Two major motorways closed after ‘police incident' sparking huge rush hour delays for thousands of drivers
Drivers on both the M25 and M1 are facing significant disruption this morning after both routes were temporarily closed.
Hertfordshire Police said it had shut the M1 northbound between Junctions 6 and 6A at around 5.15am today, with the M25 later also being closed around Junction 21A.
Traffic was temporarily diverted onto the A405 North Orbital Road and other surrounding routes.
While police say both roads reopened at around 6.45am, they warned that delays remained in the area.
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Metro
6 hours ago
- Metro
I tried a 'hybrid holiday' and discovered the secret to work-life balance
My life in the city is non-stop. I spend my days travelling across London on heaving Tubes, working in an office, then rushing through crowded streets to meet friends. I wouldn't change it for the world, but sometimes, I want to escape. The only problem is, I don't drive. Maybe I shouldn't admit this, but I didn't even turn up to my driving theory test last month. I'm not alone; nearly half of London households don't have a car. So when I want a break in the UK, I must pack myself onto a train, pay a fortune for taxis, or endure the clunky process of renting a car (that someone else will have to drive). For all of that hassle, I'd never even think to bank the annual leave and work on that hard-earned staycation instead. That's where Turo comes in. It's an app that lets you rent cars directly from local hosts. A bit like Airbnb, but for vehicles. Fuel your wanderlust with our curated newsletter of travel deals, guides and inspiration. Sign up here. On your phone, you tailor your search, scroll, and pick a model that suits your price range. There's everything from Ford Fiestas to a Porsche 911, and your ride is delivered straight to your door. Then it's just you, the open road, and the kind of car that makes even the M25 feel glamorous. After being invited to test it out, I found myself on my first hybrid holiday. Not a full digital detox, just space, fresh air, and a change of scenery. It's part remote work, part mini-break, and I didn't need to use my limited leave to get out of the city for a night or two. My partner and I checked the weather forecast, saw glorious sunshine, and booked a convertible BMW Z4 for two days that would normally be around £300 in total. Compact enough for narrow country roads, but still stylish enough to make the trip feel like something special, the host arrived with the keys days later. We did a quick walk around, checked the app, and off we went. I'd recommend checking your host's reviews and previous bookings to make this experience as smooth as possible. Our destination was a cosy hut in the woods, buried in the Cotswolds countryside at The Fish hotel in Broadway. With a promise of strong WiFi, good food, a private hot tub and a log burner, it ticked all the boxes: peaceful, remote, and perfect for working during the day and unwinding in the evenings. If you're doing a hybrid holiday, you need to make the most of the time you aren't working. We made sure to make the journey part fun, cruising with the roof off and stopping for lunch at The Boxing Hare, a renowned pub in the famous Cotswolds town of Chipping Norton. After a breezy check-in at the hotel, where rooms start from £350 a night, I logged on to work for a couple of hours. For working from home, the Hilly Huts are perfectly set-up to spend hours huddled over your laptop. The fridge was filled with snacks and drinks, there was a tea station brimming with options, along with a coffee machine for that caffeine fix. And if that wasn't enough, the hut was installed with a buzzer to ring for more refreshments. Equally, if you're someone who needs a change of scenery, across the grounds are communal areas and food stalls with plenty of seating to work from. Staff were incredibly accommodating and made our stay as comfortable as possible. I've never 'worked from home' in such luxury; the only problem was feeling sorry for my poor colleagues who had to endure my Zoom background whilst they sat at their usual desk. After I signed off at the end of the day, it was time for a well-earned dip in the hot tub, with drinks brought directly to our garden. Having had time to switch off and relax, we got ready for dinner at Hook. It's a seafood restaurant on-site of the hotel, promising a laid-back but luxurious vibe. For those that don't like seafood, there are other options for meat-eaters and vegetarians, but for me, The standout dish was a tuna tartare with wasabi and a ponzu dressing. What followed was the best sleep I've had in ages. Needing to wake up ready to log on at 8 am the next day, I barely needed an alarm clock. Instead, an open blind let the countryside sun stream in, starting my day in the most relaxed