A weekslong “snow drought” in Northern California’s Sierra Nevada helped set the stage for Tuesday’s deadly avalanche, after several feet of new snow fell on an earlier layer that had hardened, making it unstable and easily triggered, experts said.
The new snow did not have time to bond to the earlier layer before the avalanche near Lake Tahoe killed at least eight backcountry skiers, said Craig Clements, a meteorology professor at San Jose State University, who has conducted avalanche research. Six skiers survived and rescuers were still searching for another one who was still missing on Wednesday.
The group was on a three-day backcountry trek in the Sierra Nevada on Tuesday morning when they were trapped by the avalanche as a winter storm pummeled the West Coast.
The dangers generally are highest in the first 24 to 48 hours after a very large snowfall, Clements said, and authorities had issued avalanche warnings.
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Here’s what to know.
What made conditions so dangerous?
When weather is dry and clear, as it had been in the Sierra Nevada since January, snow crystals change and can become angular or round over time, Clements said.
If heavy new snow falls on the crystals, the layers often can’t bond and the new snow forms what is called a storm slab over a weaker layer.
“Because it’s on a mountain, it will slide,” when it’s triggered by any change in the tension above or below, sometimes naturally but also because of people traversing the area, Clements said.
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Authorities have not said what triggered Tuesday’s avalanche.
If there had been more consistent snowfall throughout the winter, different layers could have bonded more easily, Clements said. But even when a snow slab forms, the danger often only lasts a couple of days until the new snow stabilizes, he said.
Was climate change a factor?
Although climate change can lead to weather extremes that include both drought and heavier precipitation, it’s difficult to say how and whether it will affect avalanches or where they occur, scientists say.
Clements said this week’s avalanche is fairly typical for California’s Sierra Nevada and he doesn’t believe it can be linked to climate change.
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Avalanches are a mechanism of how much snow falls on weak or stable layers, and this one was “a meteorological phenomenon, not a climate phenomenon,” he said.
About 3 feet to 6 feet of snow has fallen since Sunday, when the group started its trip. The area was also hit by subfreezing temperatures and gale force winds. The Sierra Avalanche Center said the threat of more avalanches remained Wednesday and left the snowpack unstable and unpredictable.
What’s happening now?
Crews found the bodies of eight backcountry skiers near California’s Lake Tahoe and were searching for one more following Tuesday’s avalanche, which authorities say was the nation’s deadliest in nearly half a century.
Six from the guided tour were rescued six hours after the avalanche.
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Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said Wednesday that investigators would look into the decision to proceed with the trip despite the storm forecast.
The skiers traveled Sunday to remote huts at 7,600 feet (3,415 meters) in Tahoe National Forest, carrying their own food and supplies. At 6:49 that morning, the Sierra Avalanche Center issued an avalanche watch for the area, indicating that large slides were likely in the next 24 to 48 hours.
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The sweeper was carrying out a routine clean along a Cambridgeshire street
A street sweeper had to be “freed” after it got stuck in a cycle and footway. While trying to clean along Yarrow Road in Cherry Hinton earlier today (Thursday, February 19), the wheel on a street sweeper became stuck.
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The wheel got stuck in a cycle and footway along the street. South Cambridgeshire Council, which runs the sweeper, had to free it from the footway.
A council spokesperson said: “A wheel on one of our small street sweepers unfortunately got stuck in a cycle and footway. This happened during a routine sweep of the cycleway and pavement along Yarrow Road.
“The sweeper has been freed, and we let Cambridgeshire County Council know – and they’ve told us their crews are already on the way to carry out repairs.”
This quick and easy meal is not only cheap but has various health benefits
A popular British dish could help protect your heart and lower cholesterol. According to an expert, beans on toast is packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
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Writing for the British Heart Foundation (BHF), dietitian Dell Stanford explained why this cheap and easy meal could help reduce the risk of heart and circulatory disease. While most tinned banked means would be considered “ultra-processed” due to added sugars, salt and ingredients like thickeners or preservatives, they can “still be part of a healthy diet”.
