all know, you know, you guys have a lot of male sports fans that listen to your podcast," she said.

"I think we all know that if there's one thing that male sports fans want in their spaces and on their screens, it's more of me," she deadpanned, looking straight into the camera.

Swift's appearance at Kansas City Chiefs games caused a frenzy over the years. In 2023 when the pair started dating and she started making appearances, game cameras looked for the singer in the stands - cutting to her more than a dozen times during some games.

The NFL promoted her appearances at games heavily on social media, posting videos and tweets about the singer and her celebrity entourage that often accompanied her.

Some football fans weren't happy with the new focus.

Swift was booed by NFL fans during her appearance on the jumbotron screen at the Super Bowl last February, which drew headlines and even social media posts by President Donald Trump.

But despite the criticism, Jason assured her that she has been the "most requested guest on the podcast". Other recent guests on the show include basketball stars Caitlin Clark, Shaquille O'Neal and LeBron James, and actors Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck, Bill Murry and Adam Sandler.

What the cover of her new album looks like

As the countdown clock ran down on her website and the podcast started, Swift's website updated with the cover of her 12th studio album.

The Life of a Showgirl features Swift wearing a bralette emblazoned with diamonds lying in turquoise green.

She is seen submerged in the water, with only her face above the surface.

The website to pre-order the album started crashing as soon as the podcast began, with users receiving error messages.

Within seconds of beginning, nearly one million people had started watching on YouTube. About 30 minutes into the episode, more than 1.25 million were tuning in.

Why did Taylor appear on a sports podcast?

Swift was asked why she chose to appear on the podcast, which caters primarily to sports fans.

"This podcast has done a lot for me. This podcast got me a boyfriend," she said, accusing Travis of using the podcast as his "personal dating app" before he met her.

Before they started dating - or even met - Travis famously gushed on the podcast about attending one of Swift's concerts and being saddened when they couldn't meet. He talked about making her a beaded friendship bracelet, which were popular during the Eras Tour, and said he wanted to give her his phone number.

She said the clip, which went viral, felt almost like "he was standing outside of my apartment, holding boom box saying, 'I want to go on a date with you'".

She said this was exactly the moment she had "been writing songs about, wanting to happen to me since I was a teenager".

"It was wild, but it worked...He's the good kind of crazy," she said, calling her boyfriend "a human exclamation point".

She said she was circling back to the podcast show as a way to say thank you.

Swift didn't know about football - until Travis

Swift said that she knew nothing about football before their romance began.

"I didn't know what a first down was," or a "tight-end," (which is the position Travis plays), she said.

She said she appreciated Travis' patience and understanding when they started dating and introducing her to his world.

She's now found herself personally invested - citing an episode where she found herself interested in a recent player trade. She recalled thinking to herself: "Who body snatched me?"

Travis told her that he will be "forever grateful" that she dove fully into his world "wholeheartedly".

While Swift has at times been shy about discussing her relationship in public, Travis has been more outspoken. Before the podcast aired, he told GQ in an interview, "I love being the happiest guy in the world".

He also praised Swift for her athleticism, comparing her three-hour long concerts to his football games.

"She will never tell anyone that she is an athlete. But I've seen what she goes through. I've seen the amount of work that she puts on her body, and it's mind-blowing," he said.

"That is arguably more exhausting than how much I put in on a Sunday, and she's doing it three, four, five days in a row," he said.

The pictures from last week's sit-in protest in Parliament Square over the banned group Palestine Action were unprecedented.

As demonstrators held up placards reading, "I support Palestine Action", some 522 of them were arrested on suspicion of breaking terrorism laws - more than double the total such arrests in 2024.

Their average age was 54, said the police. Some 112 of them were over 70 years old.

The battle over the ban on Palestine Action (PAG) - last month, proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK - now feels as much a political and PR battle as a legal one.

And the organisers of the campaign are trying to capitalise on perceived sympathy among some of the public by organising another demonstration in September - hoping to force the state, through numbers, to lift the ban.

How does it end?