way possible. Armed with my laptop, I worked for the day on the veranda. We can all relate to the issue of working outside with no charging ports, so you will have to shuffle around to charge your devices indoors with plug sockets in relative short supply. It may not be as accessible as your monitors and keyboards at home, but we returned to London feeling so refreshed before the weekend had even started. We're in this weird in-between space right now, where offices are open, but remote work is still the norm for many of us. And while I love the flexibility, working from home can get monotonous. That's why I'm convinced hybrid holidays are the future. You don't need to block off a full week or use up all your annual leave, but just refresh your routine by working somewhere else. More Trending And Turo makes it so easy. Whilst owning a car suits a lot of people, for those who rarely need them, it's better value, better for the environment, and way less stress. It's fine to love your bustling city life but also admit you need to recharge. When we're building careers, we don't always want to fully unplug to experience a new environment. My eyes have been opened to the hybrid holidays and honestly? It's the best kind of work-life balance I can imagine. Choose the car based on your destination. For narrow country roads, I loved having something small and agile. But for a coastal road trip or wild camping weekend, I'd be looking at an SUV. Read the host reviews. Like Airbnb, you can check feedback and see if hosts are communicative and accommodating. Look for places with good WiFi and phone signal. If you're working from home, you don't need the stress of losing a connection mid-meeting. Pack light but smart. Small cars require small cases. Comfy clothes for working, walking boots for exploring, and a good portable charger are a must. Give yourself breathing room. Don't try to do it all. Even just changing your work surroundings makes a big difference. Anna Staddon was a guest of Turo and The Fish Hotel. MORE: Crying at work is embarrassing — but it can reveal your biggest strength MORE: I hate the beach, but a £13 trip to one of the UK's 'worst seaside towns' changed my mind MORE: I spent 96 hours in Canada's 'forgotten province' — one of its last untouched gems
Telegraph
6 hours ago
- Telegraph
Oscar Piastri interview: the world champion hopeful schooled in England
Haileybury school in Hertfordshire has produced some notable alumni over the years. Clement Attlee, the post-war Labour prime minister, attended the co-educational independent school. Poet and novelist Rudyard Kipling and playwright Sir Alan Ayckbourn are Old Haileyburians. Film-maker Christopher Nolan and actor Stephen Mangan were also on the school's books. In the world of Formula One, Haileybury can lay claim to one of the greatest: Sir Stirling Moss. The British icon, widely regarded as one of the finest motor racing drivers of all time, won more than 200 races in a variety of categories across a 14-year competition career. Famously, though, Moss never actually won the Formula One world title, finishing runner-up on four occasions. Oscar Piastri is hoping to make up for that omission on the school's CV this year. 'That's the plan,' says the Australian. 'It's going OK so far. I feel like I've taken a step forward this year. I feel ready.' Heading into this weekend's British Grand Prix at Silverstone, it is intriguingly poised. Piastri, with five wins under his belt in 11 races, leads the championship by 15 points from his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris. By rights Norris should really be favourite for the title. The Briton is the more experienced driver and has been at McLaren for longer than Piastri. But Piastri is the odds-on favourite with the bookies. That he is so unbothered by that fact is the reason he is so heavily fancied. Piastri just seems to be bullet-proof. Ice cold. Where Norris has blown hot and cold this season, making numerous mistakes in qualifying and shunting into the back of Piastri in Canada, the Australian has been rock solid, his race-craft impeccable. Norris may still have him for outright pace, but Piastri is getting quicker and has definitely been the more consistent driver. 'I feel comfortable in the position I'm in,' he says when asked what it's like leading the Formula One world championship for the first time, as a 24-year-old. 'The way I look at it, if you're leading a championship, you're probably doing something right. And I feel like we have been doing quite a few things right. My ultimate performance has probably improved a bit this year, but I feel like I'm able to access it much more consistently so far. That's probably been the biggest thing.' Piastri was always a quick learner. He recalls growing up in Melbourne, always wanting to be first at everything. 'Even in my schoolwork,' he says. 