Morning Briefing: Wednesday 12 August 2026
- Heat and water: Ministers hold an emergency Cobra meeting today as temperatures head for 38C and most of England stays in drought. Expect health alerts, spreading hosepipe bans, some homes facing water shortages, and further pressure on food prices.
- Mortgages: UK borrowing costs eased again, with the 10-year gilt yield down to around 4.95 per cent ahead of key US inflation data later today. Official UK growth figures land tomorrow — a firmer read could shape the mortgage outlook.
- Petrol: Oil is holding around $88 a barrel with the Strait of Hormuz still shut, so the risk premium has not gone away. Pump prices are likely to stay elevated rather than climb further for now.
Colombia Earthquake Toll Climbs Past 250
The death toll from Monday’s earthquake in western Colombia has climbed past 250, officials say, with hundreds injured and more than 2,700 people still reported missing as rescuers dig through the rubble. The magnitude-7.4 quake, centred o…
Iran Hardens Hormuz Terms as Red Sea Attack Kills Six
Hopes of reopening the Strait of Hormuz dimmed further, with an Iranian official insisting the waterway would stay shut unless the United States ended the wars in Gaza and Lebanon and released frozen assets. An Iran-backed group killed six…
Netanyahu's Rejection Reverberates as Gaza Talks Stall
Fallout from Benjamin Netanyahu’s public rejection of President Trump’s Gaza plan continued, with Israel telling Washington it would keep targeting those behind the October 2023 attacks even as disarmament talks stalled. The proposed “Boar…
Ukraine Strikes Deep Inside Russia as Zelenskyy Sends Peace Proposals
A Ukrainian drone strike some 750 miles inside Russia, in Nizhnekamsk in Tatarstan, killed at least 13 people including a child and reportedly hit a refinery, part of Kyiv’s campaign against Russian oil infrastructure. President Zelenskyy…
Typhoon Dolphin Reaches Beijing After a Million Evacuated
Typhoon Dolphin has brought torrential rain to Beijing after forcing more than a million people from their homes along China’s eastern coast. The capital is braced for as much as a third of its annual rainfall in 24 hours, with fresh evacu…
Cobra Meeting Called as Heatwave and Drought Grip England
Andy Burnham is to chair an emergency Cobra meeting today as the country braces for temperatures of 38C and forecasters say the summer of 2026 is on course to be the UK’s hottest on record. More than two-thirds of England is now officially…
Labour Overtakes Reform in the Polls
A new YouGov poll puts Labour ahead of Reform UK for the first time in months, with the parties on 24 and 22 per cent respectively, the Conservatives on 21, the Greens on 12 and the Liberal Democrats on 11. Coverage attributes Reform’s sli…
Fifty Police Chiefs Demand Block on Harper Killers' Release
Fifty police chiefs have signed an open letter urging the government to stop the early release of the men jailed over the death of PC Andrew Harper, intensifying pressure over the emergency scheme to ease prison overcrowding. Andy Burnham…
Record Channel Crossing Prompts Pledge to Change Tactics
The government has promised to change tactics after boats carrying migrants across the Channel grew larger, with a record 230 people reported to have crossed in a single small boat. Officials said the shift to bigger, more crowded vessels…
Police Paternity Leave to Double Under New Plans
Paid paternity leave for police officers is to double under government plans aimed at improving retention and modernising working conditions in the forces. The change would bring police entitlements closer to those in other parts of the pu…