Does it risk becoming an "I am Spartacus moment"? - the words of Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, the Labour peer and civil rights campaigner?

That depends on three courtroom battles that will each, in turn, influence how Palestine Action is publicly perceived and legally characterised.

Let's start with the protesters arrested since July for showing support for the group - more than 700 so far.

One lawyer says it has been awkward so far for police officers.

"I've seen police look incredibly uncomfortable with the fact that they are having to treat these elderly people as criminals," said solicitor Katie McFadden, who advised many protesters, after their arrests, last Saturday.

"I've seen them in police custody and they've certainly been considerate and looked, frankly, quite shocked and horrified that this is what they were having to do as part of their job when they've signed up to go out and protect the public from dangerous criminals."

The real challenge for the police and prosecutors is how many protesters do they need to charge with support of a banned terrorist organisation to send a message to the public. And what message do they send if they don't charge them all?

So far, three people have been charged with displaying an item showing support for Palestine Action during the first demonstration on 5 July. They will all appear in court next month.

The director of public prosecutions, Stephen Parkinson, had to consult the Attorney General's Office before he could go ahead with the charges because of additional safeguards in some terrorism cases.

That means that Lord Hermer, the Attorney General and also a cabinet minister, or his deputy, may have to be involved in each of the files that police send to prosecutors.

That, in turn, means the vast majority of the 700 may not know for months if they are going to end up on trial - in cases that could be more than a year away from a jury.

Just assuming they do get charged, history suggests the risk of a maximum of 14-year sentence is low.

• Palestine Action can challenge UK ban, court rules
• Palestine Action protest arrests rise to more than 500
• Some don't know 'full nature' of Palestine Action, says Cooper

Conventionally, a conviction like this would leave careers in tatters and have other life-changing effects.

The equation for some Palestine Action protesters is different.

Many are older people who have graduated from involvement in climate change activism and believe the ban breaches free speech safeguards. It seems many have fewer fears about the impact of arrest on their day-to-day lives.

So is the ban on Palestine Action a legal and PR disaster in the making for Home Secretary Yvette Cooper?

Huda Ammori, Palestine Action's co-founder, has said on social media: "The system can't cope when thousands resist."

But ministers hope that the difference between the organisation she founded and other forms of protest over Gaza will become clear thanks to the second of the three linked legal battles soon to take centre stage.

In August 2024 alleged PAG supporters broke into Elbit Systems UK in Bristol, an Israeli defence firm that has long been a key target.

A repurposed prison van smashed through a security fence and crowbars and a sledgehammer were allegedly used to smash up equipment.

Three people were injured: a security guard and two police officers.

Palestine Action promoted video of the damage - but not any pictures of the alleged assaults.

Those allegations begin to come to trial in November. Some 18 people deny charges including criminal damage, assault causing actual bodily harm, violent disorder and aggravated burglary.

That incident prompted national security officials and the police to look at whether a terrorism ban on PAG could be justified, after having previously concluded that the vast majority of its highly disruptive activities amounted to minor criminal damage.

Documents disclosed to the BBC in the High Court show how the thinking on a ban had evolved. Palestine Action was becoming more militant, said officials. It had allegedly produced an "underground manual" that it was claimed detailed how to plan a "break-in", referring to face masks, burner phones and fake car number plates.

"With an efficient sledgehammer in your hand, you can cause quite a bit of damage," the manual read, before than detailing how to do so.

And this is where the UK's wide definition of terrorism comes in. It includes not just the threat or use of violence to advance a cause - but also the use of serious criminal damage.

That's because in the 1990s the IRA began causing economic damage through bombs, without taking life.

So when Cooper banned PAG, her decision was largely informed by what the Home Office has described as millions of pounds of criminal damage, not an assessment that it was a group of murderous militants.

"Proscription is about one narrow group that has been involved in violent attacks including injuries, including weapons, smoke bombs causing panic among innocent people, major criminal damage," the home secretary said following last Saturday's arrests.

