Authorities in the Japanese city of Fujiyoshida have decided to cancel a long-running spring cherry blossom festival at one of the country’s most photographed Mount Fuji viewpoints after residents raised concerns about overcrowding and disruptive tourist behaviour.

The city government in Yamanashi prefecture said on 3 February that it would not stage the annual Arakurayama Sengen Park Cherry Blossom Festival this year. The festival, which has been organised for about a decade, typically draws around 200,000 visitors who come to photograph Mount Fuji framed by blooming cherry blossoms and a five-storey pagoda.

Authorities said the number of tourists had surged in recent years, fuelled by a weaker yen and the viral popularity of scenic locations on social media. Now, nearly 10,000 people pass through the area every day during peak blossom season – a volume that the small community says it can no longer comfortably manage.

Japan welcomed a record number of foreign tourists last year, with arrivals surpassing 40 million for the first time.

Fujiyoshida city representatives pointed to a growing list of resident complaints for the cancellation, describing nuisance behaviour that was affecting daily life. Authorities cited sanitation issues among the most serious problems, including cases of visitors entering private homes to use toilets, relieving themselves in residential yards, and causing confrontations when challenged, according to Kyodo News.

Safety worries have also emerged, particularly from families living nearby. According to the city, parents have reported children being pushed aside on school routes as large crowds gather along narrow pavements to reach popular photo spots.

There are numerous cherry trees inside the Arakurayama Sengen Park, including a few around the Arakura Fuji Sengen Shrine at the entrance. It provides a picturesque frame for tourists to capture Mount Fuji and the cherry blossoms.

Fujiyoshida mayor Shigeru Horiuchi said the decision reflected growing anxiety among residents about balancing tourism with community life.

“I feel a deep sense of crisis as I witness the reality that, behind this beautiful scenery, the quiet lives of our citizens are being threatened,” he said.

Japan’s enthusiasm for welcoming more tourists has not been without challenges, not least concerns about overtourism. In some cases, inappropriate behaviour by visitors or cultural misunderstandings has caused friction with local communities.

Popular destinations like Kyoto have faced particularly intense pressure. Residents have pointed to worsening traffic congestion, longer queues, and disruption to daily life.

Although the festival will not take place as an official event – and will not be promoted under its usual name on tourism platforms – officials expect visitor numbers to remain high when cherry blossoms bloom in April.

Preparations are underway to handle the influx, with officials planning to step up security and establish temporary car parks and portable toilet facilities to reduce pressure on neighbourhoods.

The Arakurayama Sengen Park is one of the most popular viewing points for Mount Fuji, especially in the spring season when long queues, sometimes lasting up to three hours, form as travellers wait to capture images of the mountain behind the pagoda and pink blossoms.

MUSCAT, Oman (AP) — Iran and the United States stood poised Friday to hold negotiations in Oman at least over Tehran’s nuclear program after a chaotic week that initially saw plans for regional countries to take part in talks in Turkey.

The two countries have returned to Oman, a sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, months after rounds of meetings turned to ash following Israel’s launch of a 12-day war against Iran back in June. The U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites during that war, likely destroying many of the centrifuges that spun uranium to near weapons-grade purity. Israel’s attacks decimated Iran’s air defenses and targeted its ballistic missile arsenal as well.

U.S. officials like Secretary of State Marco Rubio believe Iran’s theocracy is now at its weakest point since its 1979 Islamic Revolution after nationwide protests last month represented the greatest challenge to 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s rule. Khamenei’s forces responded with a bloody crackdown that killed thousands and reportedly saw tens of thousands arrested — and spurred new military threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to target the country.

With the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other warships in the region along with more fighter jets, the U.S. now likely has the military firepower to launch an attack if it wanted. But whether attacks could be enough to force Iran to change its ways — or potentially topple its government — remains far from a sure thing.

Meanwhile, Gulf Arab nations fear an attack could spark a regional war dragging them in as well. That threat is real — already, U.S. forces shot down an Iranian drone near the Lincoln and Iran attempted to stop a U.S.-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

“President Trump seeks to corner Iran into reaching a negotiated solution, strong-arming its leaders into making concessions on the nuclear deal,” said Alissa Pavia, a fellow at the Atlantic Council. “The Iranians, on the other hand, are weakened after years of proxy warfare, economic crisis, and internal unrest. Trump is aware of this vulnerability and is hoping to use it to extract concessions and make inroads toward a renewed nuclear agreement.”