'I wanted to do it better than anyone, and also do it faster than anyone, which kind of makes no sense. I would do it as fast as I could, but it kind of came at the cost of some accuracy. I soon learnt it's better to be accurate because otherwise you spend 15 minutes sitting there doing nothing, and it's not very useful for you when you get your score back.' There is actually rather an awkward postscript to the Stirling Moss-Haileybury connection. Moss later confessed to being unhappy at the school; bullied for reasons of his presumed Jewish origins. Piastri, though, says the school was the making of him. Moving 10,000 miles from Melbourne to the UK as a 15-year-old forced him to grow up. He spent four years as a boarder in Kipling House – England rugby player Nick Isiekwe was in the same house, although a few years older – and says it was a period in which he 'really developed'. Growing up in Melbourne he had always been sports-mad. AFL, cricket, athletics, basketball. Motor racing allowed little time for any of those, but he still turned out for the school's 3rd XI. Piastri's teachers remember a diligent and conscientious student who juggled his extracurricular activities with his academic work with great maturity. 'Oscar never demonstrated anything other than exemplary humility and remarkable composure throughout his four years at Haileybury,' recalled one teacher, Andy Searson, adding that Piastri was 'capable of bowling a heavy ball with an intimidating run-up'. The picture that emerges is one of a very grounded young man. Piastri met his girlfriend, Lily, at school when they were just 17, before they had even taken their A-levels (maths, physics and computer science, in Piastri's case, if you were wondering). They are still together six years later. 'Having that stability is nice,' he says of their relationship. 'Lily has been there from the start, from single-seaters to Formula One. A constant in what is quite a manic world.' Piastri is so nice, so calm, so well-prepared – 'the kind of schoolboy who had his pencils sharpened in front of him on his desk' as Damon Hill remarked on the Chequered Flag podcast earlier this year – it is easy to forget what a killer he is in the car. He appears bemused by the openness and vulnerability Norris displays on a weekly basis, even while praising it. 'Lando is a very open person,' he says of his team-mate. 'Speaking honestly, sometimes to his own detriment. But at the same time, it is a good quality to have. We are different people, but I do respect the way he goes about it.' As for whether he is less minded to smash his team-mate given how scrupulously fair Norris is, how lacking in sharp elbows, he just laughs. 'Not really,' he says. 'My opinion is you can't give an inch to anyone, regardless of who it is – in racing or in sport. And that doesn't really change. Especially once the helmet goes on. I get on with Lando. But once the helmet goes on, for all 20 of us, there are no more friends.' In this area, one senses the hand of Mark Webber, Piastri's compatriot who has been guiding his career from the start. Webber always had to fight his corner at Red Bull, forever battling for equal treatment in a team built around Red Bull wunderkind Sebastian Vettel. Piastri does not have that issue at McLaren. Webber has made sure of it. 'I think in terms of fighting my corner, it's been very, very valuable for me,' Piastri says of Webber's influence. 'Not that he has had to fight particularly hard in this environment. But just the experiences he had in his own career, being in a championship-winning team, fighting for a championship, there is a lot of hindsight which is very valuable for me. 'Some lessons you can only learn for yourself. But I definitely feel as if I've escaped a lot of [negative] lessons because of Mark's experience. Helping me avoid potential pitfalls. He thinks of questions either to ask me, or my engineers, or the team, before they occur to me. I feel like in the first couple of years of my career that was incredibly valuable and fast-tracked me to where I am now.' One thing is certain, if Norris is to prevail this season, it is not going to be handed to him. Piastri may have grown up on the playing fields of one of England's top public schools, but he remains an Australian through and through. He is teak tough and like all Australian sportsmen, appears imbued with self-confidence. Before he goes, I ask him for his predictions for the upcoming British & Irish Lions Test series. 'I don't actually follow the rugby that closely,' he says. 'Where I grew up, AFL was king.' What about the Ashes this winter? 'Oh, that's a different matter,' he says, smiling. 'Hopefully, I'll get to a game. Australia are going through a bit of a tricky spell at the moment. But on home soil? I'd always back Australia.' On British soil this weekend, one suspects he will back himself just the same.