"There may be people who are objecting to proscription who don't know the full nature of this organisation due to court restrictions on reporting while serious prosecutions are under way but it's really important that no one is in any doubt that this is not a non-violent organisation."

Ms Ammori has contested this characterisation, saying the government's own papers show that Palestine Action did not advocate for violence.

This brings us to the third of the three big legal challenges that will decide this affair: was the Home Secretary right?

The High Court will consider in the autumn if the ban was a rational and proportionate response to PAG's activities.

Jonathan Hall KC, the independent watchdog of terrorism laws, has previously told BBC News that the ban is legally workable because the group had moved from protest into what is effectively "blackmail" - suggesting it was exerting pressure to get what it wanted.

But Ms Ammori's legal team have a range of significant arguments around freedom of protest.

Volker Turk, the United Nations' human rights chief has got involved too, saying the ban is so wrong it places the UK outside international law.

The outcome of that case will define whether Palestine Action remains banned. If the ban falls, then the 700 arrested so far are free - their cases would collapse. As for the group itself, it may feel emboldened - but would know that it could still be banned again if its actions cross the terrorism laws line.

If the ban stands, then the advantage will be with the government - and arrests and charges will continue.

That is the counter-terrorism policing way: slowly but surely, step by step, seek to contain and, ultimately, crush the threat.

Drug treatment can help people newly diagnosed with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) to reduce their risk of substance misuse, suicidal behaviour, transport accidents and criminality, a study suggests.

These issues are linked to common ADHD symptoms such as acting impulsively and becoming easily distracted.

Some 5% of children and 2.5% of adults worldwide are thought to be affected by the disorder - and growing numbers are being diagnosed.

The findings, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), confirm the wider potential benefits of drug treatment and could help patients decide whether to start medication, the researchers say.

Having ADHD means the brain works differently to most other people's.

Symptoms can include difficulties concentrating and sitting still, having high energy levels and being impulsive.

Despite the surge in people asking for help, the disorder is not becoming more common. Last year a BBC investigation found long waits for assessment in the UK.

People are only diagnosed if the symptoms cause at least a moderate impact on their lives.

The most commonly prescribed drugs, called stimulants, help manage everyday symptoms but there has been limited evidence of longer-term benefits for people's behaviour, while well-publicised side-effects, such as headaches, loss of appetite and trouble sleeping, have sparked debate on their safety.

This BMJ study was based on 148,500 people aged six to 64, with ADHD in Sweden.

Some 57% started drug treatment and, of these, methylphenidate (also known as Ritalin), was prescribed, to 88%.

The researchers, from Southampton University and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, found taking ADHD medication was linked to reductions of first-time instances of:

• suicidal behaviour - 17%
• substance misuse - 15%
• transport accidents - 12%
• criminal behaviour - 13%

When recurrent events were analysed, the researchers found ADHD medication was linked to reductions of:

• 15% for suicide attempts
• 25% for substance misuses
• 4% for accidental injuries
• 16% for transport accidents
• 25% for criminal behaviour

"Oftentimes there is no information on what the risks are if you don't treat ADHD," said Prof Samuele Cortese, study author and professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at University of Southampton.

"Now we have evidence they [drugs] can reduce these risks."

This could be explained by medication reducing impulsive behaviour and lack of concentration, which might reduce the risk of accidents while driving and reduce aggressive behaviour which could lead to criminality.

The researchers say the study was designed to be as robust as possible but cannot rule out the possibility the results were affected by factors such as people's genes, lifestyles and the severity of their ADHD.

Accessing the right medication for ADHD in many countries is not easy, with some drugs in short supply. In the UK waiting times to see specialists after diagnosis in order to access drugs can be several years.

Prof Stuart Kinner, head of the Justice Health Group at Curtin University in Western Australia, said the research demonstrated "the diffuse benefits of ADHD diagnosis and treatment".

"Failure to diagnose and treat ADHD can lead to self-medication with alcohol or other drugs, poor mental health, injury, and incarceration," he said.

"Too many people with undiagnosed ADHD end up in the criminal justice system, where their condition may remain undiagnosed and untreated."

