Travellers stranded as snow hits UK

Air and road travellers in the UK have been left stranded by heavy snowfalls. Source: AAP

WILD and wintry weather has swept the UK and stranded travellers with heavy snow covering roads and forcing two airports to close.

MANY motorists simply abandoned their vehicles as drivers became stuck in Sheffield.

One driver tweeted he had been in a queue for more than four hours.Motorists have been advised to check before travelling and, in some parts, avoid journeys unless essential.People travelling from Sheffield to London had to take refuge in a church after their coach became stuck in the snow before leaving the south Yorkshire city, passenger Chloe McIntosh told the BBC."Some people from the houses nearby have come and offered us tea. Then they opened up the church."Liverpool's John Lennon Airport and Leeds Bradford International closed while runways were cleared of snow as a band of wet weather crossed the country from Merseyside and north Wales through the Midlands and Yorkshire.Leek, near the Peak District in Staffordshire, had the worst of the snow with 10cm, the Met Office said, with Cranwell in Lincolnshire also recording 7cm.Four flights into Liverpool from Malta, Berlin and Bucharest were diverted to Manchester Airport, while a fifth from the Isle of Man returned as the Merseyside hub was closed for more than an hour while its runway was cleared.Police warned of hazardous conditions on Friday night, especially in Staffordshire and Cheshire, with several roads made impassable.Snow had been predicted to fall in parts of north Wales, the North West and the Midlands, with a Met Office Level Three amber cold weather alert in place and a yellow warning of snow across a large swathe of the UK.The Pennines and Peak District also had plenty of snow.The snow played havoc with some Friday football matches, including in the West Midlands as West Bromwich Albion lost 3-1 to Manchester City in blizzard conditions.The Met Office had earlier said there was a 90 per cent chance of severe cold, ice or snow in parts of England until New Year's Eve.An area including Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, the Midlands, East Anglia, the North West, Yorkshire and as far south east as London and Kent is on a separate yellow alert for snow.Christmas night was the coldest night of the year so far, with minus 8.5C recorded at Braemar in Aberdeenshire.Temperatures could also drop as low as minus 10C in some places at the start of next week as cloud and wet weather give way to clearer skies.

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Motorcyclist dies after Vic crash

A MOTORCYCLIST has died in hospital after colliding with a car earlier this month.

THE 38-year-old man from Craigieburn crashed on Cooper Street in Epping on December 15.

He was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital where he died on Wednesday afternoon.Police will prepare a report for the coroner.

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Family and friends farewell Tori Johnson

TIBETAN monks and sunflowers have accompanied Tori Johnson's coffin on its way from his funeral, a week after the man, hailed a hero, lost his life in a siege in Sydney's city centre.

HUNDREDS of mourners, including survivors of the Lindt Cafe siege and dignitaries, on Tuesday joined Mr Johnson's family at a private church service just a 100 metres from where the 34-year-old cafe manager was shot dead.

"Celebrating Tori's Love, Generosity and Life," read the memorial booklet for the man who was shot as tried to wrestle a gun from Man Haron Monis in the final moments of the 17-hour siege.Tori's father, Ken, read the eulogy at St Stephen's Uniting Church, where NSW Premier Mike Baird, NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione and Governor David Hurley joined mourners.Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and federal Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull also attended, while Sydneysiders lined Macquarie Street outside to pay their final respects during the hour-long service.Johnson's long-term partner, Thomas Zinn, who read one of five tributes, was the first to leave the service while a white hearse carried Mr Johnson's coffin to a private cremation in Sydney's east.A group of siege survivors, including co-workers, a little later walked from the church to a makeshift memorial near where a sea of flowers had just hours earlier been removed before rain could destroy the tributes.They added their flowers to the hundreds of bouquets that had been placed under a marquee to protect them from the weather.Standing together, they watched, along with Reverend Bill Crews who'd led the service, while funeral staff placed dozens of white roses and sunflowers on a black table.They then embraced each other, while a nearby busker played Silent Night on a guitar.And, passers-by continued to lay their flower tributes as the survivors left.

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Future Brisbane skyline revealed

Brisbane are given a glimpse of the city's future skyline with the unveiling of Casino proposals. Source: AAP

RIVAL proponents vying for the right to develop a casino on prime riverfront land in Brisbane have laid their cards on the table.

THE Queensland government's decision to move public service offices to a new site at 1 William Street will free up the existing government precinct between George Street and the Riverside Expressway after 2016.

Enter two giants - incumbent Brisbane casino owner Echo Entertainment and James Packer's Crown Resorts - who are battling it out for the once in a lifetime development opportunity.The pair's rival consortiums on Monday revealed artist impressions of their proposals and both had exceeded the government's expectations, Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney said.Both projects would include a casino, hotels, residential accommodation, a pedestrian bridge to South Bank and luxurious bars and restaurants.Crown's proposal boasts a rooftop the size of The Gabba, public gardens, infinity pools and a suspended waterfall from its pedestrian bridge.The Echo plan would feature a "signature addition" to the Brisbane skyline - an arc-shaped sky deck perched above a high-end hotel and ballroom.Echo had the advantage of not needing an additional casino licence because it would relocate its existing Treasury Casino, chairman John O'Neill said.The old site would be turned into a department store.Both proponents on Monday responded to union accusations linking Hong Kong businessman Stanley Ho - who has been banned from a similar development in Sydney - to the Echo consortium."Let's be very clear - we are not in business with Stanley Ho," Echo's chief executive Matt Bekier said.The company was providing 50 per cent of the capital, while a 25 per cent partner, Hong Kong's Chow Tai Fook, had a business relationship with Dr Ho.The government will finalise the assessment process by mid-2015.

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Three killed in India bomb blast

THREE people have been killed in the second bomb blast in a week in Imphal, capital of India's north-eastern Manipur state.

THE bomb planted by the roadside near Khuyathong area, close to Imphal market, killed three labourers and wounding four others," IANS news agency reported, citing a police official.

One of the injured was in critical condition, the official said.The dead included two men in their thirties and a woman in her sixties, state-run Doordarshan television reported.Security forces were at the scene and searching the area for the bombers.No one has claimed responsibility for the blast.

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