Ms Stanford said: “Baked beans are low in fat and high in fibre. They have soluble fibre, which helps lower cholesterol levels, and insoluble fibre, which helps to keep your digestive system healthy.
“In fact, a half-can portion of baked beans (207g), which many of us might typically eat, provides nearly a third of the 30g of fibre you need a day.” They are also a healthy source of protein.
She continued: “Baked beans are also high in plant proteins and packed with nutrients such as iron, zinc and B vitamins. And the tomato sauce is rich in lycopene, a protective antioxidant linked with a reduced risk of heart and circulatory diseases.
“Replacing some of the meat you eat with beans is a great way to eat less unhealthy saturated fat, manage your weight and reduce your risk of heart and circulatory diseases.”
But there’s a catch
It is important to be aware of the salt and sugar content in baked beans, though. “However, look out for the salt and sugar content of baked beans,” Ms Stanford said.
“A typical half can portion (207g) of baked beans contains about 1.3g salt. That’s 21 per cent of the maximum recommended amount of salt you should have a day (6g). A half can also contain about 9g sugar – that’s 10 per cent of the maximum recommended amount of ‘total’ sugar you should have a day.
“Traffic light labels on food packaging show only total sugars. They do not tell you how much is naturally occurring (as in fruit or milk) and how much is ‘free’ or ‘added’ sugar (as in table sugar or syrup).
“In baked beans, most of the sugar is added, because beans themselves do not naturally contain much sugar. It’s mainly from the tomato sauce.”
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It is therefore worth opting for baked beans that have reduced sugar and salt where possible. To further boost the health properties of your beans on toast you should also use wholegrain bread rather than white bread, to increase the amount of fibre in the meal.
To make your meal even healthier, Ms Stanford advised you:
Choose baked beans with reduced sugar (or no added sugar) and reduced salt
Swap white bread for wholegrain
Skip the butter: the beans add enough moisture, or you can use small amounts of a lower-fat spread made from unsaturated vegetable oils
For an extra boost of goodness, add vegetables to your beans (e.g. roasted red peppers, onions, or mushrooms)
The move follows O&H Vehicle Conversions Ltd of Goole entering administration earlier this month.
The company, which was founded in 1988, produced vehicles including rapid response vehicles for the police, NHS ambulance services and private ambulance operators.
A statement by administrators BDO LLP said O&H Vehicle Conversions had faced financial pressures affecting the wider vehicle conversion industry and had recently suffered from delivery delays which further impacted income and cashflow.
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As a result, the directors were left with no alternative but to place the company into Administration, they explained.
Following a marketing process prior to the appointment of Administrators, a solvent going concern sale was not possible.
As a result, all operations have now ceased and 157 employees have been made redundant with immediate effect.
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Mark Thornton, one of the Joint Administrators said: “It is always a sad day when a longstanding business is forced to close. Given the financial position and outlook for the Company, securing a sale of the business as a going concern was not possible.
“The priority of the Joint Administrators will now be to support employees impacted by the closure and realise assets in line with our duties in order to maximise the return for creditors.”
As the Press reported recently, company bosses said they did all they could to find a rescue deal for O&H Vehicle Conversions.
O&H managing director Mark Brickhill said: “In 2025, we delivered a record 227 NHS Emergency Double Crewed Ambulances (DCAs), up from 186 in 2024, whilst also growing and diversifying the business with a £19 million turnover.
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Mr Brickhill explained OHVC had suffered delays in the delivery of chassis, delaying £2.2million of planned and achievable sales in recent months.
The company switched towards Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV) production for both the Ambulance and Police Services, but delayed production caused by retraining staff and the lower margins such vehicles deliver, did not bridge the financial gap caused by the chassis delay.
Unmarked police vehicles were seen arriving at Sandringham Estate in Norfolk on Thursday, where Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been living.
He was arrested by Thames Valley Police – but while we know they are carrying out searches in Norfolk and Berkshire, it’s not clear where Andrew was arrested.
An Ealing Council spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service [LDRS]: “Several national and local construction contractors collapsed into administration following the pandemic, including Henry Construction, which was building new homes on our behalf. The sudden collapse of Henry Construction, in 2023, which was a private sector failure, meant that work on 60 sites stopped overnight, and this has had significant implications for Ealing Council and other councils too.