Ian Maidment, professor in clinical pharmacy at Aston University, said the study "adds to our understanding of the potential benefits of these drugs".

However, he said the research did not assess whether patients actually took their medication or the impact of different doses.

Cities across the UK are facing a growing threat from an emerging phenomenon called "firewaves" as temperatures rise due to climate change, scientists have warned.

The term, coined by researchers at Imperial College London, describes multiple urban wildfires triggered by extended periods of hot, dry weather.

The warning comes as firefighters battled three separate heath fires in London and a dramatic gorse blaze on Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh in recent days, as this summer's latest heatwave left vegetation across both capitals dangerously dry.

These fires, though now contained, highlight the increasing vulnerability of urban areas to wildfires - a risk that was once considered largely rural.

Guillermo Rein, professor of fire science at Imperial College London, has been working alongside the London Fire Brigade to help predict when conditions are ripe for a "firewave".

Based on current forecasts, he believes London could be at risk again by this weekend.

London Fire Brigade Assistant Commissioner Tom Goodall said he welcomes any research that helps predict the likelihood of wildfires occurring.

The service is "ready to tackle the threat of wildfires head-on to help protect London's communities and green spaces", he added.

Prof Rein's research finds that, after ten consecutive days of very dry weather, vegetation becomes so desiccated across wide areas that the likelihood of multiple fires igniting simultaneously rises sharply.

Using detailed incident data from the London Fire Brigade dating back to 2009, combined with weather records, the team identified key factors that drive wildfire outbreaks in London.

One of the most important is a measure of how much moisture the atmosphere can extract from the land, known as the "vapour pressure deficit".

The higher the deficit, the drier the vegetation becomes, and the more easily it ignites.

"Vegetation doesn't just become a bit more flammable," explained Professor Rein, "it becomes much more flammable."

"Once the moisture content of the vegetation drops below a certain threshold, even a small spark can lead to a fast-spreading fire," he added.

Most fires are started by humans, whether accidentally or deliberately. But a warming world is creating conditions more conducive to these blazes.

"Climate change is bringing more heatwaves and longer dry spells," Prof Rein said.

"These conditions dry out fuels and increase the risk of wildfires. That risk is much greater now than it was even a decade ago."

While the researchers focused on London, concerns are widespread.

"I worry about all other UK cities and other northern European cities in particular because climate change seems to be making green vegetation that was not flammable very flammable indeed," said Prof Rein.

"And these places don't have a history of dealing with wildfires so don't have as much institutional experience as cities in the south of the continent."

Managing fire risk

Urban environments like London, with their abundance of parks and green spaces bordering residential zones, are particularly susceptible.

The concept of a "firewave" is meant to capture the unique danger posed when several fires erupt at once in densely populated areas, which has the potential to overwhelm emergency services and threaten homes and infrastructure.

That happened in the summer of 2022 when UK temperatures exceeded 40C for the first time on record.

On 19 July 2022, London Fire Brigade (LFB) experienced its busiest day since World War II.

Fires broke out simultaneously across the city, including a devastating blaze in Wennington, East London, which destroyed 37 buildings, five cars, and forced the evacuation of 88 homes.

Blake Betts, a borough commander with the LFB, has extensive experience dealing with wildfires in urban settings.

He emphasises the serious threat they pose, especially when open spaces are adjacent to residential properties.

"The potential for fires to spread into homes is very real," said Cdr Betts.

"We're seeing more extreme weather events, and that's why the London Fire Brigade has adopted a much more proactive approach."

To meet this growing challenge, the LFB says it has invested in new technologies and equipment.

Drones now play a critical role in wildfire response, providing real-time aerial views that help commanders map fire spread and direct resources where they are needed most.

"The bird's-eye view from drones gives us a huge boost in situational awareness," explained a spokesperson from the LFB.

"It allows us to target our efforts where the risk to life and property is greatest."

In addition to drones, the brigade has introduced off-road vehicles capable of reaching fires in difficult terrain, such as heathland and grassland.