Few details on talks ahead of meeting

The scope, nature and participants in the talks remain unclear, just hours before they were due to begin in Muscat, the Omani capital nestled in the Hajar Mountains. Officials at Oman’s borders on Thursday showed particular concern over anyone carrying cameras into the sultanate before the negotiations.

On the Iranian side, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived at night along with multiple Iranian diplomats, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Araghchi wrote on X that “Iran enters diplomacy with open eyes and a steady memory of the past year.”

“Commitments need to be honored,” he wrote. “Equal standing, mutual respect and mutual interest are not rhetoric — they are a must and the pillars of a durable agreement.”

Ahead of the meeting, a top adviser to Khamenei appeared to offer the theocracy’s support to the 63-year-old career diplomat.

Araghchi “is a skilled, strategic and trustworthy negotiator at the highest levels of decision-making and military intelligence,” Ali Shamkhani wrote on X. “Soldiers of the nation in the armed forces & generals of diplomacy, acting under the order of the Leader, will safeguard the nation’s interests.”

On the U.S. side, it appeared that talks would be led by U.S. Mideast special envoy Steve Witkoff, a 68-year-old billionaire New York real estate mogul and longtime friend to Trump. Traveling with Witkoff on his Mideast trip so far is Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who in recent weeks has shared proposals for the Gaza Strip and took part in trilateral talks with Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi earlier on the trip.

The two men had traveled from Abu Dhabi to Qatar on Thursday night for meetings with officials there, the Qatari-funded satellite news network Al Jazeera reported. Qatar, which shares an offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf with Iran, also hosts a major U.S. military installation that Iran attacked back in the June war.

Nuclear program on the table at the least

It remains unclear just what terms Iran will be willing to negotiate at the talks. Tehran has maintained that these talks only will be on its nuclear program. However, Al Jazeera reported that diplomats from Egypt, Turkey and Qatar offered Iran a proposal in which Tehran would halt enrichment for three years, send its highly enriched uranium out of the country and pledge “not initiate the use of ballistic missiles.”

Russia had signaled it would take the uranium, but Shamkhani in an interview earlier this week had said ending the program or shipping out the uranium were nonstarters for the country. Meanwhile, the talks would not include any pledge by Iran over its self-described “Axis of Resistance,” a network of militias in the region allied to Tehran as a deterrent to both Israel and the U.S. However, Israeli attacks on the militias during its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip decimated the network.

Rubio, America’s top diplomat, said talks needed to include all those issues.

“I think in order for talks to actually lead to something meaningful, they will have to include certain things, and that includes the range of their ballistic missiles,” Rubio told journalists Wednesday. “That includes their sponsorship of terrorist organizations across the region. That includes the nuclear program, and that includes the treatment of their own people.”

He added: “I’m not sure you can reach a deal with these guys, but we’re going to try to find out.” ___

The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

One of the hardest tasks of any government in a democracy is balancing the right to know against the need to know. Just because the public wants to know something doesn’t necessarily mean that they should. But without this access to information, how can voters make informed choices and the powerful be held to account? This debate is now central to the release and redaction of the Epstein files.

For the past decade or so the Epstein files have been used by Democrats and Republicans as a political stick with which to beat each other. In the meantime, speculation has run rife online with a global guessing game of what these files contain and who is or isn’t named in them.

This is the dilemma facing the Trump administration at the moment. On the one hand there is justifiable public anger that they have not been told the truth, and that some of the richest and most powerful people in the world may have committed terrible crimes with impunity. This fury – and its political implications – is the chief reason why the US Congress voted in November 2025 to release the Epstein files.

What is often missed in this discussion is the fact that the files are not a single set of documents. Instead, these are multiple packages of information including files gathered by the FBI investigation, court records and grand jury documents. This distinction is extremely important legally.

Of the documents that have been made available so far, many of these have been heavily redacted with black bars covering names, addresses, emails and photos. In some cases, it is clear why this had happened. In others, the absence of any reason for the redaction has simply added fuel to the fire, with spectators filling in the blanks themselves.

The US has long prided itself on being one of the freest societies on Earth. Since the Watergate scandal seriously dented public confidence in government integrity, various pieces of landmark legislation have been passed to make sure government files can be made available to the public. These include the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) of 1966, the Electronic FOIA Amendments of 1996, and the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016.

