Flood and weather warnings as rain set to return

Lincoln Cathedral will be lit in purple to mark the season of Advent until December 23.

Lincoln Cathedral said: “At the darkest time of year, light in darkness brings hope and comfort and we love being able to light the cathedral to share that hope will all who see it.”

The Christian season of Advent marks a time of preparation and anticipation of the great Festival of Christmas – when we celebrate the gift of God’s light and love made known to us in Jesus Christ.

We are appealing for witnesses and anyone with dashcam footage following a serious collision on the A17 at Sutterton earlier today.

Officers received reports of a two-vehicle collision involving a lorry and a car shortly after 6am. The male driver of a Ford Fiesta sustained serious injuries and was taken to hospital. The lorry driver was uninjured.

The A17 roundabout was closed just before 6:30am and was reopened after 1:30pm.

If you witnessed the collision or if you were in the area at the time and captured anything on dashcam, please get in touch in one of the following ways below:

• By calling 101 quoting incident 65 of today’s date.
• By emailing [email protected] quoting incident 65 of today’s date in the subject line.
• If you wish to remain anonymous, you can report via the independent charity CrimeStoppers on 0800 555 111 or online.

Reference: Incident 65 of 28th November.

Face coverings will once again be made compulsory in shops and on public transport from Tuesday, November 30 — but pubs and restaurants are exempt for now.

The Prime Minister announced the new, temporary measures to respond to emergence of UK cases of the Omicron COVID variant, with the first two cases in Nottingham and Chelmsford.

The government said the measures are precautionary, and will be reviewed in three weeks. MPs are due to vote on confirming the measures after they come into force.

The other significant change affects international travellers, with everyone entering the UK (other than those coming from the Common Travel Area that covers the Channel Islands and Ireland) will have to take a PCR test by the end of the second day after their arrival and self-isolate until they receive a negative result.

Travel restrictions have already been implemented to slow the spread of the variant. From Sunday, November 28, South Africa, Botswana, Lesostho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibi, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Angola were added to the UK’s travel red list.

About COVID-19 Omicron

The Omicron variant contains a large number of spike protein mutations as well as mutations in other parts of the viral genome.

Early indications suggest this variant may be more transmissible than the Delta variant and current vaccines may be less effective against it.

A rapid rise in infections in South Africa has been attributed to the spread of this new variant of COVID-19.

Health secretary: “plans as normal for Christmas”

Sajid Javid told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips On Sunday it would be “irresponsible to make guarantees” but the measures announced this week in reaction to the Omicron variant will “buy us time” to enable scientists to assess it.

“People should continue with their plans as normal for Christmas, I think it’s going to be a great Christmas,” he said.