These vehicles can be used to create firebreaks – using water to soak the ground to help stop fires from spreading further.

The Imperial College London researchers argue that the Met Office's current definition of a heatwave does not adequately reflect the wildfire risk in urban areas.

They propose it adopts the term "firewave" to signal periods of extreme fire danger in cities - a concept they hope will inform future public safety strategies and climate resilience planning.

The Met Office has been asked for comment.

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Students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive A-level, T-level and BTec National results on Thursday morning.

The amount of students getting top A-level results is expected to be broadly similar to 2024, after years of flux as a result of the Covid pandemic.

A record number of 18-year-olds will get into their first choice of university, the head of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) has predicted.

Dr Jo Saxton stressed that this year's Year 13s had received lower GCSE grades than previous cohorts as part of a plan to push down grade inflation that happened during Covid, and they would need universities to take that into account.

The pass rate for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher exams in Scotland rose across the board last week.

BTec National and Cambridge Technical results are also due to be released on Thursday along with AS-levels - which, in Wales and Northern Ireland, will count towards students' final A-level results next summer.

This is also the fourth year of results for vocational T-level qualifications in England.

To achieve the technical qualification, time is split between classroom learning and industry placements - with students awarded a pass, merit, distinction or distinction* after two years of work and study.

• More teens to get their choice of uni even if they miss their grades, says Ucas
• Your full guide to A-level results day
• What are T-levels and what are the grades worth?
• What are BTecs and how are they graded?

Freya, a student at Middlesbrough College, will be getting her grade for a T-level in health.

"It gives you a hands-on experience in what sort of things you're going to do in a real-world scenario, rather than just learning from a book," she said.

She is about to start a full-time job in an NHS maternity department, and hopes to ultimately become a midwife.

"I thought coming here [and] doing this course would give me the theoretical and physical knowledge to be able to achieve what I want to do," she added.

Dr Jo Saxton, the chief executive of Ucas, said last week that it was a "really, really good year" for UK students applying to university.

She said universities were keen to enroll UK undergraduates because there was more "uncertainty" around international student numbers and domestic students offered universities "stability" for "financial planning".

They could "quite possibly" accept students who did not meet the conditions of their offer, she added.

• How much does university cost, and is it worth it?
• How do student loans work and when are they written off?
• What is an apprenticeship and how much are apprentices paid?
• 'I didn't go to uni - now I work as a celebrity photographer'

Dr Saxton also said Year 13 students would need universities to "respect and understand" the specific circumstances they have gone through.

They were in Year 8 and Year 9 during national lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.

Both years saw spikes in pass rates at GCSE and top grades at A-level, after exams were cancelled and results were based on teachers' assessments.

What followed was a phased effort to bring grades back in line with pre-pandemic levels.

The year that these students sat their GCSEs, 2023, was the final stage of that process in England. Grading returned to pre-pandemic standards in Wales and Northern Ireland last year.

It meant GCSE passes fell, with the steepest drop in England.

Dr Saxton said the "significant national programme to deflate their grades" at GCSE represented an "important backdrop" for those getting the grades for their Level 3 qualifications this week.

She also pointed out that, with GCSE grades down in 2023, fewer achieved the results they needed to start A-levels.

A-level entries fell from 825,355 last summer to 821,875 this summer, according to provisional data for England.

Dr Saxton said that students' previous grades would therefore "probably" be "fractionally higher" across the cohort.

Last year, with grading back to pre-pandemic standards across all three nations, 27.8% of all A-level grades were marked at A* or A - up from 27.2% in 2023 and 25.4% in 2019.

There is likely to be less emphasis this year on how grades compare to 2019 and more on how they compare to last year, since it is the second year that grading has returned to pre-pandemic levels across the board.

Students heading to university will pay higher fees in England and Wales this year. They have risen to £9,535 for undergraduate courses.

Maintenance loans have also gone up, meaning that students can borrow more to help with their living costs.

Hailed by some as a hero and scorned by others as a traitor, Hong Kong's pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai is in the final stage of his national security trial.

