Hertfordshire National News: Weekend Snow Warnings - UK Set To Shiver

Thursday February 2^nd 2012
Residents in Britain should be preparing for snow to hit the country this weekend as the bitterly cold weather continues to take hold of the country.
The current cold weather, that has seen the daytime temperatures plummet to between 4-6°c lower than the predicted and usual average February temperatures, even though it is typically the coldest month of the year for Britons.
Forcasters said Saturday will see a cold front sweep south and east across the UK from the west, resulting in snow where slightly milder air meets cold air.
Aisling Creevey, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "Today is set to be bitterly cold, with a few snow flurries in the east of England. There will be maximum temperatures...

Hertfordshire Local News: 'Sexist' beer banned from Parliamentary Bar after Woman MP complains

Friday February 3^rd 2012
A beer was banned from a Parliamentary Bar today after a woman was offended by its pump plate that features a half-naked lady.Shadow equalities minister Kate Green was left "disturbed" after seeing the 4% ale's advertising in a popular Westminster public house and went on to demand bar staff remove it from public sale.Within 90 minutes House authorities ordered the beer to be withdrawn after Commons Leader Sir George Young told MP's "Action will be taken".A barman made a comment to The Press Association: "I can confirm it was withdrawn from sale at 1:30pm".

Hertfordshire National News: BT Profits up as it starts cost cuts

Friday February 3^rd 2012
UK telecom giant BT has reported rises in profits, thanks to cost-cutting and an increase in its broadband service users.
Pre-tax profits for the three months to the end of December were £652 m, 48% higher than a year earlier. Revenue fell 5% to £4.77 bn.
Profits are reported to have increased around 18%.
The company said it has expanded the availability of its fibre optic broadband to 7 million homes and signed 95,000 customers to its service.
"We have delivered another quarter of growth in profits and cash flow despite the economic head-winds" Chief Executive Ian Livingston commented. He went on to add: "In the UK, our fibre roll-out has accelerated bringing super-fast broadband within reach of over seven million homes...

Hertfordshire National News: Highways Agency amber alert for road users - updated

Saturday February 4^th 2012
The Highways Agency, which manages England's motorways and major A roads, has updated its amber alert for anyone planning to travel on its network this weekend.Following advice from Met Office forecasters based at the Agency's national traffic operations centre, the Agency has extended its amber alert to 9am tomorrow morning. Previously the alert was in place until 11.59pm today.An alert means there is a high probability of severe snow affecting the network, meaning a risk of adverse driving conditions.Snow is forecast to extend beyond midnight to 9am tomorrow and move from the west across all regions,The Met Office has forecast warning periods for individual regions as follows:North West – 12-9pm Saturday: Snow away from the coast...

Hertfordshire National News: NHS Spends £23 million a year on translators

Monday February 6^th 2012
The NHS spends £64,000 a day on translation services, a report has found.
The health service spent £23 million last year on translators and interpreters, an increase of 17% since '07.
Experts said vast sums could be saved if local GP practices and surgerys worked with local hospital to pool and share resources, and warned that providing a translation service for those who do not speak English could encourage segregation.
The high costs are hardly to be unexpected when some NHS trusts translate material into upto 120 languages.
"The costs involved are truly staggering in an age of autseterity, and incredible when taken in the context of efficiency savings of £20bn across the Health Service," said Julia Manning, of 2020Health, the think...

Hertfordshire National News: Cambridge Director in Back-to-Back Charity Ski Marathon

Monday February 6^th 2012
February 6th 2012 - Justin Hayward, founder and director of Cambridge Investment Research (CIR), is in training for back-to-back cross country ski marathons to raise money for the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children). With the absence of snow so far this winter in Cambridge, Justin can be spotted rollerskiing along local bike paths in training for his skiing challenge. At 43, Justin plans to cover a total of 87 kilometres in sub-zero temperatures across challenging terrain in Sweden and at altitude in Switzerland. The famous 45km Halvvasan ski classic-style langlauf marathon takes place on 28 February during the 90th Vasaloppet Week in Mora, Sweden with some 5,000 competitors. This is followed by the 44th...