These acts cover the federal government – including the FBI and Department of Justice, which have been overseeing the Epstein case. But there has also been legislation that has limited what can be released. This includes the Privacy Act of 1974. This legislation was designed to ensure that random members of the public do not have their names released and their reputations damaged.

Given the number of government agencies that can be involved, this process has not always been consistent. One agency might redact one part of a document, while another might redact a separate part. In some cases, documents might be redacted despite the fact that they are already publicly available.

Because the process is so legally and politically complicated, the work is normally done by civil servants in the federal bureaucracy. But it should also be remembered that some files and information are not covered by the freedom of information laws. The two most significant are probably court and grand jury records. These records can only be released by judges – and due to the separation of powers, Congress has no jurisdiction here.

The freedom of information acts give several important reasons for why files might be redacted. The trouble is that without explanation it’s difficult to know which ones apply. The first and most obvious is national security. If an agency feels that the release of any particular information might damage America’s reputation, they have sweeping powers to withhold information.

This applies even if the information doesn’t mention specific things such as the names of undercover agents, details of troop movements or programmes that could be harmed, but does include important information on how agencies operate. Other information can be redacted if it includes financial data or patents.

Perhaps the most significant are redactions covered by the Privacy Act of 1974. These can include third parties (people simply cc’d into emails or in the background of photos who are of no relevance to the investigation), addresses, phone numbers and – crucially in this case – the names of victims and witnesses.

In the case of the Epstein files, this means that, rightly, a lot of information has been blacked out (although there are reports that a few of the victims have been named and in some cases their addresses and even photos have been published).

Striking a balance

Critics have argued that the public needs to be given greater context about the redactions. Namely, who gets to decide what is redacted and why. Whether, for example, a person whose name is blacked out is a potential perpetrator, a crucial witness or an innocent third party.

The issue is made more complicated by the fact that, for law enforcement reasons, court cases resulting from some of this information are likely to proceed. So it’s important not to release information that could compromise investigations or future trials.

All of this is impossible to challenge without knowing the background details.

Because Epstein was such a prominent figure and seemed to know everyone in positions of power, it’s possible that information is being redacted for all of these reasons.

Assuming good faith on all sides (not always easy in today’s political climate in the US) this leaves government officials with a dilemma. While justice demands that innocent people’s reputations are protected, it equally demands that the public’s right – and need – to know is properly served. All of which must be balanced by the need to ensure that the right people, no matter how powerful or influential, involved in any wrongdoing revealed in the files are held accountable.

At this stage it seems likely that the debate over what should be made public and what should remain secret will run on indefinitely.

Directly addressing Epstein’s victims, he said: “I am sorry, sorry for what was done to you, sorry that so many people with power failed you. Sorry for having believed Mandelson’s lies and appointed him and sorry that even now you’re forced to watch this story unfold in public once again.”

Actor Michael Keaton is set to be honored Friday as the 2026 Man of the Year by Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals.

The theater group, which dates to 1844 and claims to be the world’s third-oldest still operating, said Keaton will receive his Pudding Pot award at a celebratory roast in the evening. Afterward he will attend a performance of Hasty Pudding’s 177th production, “Salooney Tunes.”

Hasty Pudding Theatricals gives out its Man and Woman of the Year awards to people who have made lasting and impressive contributions to the world of entertainment.

The Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning actor is known for roles in such films as “Batman,” “Birdman,” “Beetlejuice” and “Spotlight.” More recently Keaton has starred in and directed the short film “Sweetwater” and starred in and was executive producer on the eight-part Hulu miniseries “Dopesick.”

“He was Batman, then Birdman, and now, most importantly, he’s a Pudding man!” Hasty Pudding producer Eloise Tunnell said in a statement. “Keaton is no stranger to being a superhero, but let’s see if that training earns him a Pudding Pot. We cannot wait to welcome him on February 6th: until then, don’t say his name three times!”

Actor Jon Hamm won the award last year. Other recent honorees have included Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds.

Hasty Pudding’s Woman of the Year, which dates to 1951, will be awarded Feb. 13 to Australian actor Rose Byrne.

Welcome to How I Do It, the series in which we give you a seven-day sneak peek into the sex life of a stranger.

This week we hear from 38-year-old married dad-of-two Calvin*, who has been with his wife, Marie*, since 2017.