People who unknowingly make the mistake might be confused if their recycling gets left behind
Andrew Nuttall U35 Lifestyle Writer
12:54, 19 Feb 2026Updated 12:56, 19 Feb 2026
People have been warned that their recycling could be ignored by rubbish collectors if they find a specific item in their bins. People who attempt to sneak in items that could cause significant problems at recycling centres risk having to wait for the next weekly collection.
A binman has claimed online that a common material found in many everyday items, including takeaways, should always be disposed of in the rubbish bin. In a TikTok video viewed by over 2.4 million people, @Theno1.binman said: “When the binmen find polystyrene hiding in the recycling.”
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Holding up a piece of polystyrene, he simply put: “Now I have to leave the bin.” Most local authorities won’t risk collecting polystyrene if it’s mixed with approved recycling materials.
Although the material can technically be recycled, it poses additional complications that make disposal challenging. Recycle Now, the national recycling campaign, said on its website that polystyrene is “a type of plastic which is not commonly recycled and should be placed in the waste bin”.
It further added that expanded polystyrene is often used for takeaway food containers and packaging white goods such as microwaves, reports the Mirror.
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Explaining the reasons, a spokesperson for London Recycles added: “Polystyrene often isn’t recycled because it is difficult to sort from other types of plastic waste and easily breaks into small beads, which can clog up sorting machines and cause them to break down. Try and avoid buying food and drink which comes in polystyrene. If you can’t, put the containers in your rubbish bin.”
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A statement on Wales Recycles reads: “Polystyrene is a type of plastic which is not commonly recycled and should be placed in your bag or bin for non-recyclable waste… Expanded polystyrene is sometimes used for take-away food containers and to package white goods like microwaves. Polystyrene is also sometimes used for other food packaging, like multi-pack yoghurts. Some local councils accept it in recycling collections, although it is unlikely to actually be recycled.”
What to think about when recycling
Recycling is an important process that requires everyone in the street to follow the same rules to ensure waste materials are given a second life. It often takes just one mistake to ruin an entire batch, contributing to landfill problems.
Contamination in recycling means anything that shouldn’t be there. In some instances, this might result from ‘wishcycling’ – when people have the right intentions but dispose of items without checking whether they’re recyclable.
Recycle Now explains: “It could be something that’s recyclable, but not collected by your particular local council, such as plastic wrapping. Or it could be something that is collected by your local council, but that has been tainted by a material or substance that isn’t, such as a grease-soaked cardboard takeaway pizza box or the food residue from a can of beans.”
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Most packaging, including food and household products, frequently shows whether it can be recycled. Occasionally, full items can be placed in the recycling bin intact – such as toilet roll tubes and plastic bottles – though the rules differ slightly across different regions of the country.
Some items – like plastic film wrappers on some cartons of fresh fruit – cannot be recycled, despite the carton itself being safe to put in the recycling bin. These items generally cannot be included in curbside recycling because they tangle, jam, and damage sorting machinery, creating dangerous and costly maintenance issues.
For the most precise information, use the free Recycling Locator tool from Recycle Now to discover what you can place in your household recycling bins. It also directs people to their nearest recycling drop-off location if they don’t have a regular collection or have too much for one bin collection.
North Yorkshire Police investigating a crash in Sutton-in-Craven last month have confirmed that a pedestrian, who was seriously injured in the incident, has since died.
She has been named as Tricia (Patricia) Davies, née Curtin, aged 51.
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Officers have renewed their appeal for information about the crash that happened at around 3.14pm on Tuesday 27 January on Holme Lane, at the junction with Bridge Road. It involved a white Toyota Prius and a black BMW X5.
The drivers of the Toyota and BMW were uninjured and are assisting the investigation.
“Our thoughts remain with Tricia’s family who have asked for privacy at this time to allow them to grieve,” said a spokesperson for the force.
Anyone who saw either of the vehicles or the pedestrian before the collision or saw the actual collision happen, along with anyone who has relevant dashcam footage is asked to contact MCIT@northyorkshire.police.uk or call 101 and pass information for the Major Collision Investigation Team.
