Afternoon summary
Here’s a summary of the day’s news so far:
Three boys died after being pulled from an icy lake. A fourth was taken to hospital in a critical condition and remains “very poorly”, police said. Officers were investigating claims a fifth and a sixth child may have gone into the water, though they stressed they’ve had no reports of any more missing children.
Police have told how an officer tried to punch through ice covering the lake to get to the children. The officer was said to have suffered from mild hypothermia and has now recovered.
The lowest temperature seen in the UK so far this year was recorded in Aberdeenshire. The temperature in Braemar got as low as -15.7C overnight, the Met Office said.
There were fears the UK’s energy supply could be threatened by a surge in usage during the cold weather. Wind speeds dropped, meaning that was a less effective means of generating electricity, and two “winter contingency coal units” were initially put on standby to shore up the supply. They were stood down shortly before lunchtime as the picture improved, though.
Airports warned passengers to check their latest flight statuses before departing after both Gatwick and Stansted had to close their runways to clear snow on Sunday. The airports serving London were among many elements of transport infrastructure to struggle to cope with the cold weather, which was expected to persist for several more days.
After heavy snowfall, road users in the south-east of England were being asked not to travel unless it was essential. While much of the rail network around London was affected, today was actually expected to be the easiest to catch a train this week, with four days of strikes starting from Tuesday.
We’re pausing this live blog now, but we’ll return to it should there be substantial updates later in the day.
Updated
Dozens of people, including many schoolchildren, have placed bunches of flowers in tribute to the three boys at the base of a tree near the northern entrance to Babbs Mill nature park. Katie O’Driscoll, who was accompanied by her five-year-old daughter, laid a bunch. The mother of four said:
Anyone that has got kids can really relate to that we feel heartbroken as a community. The whole community cares – they will be kids that we know because we are a close-knit community. It’s affected everybody. It’s devastating and it’s sad.
Among the tributes was one from the West Midlands mayor, Andy Street, with a card attached reading:
Such a tragedy. My heart goes out to the families who have lost their most precious gift. May their young lives rest in peace and may Kingshurst come together to remember them.
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