After tying the knot in 2021, they have a little boy, now four, and a girl, now two, but Calving says being busy working parents isn’t conducive to a hyper-active sex life.

‘We have sex about twice a week and I’m really happy with how my wife and I communicate and enjoy our time together,’ he says.

Despite their best efforts, they sometimes have three-week dry patches because of the demands of work and childcare.

‘I’d like my sex life to be a bit more regular and adventurous, but life gets in the way,’ he adds. ‘While we don’t schedule sex in the diary, we do make an effort to make time for each other.’

So, without any further ado, here’s how she got on this week…

The following sex diary is, as you might imagine, not safe for work.

Monday

Who has sex on a Monday? I’m half-joking.

Maybe in years gone by when I was a student it was on the cards, but as a working parent in my late 30s, sex just isn’t on the agenda at the start of the week.

I’m working from home today with plenty to get through, before picking our kids up from nursery in late afternoon.

Marie gets home just after I get back from the nursery run, and she’s had a rough day.

We talk it over, I try and offer support, and see if there’s anything else I can do. It goes without saying that I pick up the slack with the kids, get the housework done, and generally just try to be helpful.

The rest of the evening is about having dinner and keeping our two little ones content before it’s time for bed. It’s just a routine Monday.

Tuesday

I’m looking forward to my night out with Marie on Friday, and it’s serving as today’s motivation.

We don’t get out alone together too often, but this is a formal event related to her work. During the day, I get some twinges thinking of what Marie could be wearing underneath her dress for the occasion. I’ll need to tell her.

The anticipation is a huge turn on for me. I like to be teased and thrilled, it keeps things fun and exciting, as well as making sure the intimacy is alive.

Marie gets home from work late, but as the kids are with my parents until late this evening, we have time together to enjoy dinner and talk. It sounds simple, but it doesn’t always happen as parents.

It is crucial to connect and talk, in and out of the bedroom for us, otherwise complacency can set in and it can cause silly niggles between us. Often though, we’re both just missing sex and connection.

While making dinner, we’re playful, touching and kissing each other here and there. When she’s at the sink, I come up close behind her and grab her curvy bottom, then rub myself against her while kissing her neck.

I tell her how much I like her ass. She likes it, but she’s too busy peeling the potatoes to act on it. Teasing is great, though. The more the better.

Dinner is delicious, but we ate too much while nattering about work and kid stuff.

Our window of opportunity for sex has passed, and soon after the kids get home, so there’s too much going on.

It’s a late night by the time the kids are settled, and we’re ready to crash out. Missing out on sex can be disappointing and frustrating for my wife and I, but mostly it’s because of the kids, which can’t be helped.

Wednesday

Today is a disaster for me. I have our son all day and while he’s well-behaved, he just wants to play and get my attention all day.

Unfortunately, I have one work task to complete and getting it done is taking much longer than expected. Our son has some tantrums because I can’t play yet, and I’ve got a tension headache that just won’t shift.

I’m just not feeling good at all today, and I’m not in the mood for anything.

A busy day extends to the evening with a lot of housework and extra admin to do at home. Mariegets home with our daughter, and soon my son is playing football is a bundle of energy and mess.

We have dinner, play for a little with the kids, and then fall into bed.

Thursday

I wake up as Marie is getting ready for work.

She’s wearing a matching red underwear set that makes me want to pull her back into bed. I give her a compliment and she bends over and slaps her ass, but tells me that she needs to go, and that I’ll have to wait until later.

We kiss, and she leaves for work, but I need to relieve myself. I reach for my phone and into my ‘w**k bank’ of raunchy pics of Marie.

She knows I occasionally take pictures of her while we’re having sex, and while I do sometimes watch porn, I prefer to look at my wife.

I’m getting very horny and think about later, tomorrow night, and what I want to do. Masturbating is a good decision, instant gratification, self-pleasure and looking at my wife. What’s not to like?

Time for a shower before the kids wake and the day begins for real. They’re off to their grandparents’ house until tonight.

In the evening, Marie returns home in the mood, and tells me straight away what she wants. We both go upstairs and I can hear her getting changed in our bedroom, as I’m brushing my teeth.

I enter our room to see my wife lying on the bed in a very sexy, strappy underwear set. She’s touching herself already and teasing me. I’m hard as I strip down to my boxer shorts.

