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    The country could be in for the hottest start to November in history, forecasters say. The Met Office predicts the temperature to be more than 21.7C (71F) on Sunday – the record set 69 years ago in Prestatyn, Denbighshire, North Wales. Hot air from Portugal is bringing the out-of-season sizzle, which will make the UK hotter than the Mediterranean. Highs of 21C are expected on Saturday and “exceptionally mild” sunshine in the ¬afternoon, forecasters said. The balmy weather – 6C above average – is set to continue throughout the week with settled conditions in the south and east of England. The predictions would make today the second-hottest Halloween, behind last year’s high of 23.6C at Kew Gardens, London, and Gravesend, Kent. British Weather Services senior meteorologist J...

    The head of MI5 has said the terror threat level facing Britain is the highest he had seen in his 32-year career. Andrew Parker, director general of the Security Service, said six terror plots have been thwarted in the last year. And during a speech in London on Wednesday, he also warned that so-called Islamic State (IS) is planning "mass casualty" attacks on Britain. He described a three dimensional threat" at home, overseas and online - with an increasing amount of MI5's casework linked to Syria and IS. It (IS) uses the full range of modern communications tools to spread its message of hate, and to inspire extremists, sometimes as young as their teens, to conduct attacks in whatever way they can. And he warned the threat posed by IS - also known as ISIL - shows no sign o...

    The UK's population is going to swell by almost 10 million people in the next 25 years, taking us to a total of 74.3m by the middle of 2039. The figures, projected by the Office for National Statistics, suggest that by 2027 the UK will reach the 70 million point. Net migration is expected to account for 51 per cent of the total increase, while a "natural increase" will account for 49 per cent of the growth. The ONS has had to revise its forecast for growth over the next decade upwards to 4.4m from the 2012 estimate, which was around 250,000 lower. However the population is projected to continue ageing, with the median age rising from 40 years in 2014 to 40.9 years in mid-2024 and 42.9 by mid-2039, by which point one in 12 people will be 80-plus. England's population will g...

    Cases of malnutrition and other Victorian diseases are soaring in England, in what campaigners said was a result of cuts to social services and rising food poverty. NHS statistics show that 7,366 people were admitted to hospital with a primary or secondary diagnosis of malnutrition between August 2014 and July this year, compared with 4,883 cases in the same period from 2010 to 2011. A rise of more than 50 per cent in just four years. Cases of other diseases rife in the Victorian era including scurvy, scarlet fever, cholera and whooping cough have also increased since 2010, although cases of TB, measles, typhoid and rickets have fallen. Malnutrition cases in English hospitals almost double in five years Chris Mould, chairman of the Trussell Trust, which runs a nationwide n...

    And now, the penalty for filing your tax return too EARLY If you’re among the millions who file their own self-assessment tax returns you will understand me when I refer to the pleasant sensation of having done the job for the year. Many people, including myself, are gearing up about now to complete the return for the year ending April 2015, which has to be filed by the end of January . I like to complete it before Christmas. But here’s a salutary warning for anyone who is extra-organised: even if you complete your return far ahead of the deadline, don’t submit it too early – as there is a danger of unexpected consequences in your tax coding. As a result, your monthly pay could be unexpectedly reduced. Accountants Baker Tilly recently reported on just such a case. A taxpay...