Closing arguments begin on Thursday for Lai, who is accused of colluding with foreign forces under a Beijing-imposed national security law.

The trial has drawn international attention, with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer calling for Lai's release. The 77-year-old has British as well as Chinese citizenship - though China does not recognise dual nationality, and therefore considers Lai to be exclusively Chinese.

Lai has been detained since December 2020 and faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if he is convicted.

Critics say Lai's case shows how Hong Kong's legal system has been weaponised to silence political opposition.

Lai has been a persistent thorn in China's side. Unlike other tycoons who rose to the top in Hong Kong, Mr Lai became one of the fiercest critics of the Chinese state and a leading figure advocating democracy in the former British territory.

"I'm a born rebel," he told the BBC in an interview in 2020, hours before he was charged. "I have a very rebellious character."

He is the most prominent person charged under the controversial national security law which China introduced in 2020, in response to massive protests which erupted in Hong Kong the year before.

The legislation criminalises a wider range of dissenting acts which Beijing considers subversion and secession, among other things.

Beijing says the national security law is necessary to maintain stability in Hong Kong but critics say it has effectively outlawed dissent.

Over the years, Lai's son Sebastien has called for his release. In February, the younger Lai urged Starmer and US President Donald Trump to take urgent action, adding that his father's "body is breaking down".

Rags to riches

Lai was born in Guangzhou, a city in southern China, to a wealthy family that lost everything when the communists took power in 1949.

He was 12 years old when he fled his village in mainland China, arriving in Hong Kong as a stowaway on a fishing boat.

While working odd jobs and knitting in a small clothing shop he taught himself English. He went from a menial role to eventually founding a multi-million dollar empire including the international clothing brand Giordano.

The chain was a huge success. But when China sent in tanks to crush pro-democracy protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989, Lai began a new journey as a vocal democracy activist as well as an entrepreneur.

He started writing columns criticising the massacre that followed the demonstrations in Beijing and established a publishing house that went on to become one of Hong Kong's most influential.

As China responded by threatening to shut his stores on the mainland, leading him to sell the company, Lai launched a string of popular pro-democracy titles that included Next, a digital magazine, and the widely read Apple Daily newspaper.

In a local media landscape increasingly fearful of Beijing, Lai had been a persistent critic of Chinese authorities both through his publications and writing.

This has seen him become a hero for many in Hong Kong, who view him as a man of courage who took great risks to defend the freedoms of the city.

But on the mainland he is viewed as a "traitor" who threatens Chinese national security.

In recent years, masked attackers firebombed Lai's house and company headquarters. He was also the target of an assassination plot.

But none of the threats stopped him from airing his views robustly. He was a prominent part of the city's pro-democracy demonstrations and was arrested twice in 2021 on illegal assembly charges.

When China passed Hong Kong's new national security law in June 2020, Lai told the BBC it sounded the "death knell" for the territory.

The influential entrepreneur also warned that Hong Kong would become as corrupt as China. Without the rule of law, he said, its coveted status as a global financial hub would be "totally destroyed".

The media mogul is known for his frankness and acts of flamboyance.

In 2021, he urged Donald Trump to help the territory, saying he was "the only one who can save us" from China. His newspaper, Apple Daily, published a front-page letter that finished: "Mr President, please help us."

For Lai, such acts were necessary to defend the city which had taken him in and fuelled his success.

He once told news agency AFP: "I came here with nothing, the freedom of this place has given me everything... Maybe it's time I paid back for that freedom by fighting for it."

Lai has been slapped with various charges - including unauthorised assembly and fraud - since 2020.

He has been in custody since December of that year.

The prosecution of Lai has captured international attention, with rights groups and foreign governments urging his release.

Over the years, Sebastien Lai has travelled the world to denounce his father's arrest and condemn Hong Kong for punishing "characteristics that should be celebrated".

"My father is in jail for the truth on his lips, courage in his heart, and freedom in his soul," he had said.