We are both on the bed, watching each other masturbate. We love it. It feels sexy and intimate. It f***ing feels good. Next, I go down on her and take my time. We’re enjoying every moment.

I kiss and touch her all over, with extra time spent on her ass. It’s that good.

She’s lying on her front, I’m leaning on top of her back with my hand underneath her. I ask her what she’ll be wearing tomorrow night and she giggles. She’s too horny and locked in for a proper answer.

We do doggy, then missionary with her legs up, the latter of which is a favourite of mine. We go for as long as we can over the next five minutes or so, before coming together.

Friday

It’s a busy work day and there’s lots to do, but before I know it, the evening has arrived. The kids get picked up by my sister-in-law before we go out.

My wife and I both like the concept of ‘f*** first’. Going out for dinner, out for drinks, or with friends? You can have plans for a big finish to the night, but it doesn’t always happen, so do it before you go out.

We’re both touching each other before we’re even washed and changed. We’re naked and taking advantage. Some nice kissing turns to doggy over the bed, but it’s a quickie and nothing wrong with that. We have somewhere to be!

We both feel sexy, horny, closer together, and very satisfied.

Then we scrub up well, both complementing each other, and are ready to go. While out at the dinner event, I touch her leg and caress her subtly a few times.

I wonder if we might have round two tonight, but we get home later than planned and tiredness takes over.

Saturday

The kids are coming back early, but we wake up before with a cuddle.

A few moments later, I reach around to her front with my hand, and she reaches back for me. We lock eyes and enjoy the feeling, sound, and touch of pleasuring each other with our hands.

After a few minutes, she takes control, sits up, and briefly touches herself before putting her fingers in my mouth. This is something we both find incredibly dirty and intimate, it’s a major turn on for us.

Then she goes back down on me with her hand to finish me off. It’s good, quality time and we enjoy the climax before showering.

Once the kids get back we hit the local shops, grab lunch, head home and spend play and TV time together.

Sunday

We’ve got family visiting today, and we pop out to Tesco and get our washing done, before heading out on a walk with everyone.

We’ve had sex more this week than usual, and it’s been really satisfying, so I feel pretty content and happy.

Sometimes we can go two, three weeks without, but we always talk and make sure the drought doesn’t last too long. We get grumpy with each other otherwise, it just brings the mood down a little.

Yes, life gets in the way, but sex and intimacy are too important to neglect for us, especially because our sex life is a big factor as to why we’re so compatible as a couple.

Things are always better when we’re talking, sharing, and connecting, which we certainly did this week.

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.

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Manchester United’s chances of linking back up with Scott McTominay appear to have changed just as things are taking a turn for the better under Michael Carrick

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Michael Carrick is hard at work attempting to preserve and prolong his meteoric start as interim Manchester United manager. And the Red Devils play host to Tottenham in Saturday’s early Premier League kick-off, hoping to make it four wins from four under the club icon.

Whatever Carrick has been doing at his old stomping ground thus far, it’s working. Despite being at the club on temporary terms as things stand, the 44-year-old hasn’t been afraid to tear up trees in an effort to put his old side back on top of the English pyramid.

United had a quiet January transfer window, where the only business to speak of was through the departures. That bodes well in terms of a bigger budget to spend in the summer, however, at which point it may be Carrick making the decisions on a longer-term basis.

Scott McTominay is one such name being linked with a move to Old Trafford as talk of a reunion escalates. And the latest development from Naples could aid United’s advances as Mirror Football breaks down the latest news around the Theatre of Dreams.

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Napoli stance on McTominay sale

Recent examples of players returning to Old Trafford after long stints away haven’t fallen in their favour over recent years. Expensive moves to bring the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Pogba back to the club ultimately failed to live up to expectations.

READ MORE: Napoli chief admits concerns over Scott McTominay future after Man Utd return demandREAD MORE: Man Utd told to ignore Michael Carrick demand as ideal replacement named

But many fans will hope McTominay could buck that trend in the event United come back in for their academy graduate in future. To that effect, recent comments made by Napoli’s global business development officer, Leonardo Giammarioli, suggest the transfer can be done for the right price.

“Yeah, of course I’m worried,” he told talkSPORT when discussing the prospect of McTominay leaving should a suitable offer come in. “But ultimately, especially Scott, who’s a very nice guy, we’re happy if he gets to the next level in a couple of years. Maybe not now, maybe not next year, but he deserves it.

