Several of Wednesday’s papers are leading with Hurricane Melissa, after it made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday. “Storm of the century” is how the i describes it, reporting that the 185mph hurricane – the strongest on record for the Caribbean country – will bring “catastrophic and life-threatening” flooding.
For Metro, Melissa is “pure fury”, bringing “carnage” and “terror” to Jamaica. There are “fears” for the thousands of Jamaicans who are refusing to shelter, the paper reports.
The Daily Mirror says Jamaica has been “battered” Melissa, describing it as “hell at 185mph”. The paper also celebrates actress Prunella Scales as “a comic genius with joy for life” following her death.
The Daily Telegraph also bids “farewell” to Scales, best known for her portrayal of Sybil Fawlty in the iconic 70s sitcom Fawlty Towers. A photo of the actress in a butter-yellow shirt is on the front page. Elsewhere, the paper reports that councils are being told by Labour to end so-called “four-day weeks”, with a government source describing them as a “waste of taxpayer money and damage services”.
The Guardian pays tribute to a “really wonderful comic actress”, alongside a photo of Scales as Sybil. The paper also carries comments from Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who writes in the paper that she is determined to “defy forecasts” after the productivity downgrade from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
Meanwhile, the Daily Express reports that television presenter Sue Cook is urging Reeves to give pensioners a “fair deal” in the upcoming Budget. And in an exclusive for the paper, former Prime Minister Liz Truss has issued a warning for the Conservative Party.
The Times leads with a warning from house builders to the Budget watchdog that the government will miss its target of building 1.5 million new homes by the end of the decade. A private letter from Britain’s developers to the OBR says its forecasts for economic growth from housebuilding are too optimistic, the paper reports.
The Daily Mail’s front page is dominated by the story of Tuesday’s triple stabbing in Uxbridge. A dog walker, named locally as Wayne Broadhurst, died at the scene and police have arrested an Afghan national. Officers have described the incident as a “shocking and senseless act of violence”, the paper says.
Microsoft has topped a $4tn valuation after a restructuring of OpenAI, reports the Financial Times. A snap of recently-elected Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi with US President Donald Trump is also splashed across the front page, as Trump hailed their “cherished alliance” on a visit to Tokyo this week.
And the Sun leads with a plea to “save our bets”, as it reports that Rachel Reeves’ Budget will hike taxes on betting by 138%. The paper calls on the chancellor to “shelve [the] crackdown on fun”.
Satellite images of Hurricane Melissa feature on several front pages, showing swirling white clouds bearing down on Jamaica. “Hell at 185 miles-per-hour” is the headline in The Daily Mirror, referring to the speed of the winds unleashed by the devastating storm. One British man on the island tells the paper about a roaring sound coming from the sea and describes the walls of his hotel room vibrating. The i paper quotes a Jamaican man as saying: “The sea is coming over the wall and we’re in serious trouble”.
With less than a month to go before her Budget, the chancellor writes in the Guardian that she is “determined not to simply accept the forecasts” which paint a gloomy picture of the UK economy. But Rachel Reeves says her decisions “don’t come free and are not easy”, amid speculation she could break a Labour manifesto pledge not to raise income tax. The Sun, meanwhile, uses its front page to urge Reeves not to increase taxes on betting and the Daily Express leads with a plea that pensioners “must be given a fair deal”.
The Daily Mail leads with the investigation into a fatal stabbing in Uxbridge in west London. A local resident tells the paper that the suspect, an Afghan national, had been living as a lodger in the house of the man who was wounded in the attack. Witnesses recall the “absolute carnage”, with one describing seeing a man “waving a large knife around with a mad look in his eyes”.
What’s described as a government “crackdown on the four-day working week” is the lead story in the Daily Telegraph. It reports that Communities Secretary Steve Reed has written to the first council to adopt the approach, South Cambridgeshire, to express his “deep disappointment”. A government source says the scheme is wasting taxpayer money. But the paper acknowledges that ministers have no powers to force councils to change their working arrangements.
BBC