Scottish Sun
a day ago
- Scottish Sun
Retracing Diogo Jota's tragic journey shows road plagued with hazards from shut lanes to wild deer ready to leap out
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) DIOGO Jota's fateful last journey was fraught with hazards which could have contributed to the car smash tragedy - including wild deer on the highway. The Sun retraced the route from the crash scene and found the A-52 highway poorly surfaced and dogged by miles of roadworks leading to the death smash scene. 9 The Scene of the car crash on the A52 highway outside Puebla de Sanabria, Spain, Credit: Darren Fletcher 9 Wreckage of the £210,000 Lamborghini Huracan at the tragic crash site Credit: Getty 9 Liverpool FC star Jota, 28, died alongside his brother André, 25 Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 9 And we encountered two adult deer standing on a side road less than half a mile from the spot where the Liverpool ace's Lamborghini veered off the road and burst into flames. What we know so far: Jota was driving with his younger brother Andre in a hired £210,000 Lamborghini Huracan supercar from Portugal to the northern Spanish port of Santander. But as soon as he crossed the border, his progress would have been slowed by at least 10 miles of road works. His acid green Lamorghini left the highway a few minutes' drive after the end of a section of roadworks at 12.40pm local time on Thursday (11.40pm on Wednesday in the UK). The speed limit on the section where the car crashed is 120kph - 74.5mph. Spanish Guardia Civil investigators believe a tyre blowout could account for its fatal change of direction. But deer could have also triggered a sudden swerve and are a constant hazard throughout this wild, forested region - as attested by warning signs along the route. Spanish police said they were not actively considering the involvement of wild animals in the smash yesterday, but did not rule out the possibility. 'Heartbroken' Ronaldo leads tributes to Diogo Jota as football mourns Liverpool & Portugal star Other animal hazards reported to have caused accidents in the area have included Iberian wolves roaming the carriageway and flocks of crows. The Sun has also found that the stretch of the A-52 motorway where tragedy struck has generated more than 40 complaints about the poor condition of the road in just one month last year. Potholes were worse on the Sanabria section, near the 65km marker point - the exact spot where the Jota car crashed. A string of complaints to the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, responsible for maintaining the road, triggered urgent roadworks. And at least one of the complaints was said to relate to a "damage accident" involving a private vehicle in which a Spanish family was travelling, three miles from the Jota smash. Spanish police were continuing to investigate the cause of the fatal crash last night after taking away the unrecognisable remains of the burned-out sports car. 9 Sun Man Nick Parker at The Scene of the car crash on the A52 highway outside Puebla de Sanabria, Spain Credit: Darren Fletcher 9 Rute Cardoso and Diogo Jota got married on June 22 9 Two hearses from Portugal arrive at the funeral home in the Spanish town of Puebla de Sanabria Credit: AFP 9 Jota pictured with Cristiano Ronaldo while playing for Portugal Credit: Getty It comes as Jota's funerals began today, with close friends and family gathering to mourn the loss of the champion footballer. Jota's grieving wife was consoled by relatives amid emotional scenes at his funeral chapel today. Rute Cardoso - who married the Liverpool ace just 11 days earlier - arrived at Sao Cosme Chapel in his home town of Gondomar near Porto, northern Portugal, early this morning. Local priest Jose Manuel Macedo initially announced the ceremonies would take place at 4pm on Friday before confirming they had been put back to Saturday morning. Father Macedo said a wake would take place at Sao Cosme Chapel before the funeral mass on Saturday morning at the Catholic church next door - the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar. Diogo Jota began his footballing career at a club in Gondomar and is also thought to have met his wife there. In Portugal, wakes are usually held before the funeral service. Crowds began gathering on Thursday night near the chapel - the Capela da Ressurreicao on the outskirts of Porto - and applauded as the brothers coffins arrived at 11.30pm. Tributes have been flooding in since the horrific news, including from Jota's Portugal teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and current Reds boss Arne Slot. Ronaldo said on Instagram: "It doesn't make sense. Just now we were together in the selection, you had gotten married now. 9 "To your family, your wife and your children, I send my condolences and wish you all the strength in the world. "I know you will always be with them. Rest in Peace, Diogo and André. We will all miss you." Lionel Messi posted a touching image of Jota making a heart symbol with his hands with the message "QEPD" - short for the Spanish phrase "que en paz descanse" which translates to "may he rest in peace". Liverpool's number nine, Darwin Nunez, shared an image of a beaming Jota coming on as a substitute for the Uruguayan last season. The star striker said he will always remember Jota for his smile. Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has shared his own statement on his "great friend". The German, who signed Jota from Wolves for £45m in 2020, said on social media: "This is a moment where I struggle! There must be a bigger purpose, but I can't see it." He continued: "Diogo was not only a fantastic player, but also a great friend, a loving and caring husband and father. "We will miss you so much. All my prayers, thoughts and power to Rute, the kids, the family, the friends and everyone who loved them." Fellow Liverpool icons such as Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard, Robbie Fowler and David James have all also paid their respects. Carragher posted on Instagram: 'Absolutely devastated by the sad news about Diogo Jota. Thoughts are with his wife Rute and their three kids.' UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer added that Jota's death is "devastating news". He told reporters today: "I'm sure I speak for everyone in saying our first thoughts are going to be with his family and his friends in particular. "But there are millions of Liverpool fans, but also football fans, and non-fans, who will also be shocked by this."
