The Catch-up: Is summer over?

What happened?

Heavy rain and winds are going to batter large parts of England and Wales this weekend, according to the Met Office. The unseasonable weather brings a risk of flooding and damage to buildings and also poses a danger to motorists. A low pressure system will descend on the UK from Friday afternoon and is expected to last most of Saturday. The Met Office has issued yellow rain warnings for most of the UK – except the far north-west and south east of Britain - which come into force from midnight on Friday.

Is this the end of summer?

The stormy conditions come just weeks after the July heatwave that saw the highest ever temperature recorded in the UK. Forecasters say the rest of the month will be wetter and windier than is normal for the time of year, quashing hopes of a late-August heatwave. BBC weather forecasters say unsettled weather will continue into next week due to further low pressure and rainfall is likely to be higher than normal for the time of year.

Rained off

Two summer music festivals due to happen this weekend have been called off because of the danger posed by extreme weather. Boardmasters festival in Cornwall was cancelled this week and Houghton Festival in Norfolk was called off earlier today.

Read more:

Yellow warnings issued as Britain braces for more heavy rain and strong winds (Yahoo News UK)

More events cancelled as forecasters warn of thunderstorms and 60mph gales (Evening Standard)

Record July temperatures prompted A&E chaos (The Telegraph)

Jeremy Corbyn has presided over a loss of Labour party membership averaging 125 every day in 2018. New figures show that Labour lost nearly 46,000 members last year as the party failed to get a grip of its anti-Semitism crisis and its position on Brexit. Despite the fall, Labour continued to have by far the largest membership of the British political parties, reporting 518,659 individual members on December 31 - a decrease from 564,443 in 2017. Do you think Jeremy Corbyn is still the right man to lead the opposition? Read the full story and have your say below:

Policeman seriously injured in machete attack ‘will recover’

A policeman stabbed in the head and body during a “frenzied” machete attack is expected to make a full recovery, his bosses have said. The patrol officer, who is in his 30s, was attacked after trying to stop a van suspected of having no insurance in Leyton, east London, at around midnight on Thursday. The vehicle’s 56-year-old driver was Tasered by the officer despite him being seriously injured in the “sudden and brutal” assault which lasted just seconds, Scotland Yard said. Read the full story here. (PA Media UK)

Teenager dies after getting into difficulty in sea near Clacton Pier

A 14-year-old girl has died after getting into difficulty in the sea near Clacton Pier. Three people, two girls and a teenage boy, were pulled from the water after Emergency services and the Coastguard were called to the scene at 1.40pm on Thursday afternoon, Essex Police said. Two were taken to hospital in a critical condition and one has died. Read the full story here. (Yahoo News UK)

A super-cute puppy was named after a kangaroo because she hops around on her back paws - despite being born with SIX legs. Roo, an eight-week-old Labrador-cross, jumps around on her back paws because she was born with two extra front legs that cause her a little trouble when she walks. Lauren Salmon, 33, from Orpington, Kent, bought Roo from breeders in Essex two weeks ago after her son Luke, 15, spotted the special pup online. (SWNS)

72%

That’s the amount of the ice-free surface of Earth that is used by humans to feed, clothe and support the growing population, according to a landmark UN report. The report, Climate Change and Land, shows humans are having a devastating impact on the soil and vegetation it supports. It says increasing intensification of land use is releasing carbon dioxide from lost vegetation and soil erosion and reducing the capacity of soil to support plant growth and store carbon. (Sky News) (The Conversation)