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Please quote reference 12260016384 when passing on information.
Everything we know as NHS warns UK is facing ‘second surge’ of norovirus – Manchester Evening News
Need to know
It comes following a recent outbreak of the bug earlier this month
Norovirus levels have reached a new high for this winter(Image: Getty Images)
UK Faces ‘second surge’ of norovirus amid winter pressures
The NHS has warned that the UK is facing a ‘second surge’ of norovirus as hospital cases hit their highest level this winter.
Over 1,000 patients a day are now being treated for the highly contagious ‘winter vomiting bug’, marking a jump of almost nine per cent from the previous week. The figures represent more than a 2.5-fold increase since the start of January.
Norovirus spreads quickly and causes vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, stomach cramps and aching limbs. Symptoms typically last one to two days.
After briefly stabilising in early February, cases have been rising again for two consecutive weeks, prompting fears of a second surge.
NHS national medical director Dr Claire Fuller said: ‘It’s vital that we do all we can to avoid a second surge in norovirus at a time when the NHS remains flat out coping with winter pressures.’
Doctors are urging people to stay home until they’ve been symptom-free for at least two days. Good hand hygiene and avoiding schools, workplaces and care homes when ill are crucial to preventing spread.
Hospitals are also struggling with over 1,250 beds closed daily due to norovirus symptoms, up more than 190 per cent since early January.
LONDON (AP) — He was reportedly his mother Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite, but the former Prince Andrew has long been a headache for Britain’s royal family.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested Thursday, his 66th birthday, on suspicion of misconduct in public office in an inquiry stemming from his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. He is the first senior British royal in modern history to be detained by police.
He was born a prince in 1960, the second child of the queen and her husband Prince Philip. His elder brother Charles was destined for the throne. Andrew took a tried-and-tested route for younger royal sons: military service.
After 22 years in the Royal Navy, including combat operations as a helicopter pilot during the 1982 Falklands War, Andrew was named Britain’s special representative for international trade and investment in 2001.
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The current police investigation stems from that period. It follows documents in recently released Epstein files that suggest Andrew passed on official government documents to the late financier when he was a trade envoy. The former prince has not been charged with a crime. He has long denied any wrongdoing over his Epstein links.
Mountbatten-Windsor was forced to step down from the trade role in 2011 amid growing concern about his friendship with Epstein, who had been sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2008 after pleading guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Once a subject of media fascination for his love life, the man the tabloids dubbed “Randy Andy” became a regular source of headlines because of his money woes and links to questionable characters, including Epstein, the American financier and convicted sex offender.
After Epstein was arrested again in 2019, Andrew gave a disastrous interview to the BBC’s Newsnight program, in which he tried to explain away his contacts with Epstein. It backfired – he was widely criticized for giving unbelievable explanations and for failing to show empathy for Epstein’s victims.
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Amid the backlash, Andrew announced on Nov. 20, 2019, that he was giving up public duties and charity roles “for the foreseeable future.”
That was not the end of the story. After emails emerged last year showing Andrew remained in contact with Epstein longer than he previously claimed, King Charles III stripped his brother of his princely title and other honors and his home at Royal Lodge in Windsor.
The pub is set to close this month to undergo a six-figure refurbishment
A pub in Cambridge will close for a month to undergo a six-figure makeover. The Golden Hind on Milton Road will temporarily close to the public on February 22 at 6pm. They plan to reopen the following month.
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The investment plans to give the Greene King pub a “new lease of life with significant improvements both inside and out combining the best of a traditional pub welcome with modern day comforts”, according to Greene King.
The country’s leading pub company added: “With a new management team and friendly faces at Golden Hind, there will be something for everyone. Whether it’s popping in for a drink with friends, enjoying a leisurely meal or watching live sporting fixtures or entertainment.”
Customers will also be able to enjoy an enhanced spacious bar and drinking areas as well as sports viewing and live music including karaoke, bands and DJs.
Multiple job opportunities are available as The Golden Hind is currently hiring team members for front and back of house.