Hailed by some as a hero and scorned by others as a traitor, Hong Kong's pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai is in the final stage of his national security trial.

Closing arguments begin on Thursday for Lai, who is accused of colluding with foreign forces under a Beijing-imposed national security law.

The trial has drawn international attention, with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer calling for Lai's release. The 77-year-old has British as well as Chinese citizenship - though China does not recognise dual nationality, and therefore considers Lai to be exclusively Chinese.

Lai has been detained since December 2020 and faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if he is convicted.

Critics say Lai's case shows how Hong Kong's legal system has been weaponised to silence political opposition.

Lai has been a persistent thorn in China's side. Unlike other tycoons who rose to the top in Hong Kong, Mr Lai became one of the fiercest critics of the Chinese state and a leading figure advocating democracy in the former British territory.

"I'm a born rebel," he told the BBC in an interview in 2020, hours before he was charged. "I have a very rebellious character."

He is the most prominent person charged under the controversial national security law which China introduced in 2020, in response to massive protests which erupted in Hong Kong the year before.

The legislation criminalises a wider range of dissenting acts which Beijing considers subversion and secession, among other things.

Beijing says the national security law is necessary to maintain stability in Hong Kong but critics say it has effectively outlawed dissent.

Over the years, Lai's son Sebastien has called for his release. In February, the younger Lai urged Starmer and US President Donald Trump to take urgent action, adding that his father's "body is breaking down".

Rags to riches

Lai was born in Guangzhou, a city in southern China, to a wealthy family that lost everything when the communists took power in 1949.

He was 12 years old when he fled his village in mainland China, arriving in Hong Kong as a stowaway on a fishing boat.

While working odd jobs and knitting in a small clothing shop he taught himself English. He went from a menial role to eventually founding a multi-million dollar empire including the international clothing brand Giordano.

The chain was a huge success. But when China sent in tanks to crush pro-democracy protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989, Lai began a new journey as a vocal democracy activist as well as an entrepreneur.

He started writing columns criticising the massacre that followed the demonstrations in Beijing and established a publishing house that went on to become one of Hong Kong's most influential.

As China responded by threatening to shut his stores on the mainland, leading him to sell the company, Lai launched a string of popular pro-democracy titles that included Next, a digital magazine, and the widely read Apple Daily newspaper.

In a local media landscape increasingly fearful of Beijing, Lai had been a persistent critic of Chinese authorities both through his publications and writing.

This has seen him become a hero for many in Hong Kong, who view him as a man of courage who took great risks to defend the freedoms of the city.

But on the mainland he is viewed as a "traitor" who threatens Chinese national security.

In recent years, masked attackers firebombed Lai's house and company headquarters. He was also the target of an assassination plot.

But none of the threats stopped him from airing his views robustly. He was a prominent part of the city's pro-democracy demonstrations and was arrested twice in 2021 on illegal assembly charges.

When China passed Hong Kong's new national security law in June 2020, Lai told the BBC it sounded the "death knell" for the territory.

The influential entrepreneur also warned that Hong Kong would become as corrupt as China. Without the rule of law, he said, its coveted status as a global financial hub would be "totally destroyed".

The media mogul is known for his frankness and acts of flamboyance.

In 2021, he urged Donald Trump to help the territory, saying he was "the only one who can save us" from China. His newspaper, Apple Daily, published a front-page letter that finished: "Mr President, please help us."

For Lai, such acts were necessary to defend the city which had taken him in and fuelled his success.

He once told news agency AFP: "I came here with nothing, the freedom of this place has given me everything... Maybe it's time I paid back for that freedom by fighting for it."

Lai has been slapped with various charges - including unauthorised assembly and fraud - since 2020.

He has been in custody since December of that year.

The prosecution of Lai has captured international attention, with rights groups and foreign governments urging his release.

Over the years, Sebastien Lai has travelled the world to denounce his father's arrest and condemn Hong Kong for punishing "characteristics that should be celebrated".

"My father is in jail for the truth on his lips, courage in his heart, and freedom in his soul," he had said.