“Look at Stuttgart, they wanted to keep Nick Woltemade [before he joined Newcastle last summer], but when such an offer comes in, there’s not much you can do, when the player wants to go and money is important.”

It’s common knowledge by now that Napoli got themselves a serious bargain after acquiring the Scot for around £25million in the summer of 2024. Many suggested at the time the player was underrated, and then-manager Erik ten Hag even confessed he didn’t want to sell his star.

One Serie A title and a Player of the Year award later, McTominay is one of the most valuable assets in Italy’s top flight. Again, United would be forced to pay a premium for a player they may well regret selling in the first place, but the need to replace the outgoing Casemiro – and potentially Bruno Fernandes, too – could make him a sensible summer target.

Carrick overrules Amorim and Ten Hag

One thing that’s been clear early on in Carrick’s reign is that he’s not worried about upsetting the status quo. And that goes just as much for established traditions at United, as well as something as ordinary as tactical tweaks.

The ex-England midfielder has already ditched Ruben Amorim‘s three-at-the-back formation in favour of a more standard set-up. He’s also brought Kobbie Mainoo in from his exile and found success switching left-back Patrick Dorgu into a more advanced role.

However, it’s now emerged Carrick has done away with Amorim and Ten Hag’s practice of making players train the day after matches, per the Sun. Both his predecessors favoured the habit of making the squad attend recovery sessions the day after playing – but no more.

Instead, Carrick has altered the schedule so that United’s players undergo their recovery sessions two days after playing. And it’s but the latest example of Carrick’s more humane touch, giving his stars a more relaxed working atmosphere, at least in one way.

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MPs discussed making further changes to legislation

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has issued an update after questions emerged about how it shares data with local councils. The statement follows discussions at the Work and Pensions Committee, where policy experts examined potential changes to the DWP benefits system aimed at ensuring people access the support available to them.

Fabian Chessell, who leads central government work at Policy in Practice, argued for enhanced data sharing to strengthen “employment support” for claimants. He took aim at the Government’s devolution bill, unveiled in July 2025, for failing to address data sharing arrangements.

The proposed law would grant mayors additional powers and establish Strategic Authorities across English regions, with responsibility for matters including housing, skills, and employment support. The bill is presently being examined in the House of Lords.

On the devolution proposals, Mr Chessell stated: “If we’re giving them power, we need to give them data.” He also pointed to current legislation that could be modified to enhance data sharing, reports the Mirror.

Section 72 of the Welfare and Pensions Reform Act 1999 permits the “exchange of information” between Government departments and employers relating to individuals claiming working-age benefits. Mr Chessell explained that this legislation “creates the gateways for sharing employment data with councils today from DWP and HMRC” and could be revised to enable greater data sharing.

He appealed to the committee: “Let’s do the simple thing. There’s a lot of complex questions in front of us, this isn’t one of those.”

A DWP spokesperson commented: “Millions of people rely on our welfare system every year and it is vital that it can be accessed by all who need it. We already share income and earnings data with local authorities to help ensure people receive the Housing Benefit and council tax support they’re entitled to.

“We’re now exploring ways to expand this data sharing with Local Authorities and Mayoral Strategic Authorities, so they can better connect people with employment support.”

The DWP also noted it regularly works to raise awareness of available benefits through campaigns such as Help for Households. Those who believe they may be missing out on benefits can use the Government website’s benefits calculator tool to determine their eligibility.

The Met Office said that some roads and railways are likely to be affected with longer journey times by road, bus and train services.

They said rain moving north across England today is expected to turn to snow over higher ground in the afternoon and evening.

They said some sleet and snow is possible at lower levels, but snow will likely only build up above 250m to 300m with up to 5 cm possible.

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for snow (Image: The Met Office)

The yellow warning stretches from the Midlands into Cumbria, covering the eastern parts of Greater Manchester including Oldham and Rochdale.

The warning also covers parts of Lancashire including Bacup and Burnley.

It is from 3pm today until 3am on Friday (January 5), with the Met Office expecting any snow to melt throughout tomorrow.

They warned of dangerous driving conditions and recommended bringing essentials such as warm clothing, food and water in case of delays.

They said weather warnings may change quickly and recommended checking for updates in the weather forecast.

The forecaster also predicts flurries of sleet throughout Thursday afternoon across Bolton and Bury.